Wall-to-wall sunshine and pleasantly warm evenings blessed this year’s Ystad jazz festival, 30 July to 2 August. The attractive coastal town in southern Sweden was host to 35 concerts and events, with half being admission free. Most of the main acts took place in Ystad’s 130-year-old neoclassical-styled theatre. Other locations around town and its outskirts included Klosterkyrkan abbey, Bäckahästen outdoor space, the medieval Sankta Maria Church, Ystad Saltsjöbad spa hotel, individual private gardens and Charlottenlund Castle.
The 500-seat theatre was sold out on early Wednesday evening to see Dave Holland’s trio with saxophonist Chris Potter and Marcus Gilmore on drums. This was their last concert of a three-week European tour. Holland, who played with Miles Davis, Chick Corea and other jazz luminaries over the past five decades, was made 2025’s Ystad Jazz Festival guest of honour. All numbers played in the set were composed by either Holland or Potter. The trio opened with the bassist’s lengthy composition Triple Dance, followed by Far Away with Potter on bass clarinet. Other numbers included Rampart Street Assembly, Quiet Fire, Lucky Seven and Good Hope. Their rousing set was enthusiastically received by the audience and the band played Holland’s Bring It Back Home for an encore.
I’d contemplated getting the bus to see guitarist Ewan Svensson’s concert with vocalist daughter Hannah at the old courthouse, Tingshuset 1881, in Hammenhög later that evening. It was only a 15-mile trip but unfortunately would have meant cutting short Holland’s gig so I had to give it a miss. Such scheduling issues happen at the best of festivals.
In a tradition from the 17th century, a tower watchman at the Sankta Maria Church has looked out over Ystad every night and blown his horn to confirm all is well. The festival selects a watchman each year to climb the tower’s steps and play the fanfare. On Wednesday night this honour was bestowed upon trumpeter Peter Asplund. He’d also performed a set of classic jazz with pianist Claes Crona at the abbey earlier in the evening.
Mike Stern’s band closed the first night at the theatre. Accompanying Stern on electric guitar were his wife Leni on ngoni, guitar and vocals, Gábor Bolla on saxophone, former Yellowjacket Jimmy Haslip on bass and Dennis Chambers at the drums. Stern informed us that this was Bolla’s first ever gig with the band – so no pressure there then. In a powerhouse, rock-heavy performance with numbers such as Like A Thief, Echoes and the frenetic Connections, the band encored with an earsplitting adaptation of Jimi Hendrix’s Red House. The crowd couldn’t get enough and were shouting for more long after the band left the stage.
Tilde Berrio García is a young Swedish guitarist who writes songs fusing contemporary jazz with Spanish influences. As part of the festival’s next generation programme, her Malmö-based quartet comprising Simon Bertisson on tenor sax, Martin Bengzon bass and Isak Ribbnäs drums opened Thursday morning on Bäckahästen’s outdoor stage. The band’s tight rendition of Garcia’s compositions went down well with the appreciative audience. Then at lunchtime, the Swiss quintet, Robin, led by German saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen, played at the Ystad Saltsjöbad. Together with Sonja Bossart on bass and two percussionists – David Stauffacher and Roberto Hacaturyan – this was Afro-Cuban jazz at its best. They had us all foot tapping. Every member of the band was on top form with Manon Mullener superb on piano.
Later on, back at the theatre, we witnessed another artist playing with a band for the first time. This time it was Swedish multi-instrumentalist Magnus Lindgren, leading an enthralling set with Musica Vitae, one of Sweden’s foremost chamber orchestras. Variously playing clarinet, tenor sax and flute he performed and pirouetted like the Pied Piper through two Coltrane arrangements, a newly composed sonata, Erroll Garner’s Misty, a rearrangement of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, two tracks from Stockholm Underground (his tribute album to Herbie Mann) and finished off with a dramatic rendering of Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade Of Pale. It’s unclear who was the more breathless at the end – Lindgren, the orchestra or the audience. Either way it was a spectacular performance from all concerned.
The secluded private garden at Lilla Östergatan 3 in the heart of Ystad hosted the excellent Danish trio of trumpeter Hans Backenroth, guitarist Jacob Fischer and bassist Thomas Fryland on Thursday evening. In dappled sunlight their concert under the trees featured standards from Fryland and Fischer’s celebrated 1995 album with Jesper Lundgaard, Playing In The Breeze, along with original compositions.
It was pianist and artistic director Jan Lundgren who founded the Ystad festival 15 years ago with Thomas Lantz, festival president. On Thursday night in the theatre we witnessed Lundgren with Sardinian trumpeter Paulo Fresu and French accordionist Richard Galliano, performing one of the festival highlights. The set included three pieces from their new album, Mare Nostrum IV – Life, Hidden Truth and Hope. Then Aurora, with soulful accordion and an unexpected Hey Jude flourish at the end, followed by Lullaby For Two, penned by the pianist for his two dogs, who have difficulty sleeping. The piece was delivered complete with whimpering “dog sounds” on trumpet at the finish. The concluding song, Gisella, written by Galliano for his wife, involved an entertaining duel between piano and trumpet with Lundgren attempting to bring the piece to a close but being hampered by Fresu’s insistence on sustaining an inordinately long note by circular breathing. The cheering audience wouldn’t let the trio leave the stage without two encores – one of them I Wish You Love.
A further concert featuring the next jazz generation came from Brio, who opened at Bäckahästen on Friday morning. Guitarist Ragnar Larsson, bassist Sigrid Vahlin bass and drummer Noa Linnros played a mix of modern and classic jazz sprinkled with their own compositions. Then over at the Saltsjöbad spa hotel, singer Catherine Russell, who used to back David Bowie, invigorated the lunchtime audience with a memorable performance of vintage jazz, blues, R&B and the Great American Songbook. Russell was accompanied splendidly by fellow Americans, Matt Munisteri on guitar and Tal Ronen double bass.
Jan Lundgren assembled another top trio for Friday afternoon’s theatre concert – this time with Swedish bassist Anders Jormin (who played with Bobo Stenson, Charles Lloyd and Tomasz Stańko amongst others) and German drummer Wolfgang Haffner (Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Johnny Griffin, Pat Metheny, Jan Garbarek et al). This was the trio’s tribute to Bill Evans and it included Turn Out the Stars, My Foolish Heart, Minority from his album Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Very Early from the Moon Beams album, Re: Person I Knew, Mandel’s Suicide Is Painless, B Minor Waltz, Quiet Now and, of course, Waltz For Debby. Jormin’s bass playing was the most expressive I’ve heard in a long time. It was a masterly performance by all three artists and much appreciated by the capacity audience. The trio encored with Some Other Time from Evans’ Time Remembered album.
Charlottenlund Castle, five miles west of Ystad, was built in 1849 in Gothic Revival style. It’s extensive grounds hosted three outdoor concerts on Saturday. First off was a soul extravanza led by the agile and energetic LaGaylia Frazier. The American singer, now based in Sweden, fronted a dynamic septet featuring Jonas Kulhammer on tenor sax and a backing singer. Frazier danced and sang through numbers by the likes of Marvin Gaye, the Isley Brothers and Chaka Khan and at times jumped off the stage to make swaying forays through the audience. The crowd loved it.
Next, we had singer Karin Tingne on the second outdoor stage with the Big Blowin’ Band. This 17-piece outfit with conductor Ola Denward is based in Ystad and has a history stretching back over 40 years. It was their debut performance at the festival and they were great, playing big-band jazz in the mould of Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman. Tingne’s performance was highly impressive and her commanding blues-rooted voice was well able to hold its own against the powerful ensemble behind her.
Another big band blew us all away for the final act of the evening – the 16-piece Bohuslän Big Band conducted by Calle Rasmusson. Comprising some of Sweden’s top professional musicians, it can span the gamut from swing to avant-garde and contemporary music with ease. Today’s concert was a tribute to Quincy Jones – “To Quincy with Love” – with whom they performed at the festival 13 years ago. The programme embraced all the genres influenced by Jones in his long career – jazz, funk, R&B and popular song. Trombonist Nils Landgren and vocalist Viktoria Tolstoy, who took part in 2012, were here to join in, along with Swedish jazz singer and pianist Ida Sand. Needless to say, Landgren was flawless on trombone throughout. He also sang several numbers in a markedly unaffected manner, both individually and in duet with Tolstoy. The latter was in splendid form. In the finale, all three – Landgren, Tolstoy and Sand – sang in unison with the band in full flow. It was a great finish to the day.
Ystad Jazz Festival 2025 was a huge success due in large part to the competence of the helpful volunteers who organised it, the festival’s varied programming, the really interesting venues and the delightful ambience of the location. Over 12,000 people attended this year with around 30% of these from abroad. Next year’s is planned for 29 July to 1 August 2026, and details of the festival can be found at ystadjazz.se.
