We are a group of jazz-fusion enthusiasts who, besides jamming ourselves, find pleasure in listening to this particular genre of music. Being amateurs, with no formal training, we've decided to make a joint venture in discovering as much as we can, regarding fusion. Main reason; It's fun! Hence we join up every now and then to jam aimlessly, or to enjoy some of our heroes, from overseas, at Jazzclub Fasching in Stockholm.
My name is Johan (nickname Junni) and I am considered as the humble leader of the little guild of ours. My, and my older brother's, interest in jazz-fusion came from our dad, I suppose, who - as a Frank Zappa fan - has bombarded us with broader harmonies ever since we were kids. Nowadays it is more of a vice versa thing. It's is funny, though, that our dad has become a sucker for "slick fusion" later on. I guess we wanted to become successful athletes in sports like Hockey and Soccer, but by some reason I found more interest in various aesthetic expressions. Also, my brother always was slightly better, than me, in all the sport disciplines. My dad had various rock specific assets in the garage and I busied myself with rusty musical instruments from time to time. Growing up in a small town there were no instructor on drums in school, so I decided to go with piano. But, the Christian teacher got me so demoralized (due to my fingering) that I completely forgot about practising music until my later teens. Not completely, but I was doing turntables and rap on "Swenglish", so that won't count. My parents bought me a pretty nice guitar (Ibanez Roadster) on my fifteenth birthday and I started to mess around with it. I started with single note melodies rather than chords, since I already was set up with a basic midi studio. Further, I tried to inspire some friends to start a rock band, but I was the only one who wanted to rehearse. Or at least the only participant studying my part privately. Hence, I focused on making music on my own. My brother Sebastian, also a Zappa fan, and my parents was my only audience for a couple of years. Since I never played chords or covers, back then, I could never amuse my friends who came from more of a pop culture. And I still can't play guitar "properly"! When I was 19 years old I came across an instructional video tape; Scott Henderson - Jazz Fusion Improvisation. In a sense Scott became my first instructor even if he never addressed me in a direct manner. ;) Well, I found some similarities in his musical language and my layman attempts, why I got motivated into discovering guitar by my own means. Less theoretical, and entirely by ear. (This is where Konstantin came along. Initially with Saxophone, though.) Anyhow, since then I have been fooling around with notes in hope that I one day will make some musical sense. I figured; since I don't read music I don't have to visualize myself becoming somewhat a session guitarist or professional as long as I as I bring about a fair learning curve, in improvising. Thus making a gentle approach towards the musical ideal I so strongly relate to as a listener. In other words; the meditative aspects, of practising instruments, are the most important. At the same time, a great refund, for oneself, as one constantly works to evolve. Jazz-Fusion might be the closest I'll ever get to some kind of spiritualism.
Konstantin has kept me inspired by learning bass on pretty much the same principles. His progression on bass has been phenomenal, which have brought me back to believe that talent does exist. Not necessarily for my part, though. We have exchanged ideas and interests for ten years of time, even if we both have been seeking separate careers in life. Sebastian bought a beginner's drum kit when he was 29, and surprised us by turning the kit around, as for a lefthander, because he didn't connect properly with the common setup. Perhaps it was a precaution to keep me off his gear? I can easily spend a couple of hours on drums, by myself, pretending there's a band giving me a syncopated backdrop to solo upon. Sebastian's rather late contribution became the starting point for Fusionry, although we had been enjoying fusion concerts and endless discussions, about artists in that genre, for quite some time. I'm fascinated by his progression since he had to skip the typical beginners approach and go toe to toe with complex rhythms and soloing ideas straight away. Our final member, and keyboarder, is actually a scholarship jazz pianist. He joined up on a jam session at Sebastian's place two years ago and he got impressed by the fact that three amateur "nonamers" could improvise in such a context. We are very happy to have him since his skill has a strong motivational affect on the rest, though he is several years younger than us. It's really great laying down a funk groove while listening to intricate soloing for minutes and still be apart of the experience on the inside. Well, that was a short version of what we're all about. (mostly about myself, really) We dig jazz-fusion and jam "rather than well". In, say, 20 years time we might have done something interesting ourselves. Hey, one more thing; I'm happy to discuss all sorts of music and it would be cool to have some recommended listening every now and then. Be well!
By the way, Sweden is the number one hockey team, in the world!
