lördag 22 december 2012

Latest report


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Hi there everyone!

X-mas is upon us. Reform has not been a very active band these past months. We have been working on new material and it now seems as if the next recording will consist of compositions made by all the members. That's great!

I have been working a lot with Driving Cassady, Ralph Lundsten, Glasson and some of my own projects.

I present you here with the latest song of mine, Hör Rätt. It is in Swedish.


Reform wishes you a Merry x-mas and a Happy New Year!
Jesper

lördag 1 september 2012

Gigs, videos and more!


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A salute to every reformed soul out there!

After two great gigs I must say that I am satisfied with the way things are working out. The direction is set, the air is cleansed and it is only to start walking. The first gig, since I last wrote to you, on August 4 at the Backstage Festival went very well. When we played at Boo Folkets Hus on February 20, with Janne Kullhammar substituting for Anders and Bill Öhrström helping out on percussion, Peter and I really discovered how much we liked playing with Thomas Berglund who then were substituting for our two keyboardists who could not participate on that occasion. This time, on August 4, Thomas had accepted a place as a steady member of the group and he and Peter made a hell of a good job filling out for the two keyboardists that were absent on this occasion also. It was a very progressive version of Reform that performed. High energy! A lot of sound experimenting. For this concert we had also rehearsed a new number composed by Peter, The Earth Will Swallow You. A really nice composition with obvious influences from the Swedish seventies. Enjoy it here:
I have also finished editing Align from the same concert:
Otherwise it was a very nice arrangement with many really good bands.

On August 25 it was time to play at Junikullen in Midsommarkransen. We had some good rehearsing and actually managed to rehearse another new song, Stars in My Pocket, composed by Magnus. At this concert Hampus Halling, the drummer from Driving Cassady, substituted for Anders. He did a very good job! Both Magnus and Mattias played keyboards and Peter was the soul guitar player. It became a very psychedelic set. Everybody felt very into it.

Here is Stars in My Pocket:
On August 11 2012 I once again had the pleasure to play with Wasa Express at Uppsala Progrock Festival. It went great. Here follows a song from the festival. It is a tune called Ett Brev and it is from Their latest album OS 2032:
Driving Cassady, another group that I play with that I told you about when I last wrote, has released its first album On The Ties. Liste to it on Spotify:




Take Care and live well! Jesper

torsdag 5 juli 2012

An ego-trip and some more


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Hope the summer has been great so far!

Concerning Reform we have been laying low for a while, actually since the last concert at Amsterdam Café on April 23rd. Why? Having a band is complicated and I felt as if I was short of air after that gig. We played well but I felt dissatisfied anyway. My impression was that we had not progressed as a group enough. It was good musicianship without magic. We all no that music cannot exist without magic! I have been considering great many possibilities and talked to some group members. I want more participation from my fellow musicians. I want more cooperation. I want everybody to write material.

Tomorrow we will rehearse and Magnus has sent me a great idea for a tune. He already has two songs on our standard repertoire, Madame Riot and Tax Vobiscum. I have a great feeling for his third contribution!

Ralph and I have now mixed four out of six compositions for his upcoming 111th album! River of Time, Between Phantazy and Pholly, Citadels of Mystery and Agent of Paradise. Ralph has also been approached by the DJ Sanna La Fleur Engdahl. It seems as if she will do an interpretation of Agent of Paradise. Lars-Johan and I will work out the rest of the details.

 I have also have some good rehearsals with Glasson and Driving Cassady. Driving Cassady is a new constellation that I have been asked to join and accepted. We have completed a great studio recording and the album will be released in September. I really like the reference to Neal Cassady, the driver of the bus Further. It would have been a real "trip" driving HIM instead of the opposite. Anything could have happened with him loose among the passengers! That, for me, is the whole point of Driving Cassady.

Last weekend I visited my good Friend Mats Jarl and his great studio Alice´s Restaurant (yet another great reference). I recorded from the evening of the 28th - the morning of the 1st of July. I played everything myself except for a guitar solo, played by Ulf Henningsson, on the second song.

I'll now present you with my ego-trip. I call it "Komma Hem Hel":


Mats handled the camera and I did the editing. I am really satisfied with the result. My brother Anders, myself and Gustav Ejstes jammed together in Alice´s Restaurant a couple of times in the late nineties. We also recorded there with Reform in 2001. Great memories and great music. Reine Fiske and Johan Glasson played the guitars. Reform actually sprung from Dungen. Some day the music from those sessions will be released.

On August 4th Reform will be performing at the Backstage Festival in Lerdala. A great festival arranged by Mats Jarl.

On August 25th Reform will play Julikullen, Midsommarkransen. An event arranged by Musikmacken.

Take care and live well! Enjoy summer! Jesper

söndag 6 maj 2012

Hopefully a new member!


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Dear reformed friends!

It seems as if Thomas Berglund has decided to join us on our quest! Thomas is a great guitar player and also a great person who has played with us from time to time during the last years. He is also the guitarist in Wasa Express. It will be very interesting to see him collaborate with us. Janne Kullhammar, Thomas and I have a trio called BKB Trio. We made an album last year. You can listen to it here.

When we played Amsterdam Café on the 23rd of April Thomas join us. The concert went well and I am actually proud over how flexible the group is. We had to play on a very low volume since the place has problems with complaining neighbors. I think we made a great appearance considering the circumstances. I have so far edited two videos, Uncle Urri II and The Faithful.




söndag 1 april 2012

Another Happy Landing from Klubben Fryshuset and a review

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Dear reformers and followers of the progressively psychedelic wave!

Last weekend a well rehearsed Reform entered the stage at Klubben Fryshuset. The ambiance was great and we played quite an aggressive set consisting of EOD, Align, Happy Landing and Nuclear War. Everything worked very well and music was the protagonist! It was nice to be back with the real line-up.

Next gig will be at Amsterdam Café here in Stockholm. Thomas Berglund has been invited to join the group full time and he has accepted.

Here follows a video from March 25 at Klubben. The sound is not as good as when we played there on January 25, but it'll have to do. The energy is there and so is Reform at its best! Enjoy!



Today we also received a great review from a Norwegian brother:

Read it here Progreviews

Take care and live well!
Jesper

lördag 25 februari 2012

Align from Boo Folkets Hus

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Hi everybody!

The concert at Boo Folkets Hus in Orminge on Sunday went very well! We played EOD, Align, Nuclear War, Little Vienna and Tax Vobiscum. The first clip is Align.

The line-up consisted of:

Me on the bass and on vocals
Peter Åkerberg on guitar
Thomas Berglund on guitar
Janne Kullhammar on drums
and
Bill Öhrström on percussion



Everybody played their best and it became an interesting musical experience. It seemed as if the audience liked it as well. Although there were no keyboards and Anders was not playing the drums the Reform sound was maintained. It is always a nice experience to play with dedicated musicians. The music may never come in second hand!

Enjoy!
Jesper

söndag 5 februari 2012

A gig at Boo Folkets Hus plus Andromeda

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After the great gig at Klubben Fryshuset we will do another gig on the 19th of this month at Boo Folkets Hus at 14h. This gig will be made in a more old school Reform way. This means that there will be some surprises when it comes to the line-up. I can tell you that Anders and Magnus are unfortunately out of town and will be substituted by Janne Kullhammar and Thomas Berglund. Bill Öhrström will also participate on harmonica and percussion. It will be a great happening! There will be a few more guests! Welcome!

Photobucket

Yesterday Lars-Johan and I continued the work at Andromeda with Ralph Lundsten. We recorded two more pieces, Agent of Paradise and Citadels of Mystery. They came out great and on Tuesdays the mixing will take place at Andromeda. I have now been in contact with some interesting and interested creators, composers and musicians in order to lay the ground work for the interpretations of Ralph's work.

Here follow some pictures.

Photobucket
A beautiful musical box

Photobucket
Me contemplating the recording progress.

Photobucket
Lars-Johan staring ou through the coloured windows while listening.

Photobucket
A happy dream master.

Photobucket
Happy Harold following the score.

With love to everyone!
Jesper

torsdag 26 januari 2012

Reform Live at Klubben Fryshuset

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Finally a very well rehearsed Reform entered the stage at Klubben Fryshuset on January 20th. There was a three tune set consisting of Align, a new tune called EOD (Esoteric Order of Dagon) and Nuclear War. We wanted to be a bit more extroverted this time around without laying back on our original sound and style. It went very well, in our opinion at least. We flowed through the set very smoothly but attitude and accuracy. It is important to stick to the originality of the band but considering the very limited opportunities for a psychedelic jazz rock band to play live it is very important to be adaptive also.

Here are some photos from the concert:



And here are the videos:

Align



EOD



Nuclear War



Take care and take care of the art! It won't be there if we don't share our imagination!
Jesper