A
good example of a sonic merger between 21st century instrumental jazz-fusion
and ethnic Scandinavian folk music can be heard in its full glory
on Zobop, an eight
cut, 41 minute
music masterpiece from Swedish guitarist Henrik Cederblom.
One of many favorable outcomes of the late 20th century rock era,
the Swedish fascination with traditional folk music dates back to
the late 1960s, and the early works of progressive rock musicians
including the late, keyboadist / composer Bo Hansson and Bos
guitarist Kenny Håkansson,
the latter going on to explore the true depths of merging Swedish
folk and rock music on numerous albums from the past 50 years. With
its fine attunement to both melody and jazz improv, Henriks
2019 album Zobop will clearly appeal to jazz and folk-jazz
listeners. Speaking about making a connection between Scandinavian
folk music melodies and jazz-rock instrumentals, Henrik tells mwe3.com,
"Actually,
I discovered both Håkansson and Schaffer later, so my main influences
for me when I grew up was Hendrix, Zappa, Beck, Blackmore, Clapton,
probably the similar inspiration as Kenny and Janne, haha
and
I think the melodies in my music are connected to a lot of the stuff
that they have done. Somehow, some little folkloric Swedish touch.
I don't think Swedish music is underrated
Swedish musicians
and songwriters have had a huge influence if you consider how small
the country is." On
Zobop, Henrik
excels on electric guitars, lap steel and beats and he gets solid
support from his band, including Viktor Turegård
(electric bass), Tapha Ndiongue (drums), Sten Källman
(sax, percurssion) and Finn Björnulfson (percussion
on "Zobop"). One interesting thing here is, even incorporating
the folk-based melodies, the fusion music on Zobop was composed
by Henrik except for one traditional song covered here. Henrik cites
modern day guitar influencers like Bill Frisell and Afrobeat drumming
legend Tony Allen, but theres a definite sense of originality
thoughout the entire Zobop album. www.cederblom.com
/ www.kakafon.com
mwe3.com presents an interview with
Henrik Cederblom
mwe3:
Can you tell us where you grew up and where you live now? What parts
of Sweden do you like best and what other countries and cities do
you like to visit? Have you been to the US yet and do certain parts
of the world influence you musically?
Henrik Cederblom: I grew up in Gothenburg, a town on the West
Coast of Sweden and that is where I still live. I love traveling and
touring and I have been to the US a number of times, mostly NYC, but
also Boston, Miami and Minneapolis. As a musician I have also been
to India, Cuba, Senegal, Benin, Haiti, France, UK, Germany and of
course the Scandinavian countries. I have always been interested in
African-related music, but India has also been a heavy influence on
me.
mwe3: How long have you been playing guitar and who were some
of your main influences, guitar wise and compositionally? While growing
up were you more interested in pop/rock or jazz and folk music styles?
The Kakafon record label web site mentions your guitar influences
like Zappa, Beck and Frisell but I hear other influences like Swedish
heroes Kenny Håkansson and Janne Schaffer too. Is Swedish music
underrated and were Kenny and Janne also influences?
Henrik Cederblom: Actually I discovered both Håkansson
and Schaffer later, so my main influences for me when I grew up was
Hendrix, Zappa, Beck, Blackmore, Clapton, probably the similar inspiration
as Kenny and Janne, haha
and I think the melodies in my music
are connected to a lot of the stuff that they have done. Somehow,
some little Swedish folkloric
touch.
I don't think Swedish music is underrated
Swedish musicians
and songwriters have had a huge influence if you consider how small
is the country.
mwe3: Your new solo album Zobop is a long time coming.
How did you move from a session player and backing musician and band
member and decide to record a solo album? How long did it take to
write the music, assemble your band and record the Zobop album
and can you tell us something about the band members you recorded
the new album with?
Henrik
Cederblom: I wrote the music during a couple of years and realized
that I had material for an album. First I made some recordings with
programmed beats and melodies. I wanted to do something folk-tronica
oriented but I soon came to the conclusion that a band was what I
really wanted. Me and Viktor had played together in a lot of projects
recently, so he was the first one I asked. Then I wanted a pal to
share the lead voice with and I was really happy when Sten wanted
to join! We have played together a lot and also share the love for
Scandinavian fiddle music and how that is articulated. I then asked
Tapha to bring that West African vibe to the groove. I love his soft
listening touch on the drum kit. I presented the music to the band
and after a few rehearsals we recorded the album during three days
in October 2018.
mwe3: Tell us about your work as a session musician and member
of the band called Den Fule. How long have you been playing sessions?
Has Den Fule released albums and what are a couple of your favorite
studios in Sweden?
Henrik Cederblom: We formed Den Fule in 1990 to play Scandinavian
folk music in a new manner. The band consisted of a mix of folk, jazz
and rock musicians that wanted to play together. We released four
albums and got a Grammis (Swedish Grammy) for the first one Lugumleik.
I have been playing behind artists on maybe 50 albums so it's hard
to make selections but check this playlist.
Me and colleague Johannes Lundberg run our own recording facility
since 1999, so most of the session work I do is in house projects
there. The studio is called Epidemin
Studio. I started doing session work with artists in the mid 1990s
in a number of studios in Gothenburg: Apparat, Tuff Studio, Nilento,
Studio 12, Bohus studio, Marianne studios
mwe3:
Zobop is a brilliant album of instrumental music.Sounds like
a cross between Thomas Almqvist and Pat Metheny. How influenced are
you by Swedish and Scandinavian folk music? I think you will make
a lot of jazz fans happy with Zobop.
Henrik Cederblom: I love a lot of the traditional music in
Sweden and Norway especially. Since working with Den Fule, I have
been fortunate to play with the finest musicians on that scene. The
spirit and joy of playing traditional tunes is definitely one big
driving force. And to me Metheny is the Mozart of improvisation, so
thanks for bringing him up, haha!
mwe3: A lot of rock and jazz music from Sweden is influenced
by Swedish and World folk music. What era of folk music and/or what
style of folk music influenced you most and what is the difference
between folk music in Sweden compared to the other Scandinavian countries?
Even instrumental rock music from your part of the world was influenced
by folk and even classical. I guess thats what sets Europe and
especially Sweden apart from America in that you have a vast amount
of folk and classical music to be inspired from.
Henrik
Cederblom: My interest in folk music has been very specific really:
The music differs quite a bit depending on which region it originates
from / which musicians are dominating the tradition in a certain region.
The music from Dalarna with fiddlers like Jonas Röjås,
Pers Hans, Björn Ståbi, Ellika Frisell, Per Gudmundsson
and Ola Bäckström have been important for me. From Norway
the music of Hans W Brimi from Garmo, and the Gangar from Setesdal
with Torleiv Bjørgum was presented to me by Sten Källman.
I also highly recommend the work of Ale Möller! Great stuff!
mwe3: You composed the music on Zobop and also play
the guitars and lap steel guitars. What can you tell us about the
electric guitars you play on the new album? How many guitars are you
featuring on Zobop and how many tracks feature the lap steel
guitar? How about acoustic guitars? How many guitars do you own and
how about amps, strings and pedals / effects featured on the Zobop
album?
Henrik Cederblom: I play only electric on the album because
I wanted that limitation. Guitars on Zobop include a Novo Serus
J with mastery whammy, 1966 Gibson 335, 1964 Fender Strat, 1962 Levin
335 m2 with dynasonics. The lap steel is a 40th National New Yorker
and I played it on Giragala, Happy Buddha
and Drömmen as orchestration overdubs. The amps on
the album include a 1964 Super Reverb, Boogie Mark IV and a 1968 Marshall
JMP 50 plexi. I use an Analog Man KoT for drive, a Delayla and Strymon
Timeline for delays and a tremolo pedal. For acoustic work I use lot
of different guitars depending on the music. My main guitars for this
is a 1951 Gibson J45 and a Thomas Fredholm prewar series D42.
mwe3: Are you playing gigs with your band around Sweden and
other countries and what guitars / amps do you play in a live setting?
Henrik
Cederblom: Yes, live I use either the Mark IV amp or a Fender
Princeton Reverb that I also love. Guitar-wise, I tend to use the
Novo all the time now. It is so great!
mwe3: How did you come up with the song titles and names for
the tracks on Zobop? For example the opening track, Giragala.
Is there an English translation for that track and other of the Zobop
song titles? Also how did you come up with the title name of Zobop?
Is it a play on words?
Henrik Cederblom: Giragala is actually a place I visited in
Asia, where the basic idea of the tune took form. I stole Zobop
from an album I bought on a trip to Haiti. It had particularly great
percussion music on it! And its a groovy word haha.
mwe3: How did you come to work with the Kakafon Records label
in Sweden? Do they have other instrumental albums that are jazz and/or
rock based? Sounds like they are open to a lot of different genres
of music right?
Henrik Cederblom: Yeah they are great, very open-minded! It
is a musician-ruled company, and I knew them from many earlier collaborations
with different bands and artists.
mwe3:
Now with Zobop out and getting airplay what plans do you have
for the rest of 2019 into 2020? Are you planning any new concerts,
videos, other appearances? I hope you will have a follow up album
at some point. Thank you for the great album and interview.
Henrik Cederblom: We will focus on touring Sweden and Europe
to start with. Hopefully we will be able to play in the States as
well! Thank you for listening and supporting music.