2010 Jazz in Sweden artist of the year - Samuel Hällkvist
Guitarist and songwriter Samuel Hällkvist – from the village of Gustafs outside Borlänge, now living in Copenhagen – has been elected Jazz i Sverige (Jazz in Sweden) artist 2010. This prestigious distinction has been awarded by Caprice Records and Concerts Sweden since 1972.
Samuel Hällkvist is a jazz innovator. A highly personal artist who is influenced and inspired by quite unexpected things, only to create music that takes jazz into the future.
He was born in Dalarna, in the village of Gustafs, and grew up listening to hard rock and metal. One day when he was in his teens, he found a jazz album that someone had left in the CD player. It changed Samuel Hällkvist’s life. He started playing the guitar and started a band and was eventually accepted as a student at Skurup’s folk high school (popular university). Then he moved on to the College of Music in Malmö. Today he is living in Copenhagen and plays in bands like Television Pickup, Rhododendron String Band and 15,5.
During 2010 he will be focussing on the newly started Samuel Hällkvist Center. It is with this band he will be receiving the Jazz i Sverige 2010 award, which entails a recording for Caprice Records and a launching in Sweden and abroad, with the help of Concerts Sweden.
Jazz i Sverige 2010 Samuel Hällkvist – motivation:
Samuel has a very personal attitude to tradition by concentrating on his expressivity; with jazz as a discourse and a method he allows his influences and whims to run loose in his music, with unexpected and exciting results – though always focussed and very, very Samuel.
Samuel has a unique voice, where the guitar is only one of the parts that form the base of his musical creation and expression. He handles the instrument brilliantly and very eclectically but his headstrong musical personality is perhaps most felt in his compositions, his sense of form and dynamic approach.
Samuel represents very well young Swedish jazz of today– he is well-acquainted with its long and multifaceted tradition, but is always looking ahead, ready for new impressions, challenges and possibilities.
About Jazz i Sverige:
Jazz i Sverige is the greatest distinction for Swedish jazz and is awarded to new and talented jazz musicians. The award entails a recording and a launching programme inside and outside Sweden. Jazz i Sverige has been awarded annually since 1972 by Caprice Records and Concerts Sweden.
During these years, the award has helped launch some of Sweden’s most successful and acclaimed musicians. Earlier Jazz i Sverige artists include Bobo Stenson, Stina Nordenstam, Esbjörn Svensson, Magnus Lindgren, Jeanette Lindström and Jonas Knutsson, to name but a few.
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