Anders Jormin
“My aim as an artist was always simply to find and explore my own natural voice, my own conception of playing my instrument, and my music within the very generous but still style-founded field we call ‘improvised music’.”
Anders Jormin, born 1957 in Jönköping, Sweden, has been hailed by Down Beat as “a treasure – everything a bassist should be”. The son of a jazz musician, he graduated from Gothenburg’s Musikhögskolan with diplomas in double-bass and improvisation/pedagogy in 1979. He was influenced not just by his classical and jazz training, but also Sweden’s folk tradition; he recalled to John Kelman: “I always had [...]
“My aim as an artist was always simply to find and explore my own natural voice, my own conception of playing my instrument, and my music within the very generous but still style-founded field we call ‘improvised music’.”
Anders Jormin, born 1957 in Jönköping, Sweden, has been hailed by Down Beat as “a treasure – everything a bassist should be”. The son of a jazz musician, he graduated from Gothenburg’s Musikhögskolan with diplomas in double-bass and improvisation/pedagogy in 1979. He was influenced not just by his classical and jazz training, but also Sweden’s folk tradition; he recalled to John Kelman: “I always had those three things going on in my head. I take all my inspirations and influences into some kind of melting pot inside my heart, and what comes out is, I hope, my personality.”
By the mid-80s Jormin was firmly established on the Swedish scene. He arrived at ECM thanks to pianist Bobo Stenson, who showcased him in his trio and brought him into the groups of Charles Lloyd and Tomasz Stanko.. Albums under Jprmin’sown name for the label include Xieyi (meaning “to write”), which juxtaposes pieces for solo bass with compositions for brass ensemble; the song cycle In winds, in light, for a group whose personnel includes US pianist Marilyn Crispell and Swedish folksinger Lena Willemark; Ad Lucem, which includes settings of Latin verse composed by Jormin; and Trees of Light with Willemark and koto player Karin Nakagawa.
For almost 30 years Jormin has been a teacher of double bass and improvisation at Gothenburg’s Musikhögskolan, where he has played a key role in building up a leading improvised music department. In 2003 he was given an honorary doctorate at Finland’s Sibelius Academy. He is four-times winner of Sweden’s annual award for the best jazz recording and is the first contemporary improviser ever to become a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music.
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