JACOB KARLZON • QUESTAR
JACOB KARLZON - piano, keyboards, electronics
MADS LA COUR - trumpet
THOBIAS GABRIELSON - bass
ROBERT IKIZ - drums, electronics
Music for the Inner Film
Jacob Karlzon introduces QUESTAR, the next chapter in his musical journey.
Born from a desire to explore new sounds and settings, QUESTAR mixes deep grooves and flowing rhythms with Nordic soundscapes that stretch beyond boundaries. The music creates open, ever-changing landscapes where every concert unfolds in its own unique way.
Here, melody and harmony expand like a vast horizon, where the composed meets the improvised, the acoustic embraces the electronic, inviting listeners to form their own images and stories from the sounds. As Karlzon puts it:
“The strength of instrumental music is that everyone can create their own inner images based on what you hear and your own imagination.”
QUESTAR, meaning seeker, offers music for the inner film, a gentle invitation to travel to unknown places and create a shared atmosphere filled with energy and discovery.
VIDEOS
Jacob Karlzon
Swedish jazz pianist and composer Jacob Karlzon has been compared to Sweden's own legendary Esbjörn Svensson and Jan Johansson. Karlzon's playing style exudes technical brilliance, rhythmic and harmonic complexity with a perfect sense of form and he has been a Steinway Artist since 2012, an international recognition of excellence. Jacob Karlzon is always looking for new places, not only in his music. But despite his rising fame, concerts in Europe, China and the United States, and travelling to increasingly distant countries, he always likes to return to his roots and past musical ideas. Stylistically and musically, Jacob Karlzon is also well travelled: He is a classically trained pianist but has shared the stage with big names like Dominic Miller, Norma Winstone and Billy Cobham. He has made his way into the world of heavy metal with his albums ‘More’ and ‘Now’, where electronic elements set the pulse. No wonder he prefers to describe himself as an ‘alternative musician’.
Mads La Cour was born in 1980 and began playing the trumpet at the age of 8. In 2007, he was named
Jazz Musician of the Year on the island of Funen. In 2008, he completed his diploma at the Funen Conservatory of Music – a journey that also included six months of studies in Stockholm. He is now a member of the DR Big Band and has performed with artists such as Sinne Eeg, Ray Pitts, Chris Potter, Kaya Brüel, among others. Mads La Cour is one of Denmark's most prominent trumpet players, and tones of the highest quality are guaranteed.
Thobias Gabrielson is a Swedish bass player, composer and multi-instrumentalist active on the swedish jazz- and pop/rock scene since mid nineties. He’s been touring across Scandinavia, Europe, South Africa and Asia with artists like Nils Landgren, Magnus Öström, Janne Schaffer, Timbuktu and Ida Sand.
Award winning Istanbul born drummer Robert Mehmet Ikiz started as a 2 year old to play on his grandmother's pots. Ikiz studied at the Stockholm Music Conservatory between 1995-1998 in the Afro-American music program. In 1998 he won the annual competition there and received a scholarship to study at the Los Angeles Music Academy. The wealth of places, people and musical styles he has encountered on his travels has helped shape the diverse sound of his own style of drumming. Ikiz has performed and toured with artists and orchestras like Bobby McFerrin, Joe Sample, Ivan Lins, NDR Big Band, BBC Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Barbara Hendricks During his time in Southern California he gained valuable experience in the American jazz scene playing in David Ornette Cherry´s Impressions Of Energy which included musicians like Justo Almario and Ralph "Buzzy" Jones among others. In October 2017 Ikiz recieved the "Musician of the year" prize from The Swedish Radio. The prize is called "Jazzkatten" and had never been handed out to a drummer before. Ikiz was nominated in 2015 as well for the same prize. İkiz's talent have been recognized by the Swedish Royal Music Academy as he received awards in percussion in 1999 & 2003 and in Jazz in 2004.