The Daniel Karlsson Trio have since their album debut Das Taxibåt in September 2013 established themselves as one of the most interesting constellations in Swedish jazz. Not least through the magnificent hat trick brought home by their sophomore release Fusion for Fish, released in August 2014. The album ended up winning them theSwedish Radio’s jazz group of the year Award 2014, Swedish jazz magazine OJ’s Golden Disc 2015 as well as the Swedish Jazz Grammy of 2015. Ears have been opened abroad as well, their music met with press accolades and frequent airplay in Germany, but also in the UK and Ireland.

This does not mean that the trio rest on their laurels. New music has been recorded through the Fall 2014 and the Spring of 2015 on Runmarö in the Stockholm archipelago and then honed to perfection at the brus & knaster studio in Stockholm. The result is now ready to be sent off into the world.

On this, their third outing, there’s a also new member in the band. Double bass player Kristian Lind has moved to Turkey and has been replaced by his namesake Christian Spering, an outstanding musician and an exceptionally well known name for those in the know of the Swedish jazz scene. As always the new album contain a collection of exciting original compositions by Daniel Karlsson. Nine new songs (we had to drop one title on the LP version) with a more or less pronounced theme of food apparent in the song titles. All collectively and aptly named The Daniel Karlsson Trio at the Feel Free Falafel.

And as on Fusion for Fish the brilliant artist Richard Johansson has lent us one of his out of this world oil paintings. Soundwise there is no reason to get lost, the trio’s distinctive characteristics are very much in place, only even more perfected this time around. A slew of analogue synthesizers and a rare instrument in jazz settings, the Mellotron, frequently adding to the soundscape. This is not a first in jazz, for instance Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi years of the early 70s that featured Mellotron on the Crossings and Sextantalbums come to mind.

The preeminent guitarist Andreas Hourdakis makes cameos on two tracks just as on Fusion for Fish and Daniel’s sister, Rebecka Karlsson, baroque violinist, is also featured on one track.

The Daniel Karlsson Trio are:
Daniel Karlsson, piano, synthesizers, mellotron
Christian Spering, double bass & tar shehnai
Fredrik Rundqvist, drums & percussion