KJT are the initials of Klas Jervors Turner – Swedish composer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist. Although Turner is first and foremost a trombonist, he’s highly accomplished on trumpet and flugelhorn as well as tuba and other instruments. His wide-ranging musical background encompasses jazz, reggae, blues, roots, folk and world music.
Turner has backed numerous artists in studio recordings and for 10 years played in a dub band with poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. For 12 he was in an Algerian raï band. He’s written and arranged for big bands and symphony orchestras (including the Royal Philharmonic) and his compositions and arrangements have been used in theatre and film.
All the music on Odanata, Turner’s second album, has been penned by him. Its title comes from the zoological order for dragonflies and reflects the sad experience of his wife losing four children due to miscarriage. Four of the 15 tracks are a homage to those dragonflies that lived only for a day. Five songs – Siri On A Horse, Felicias Dream, Judith’s Polska, Villemo and The Inner Self Of Olivia – are written for each of their daughters. The melodic Till Louise is a musical description of his wife. A further five pieces composed by Turner in recent years complete the package.
Despite the reflective nature of some of the music, the overall atmosphere of the album is upbeat and cheerful. On five tracks you’ll hear Turner playing the Swedish cowhorn which was once blown to herd cattle in the mountains. It’s heard, for example, on Villemo.
The Dreamers, an outfit recently formed by Turner, includes stalwarts Kai Sundquist, Zilverzurf Zachrisson, Ola Gustaffson and Robin Cochrane from his first album, Suburban Dreams. Together with their new counterparts, they deliver this unusual potpourri of jazz, reggae, Afrobeat, Swedish folk and Latin dance with brio.
Discography
Whizzpop; Weather Song; Siri On A Horse; Felicias Dream; My Arrodian Spirit; Reggae Fi Di Ladies (Intro); Reggae Fi Di Ladies; Vallat; Till Allan; Ninni; Judith’s Polska; Villemo; The Inner Self Of Olivia; Vallat Till Ofodda; Till Louise (73.06)
Turner (tb, t, flh, tu, pc); Kai Sundquist (cl, bcl, f, ts); Lennart Söoderlund, Zilverzurf Zachrisson, Ola Gustaffson (elg); Philip Neterowicz (p, kyb); Johanna Dahl (clo); Clas Lassbo (b); Tom Beimel (elb); Robin Cochrane (d, pc); Ola Bothzén (d, pc); Sweden, 2022.
krokodillrecords.com
