Liberetto V: Echomyr Lars Danielsson, Magnus Öström, Gregory Privat, John Parricelli

• 1 Pre 00:37
• 2 Allan 06:09
• 3 Supreme 06:51
• 4 Glòr 05:49
• 5 Sensitiva 04:38
• 6 Ascending 05:05
• 7 Himlen Över Dig 02:38
• 8 Echomyr 05:48
• 9 Presto 04:22
• 10 Something She Said 03:19
• Total Runtime 45:16

Info for Liberetto V: Echomyr

Echomyr, the title of the fifth ‘Liberetto’ album from Swedish bass and cello master and composer Lars Danielsson, signifies music that has come from a particularly deep place in the soul. “The album title is a newly invented word,” he says. “The ‘echo’ part describes an expansive field where sound resonates; and ‘myr’ is an old Norse word for ‘moor’”. These are sounds from the depths, from deep within oneself. Especially now, we are asking ourselves what it is that makes each of us human and unique. And that is what I have been searching throughout my whole life as a musician: not simply to copy things that already exist, but to find something that comes from my own heart and from within myself."

Echomyr sees Lars Danielsson continuing along his own distinct musical path, combining the freedom, harmony and rhythmic intensity of jazz with the vision of a cultivated sound that comes from his classical roots, together with the catchy melodies of popular and folk songs. Danielsson's compositions are unmistakable. He is a consummate melodist with a particular capacity to make complex things sound simple and natural. Danielsson, who grew up with rock and roll and free jazz, says that the way he used to compose was in a complicated way, with the aim of hiding behind the complexity. Today, what he seeks is the very opposite: clarity. ‘It's not difficult to write complicated music. But writing music that people will understand and that nevertheless has personality and depth – that's my goal.’

It is precisely this balance of depth and lightness that makes Danielsson's music so special – and on Echomyr he has taken it to a new stage in its evolution. For Danielsson, continuity and development are more valuable than the constant search for the new or the spectacular. He has been working with the core of his ‘Liberetto’ quartet – e.s.t. drummer Magnus Öström and renowned UK guitarist John Parricelli – for over 15 years. Tigran Hamasyan had the piano chair in the band in its early years, and since 2017 Gregory Privat has been the band's permanent pianist. Privat brings an ideal mix of extroversion and virtuosity with the kind of unselfish playing that works to the common good within the band and to bring out the very best in each song. In addition, three soloists appear on the album, and they are all musicians who share a characteristic: their instrumental playing is remarkable for its vocal quality, so they add their ‘voices’ to the album’s contrasted tracks: trumpeter Arve Henriksen, flautist Magnus Lindgren and Carolina Grinne on cor anglais.

When composing, Danielsson says he thinks neither of what the market wants, nor of success. Over time, he has accumulated a substantial catalogue of compositions, and they form the starting point for him – often together with his wife and fellow musician Cæcilie Norby and close confidants from his label ACT – to work on the dramaturgy, to form the shape and the flow of an album that can really touch people. But even then, he says, his aim is not to please, but to create honest, deeply felt expression. This is how ‘Something She Said’, the last track on Echomyr, came about. It was inspired by images on the news from war zones such as Gaza and Ukraine. Danielsson does not respond with loudness or anger, but rather with thoughtfulness and compassion. An echo from within – this is music with sincerity.. and clarity...and timelessness.

Lars Danielsson, double bass, cello, gimbri (track 10), piano (track 10), electric guitar (track 6)
Gregory Privat, piano
John Parricelli, guitar
Magnus Öström, drums & percussion
Guests:
Arve Henriksen, trumpet (tracks 3, 7)
Magnus Lindgren, flute & alto flute (track 6)
Carolina Grinne, English horn (track 8)

Recorded April 6-9 and Oct 28-31, 2025
Recorded and mixed by Bo Savik at Tia Dia Studios, Mölnlycke, Sweden
Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann
Produced by Cæcilie Norby, Magnus Öström & Lars Danielsson

Lars Danielsson
The late great Danish bass legend Nils-Henning Ǿrsted Pedersen didn’t only leave the world a direct legacy of great jazz through his own playing; a part of what he has bequeathed is indirect. When the young Swedish musician Lars Danielsson once heard him in concert, he was so deeply affected, he turned towards jazz, and to the bass. Until that point, Danielsson, born in Gothenburg in 1958, had been studying classical cello at the conservatory in his home town of Gothenburg. Fortunately, that study of the cello is not something he has chosen to shrug off, he has integrated it into what he does now. Not just in the sense that he always includes the cello in his repertoire, but also that his bass-playing unmistakably has a slightly more melodious, floating and lyrical ring to it than that of many of his fellow bass players.

These were the special qualities which soon placed him in very high demand internationally as a sideman. As early as the 1980s, he had worked not only with local and European greats such as Lars Jansson, Hans Ulrik, Carsten Dahl, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Johannes Enders and Trilok Gurtu (in whose group he remained a member for some time), but also with luminaries of the American scene such as saxophonists Rick Margitza and Charles Lloyd, the Brecker Brothers, drummers Terri Lyne Carrington , Jack DeJohnette and Billy Hart or guitarists John Scofield, Mike Stern and John Abercrombie. But Danielsson has never been content with just an accompanying role. He has always been a creative composer as well and is one of a relatively small group of bassists who has also emerged as a significant bandleader.

The ensemble which gave Danielsson the best outlet in his quest for musical self-expression for almost 20 years was his own all-star quartet with American saxophonist David Liebman (who used to play with Miles Davis), Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson and Norwegian drummer Jon Christensen. Stenson and Christensen are both pioneers of the ”Nordic Sound”, the combination of jazz with the Scandinavian ethos, and both are also long-standing artists on the ECM label. Four albums by the quartet under Danielsson‘s name and six more albums with guests consolidated Danielsson’s reputation as one of Europe’s leading jazz musicians, receiving not just enthusiastic reviews but also many awards. Furthermore, this band laid the foundation for his work as a composer, arranger and producer, which has developed in a major way since then. Danielsson has worked in these capacities with the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Big Band, the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the JazzBaltica Ensemble, the drummer Jonas Johanssen and the singers Viktoria Tolstoy and Cæcilie Norby – the latter being his wife, whom he regularly accompanies.

In the past few years, Lars Danielsson has also expanded his musical frame of reference and stylistic range of his own projects. His ACT debut, ”Libera Me” from 2004, proved him to be a master of orchestral jazz. ”Mélange Bleu”, two years later, sprung a surprise with a modern, carefully applied electronic framework for his expansive and sonically adventurous and rich compositions. With ”Pasodoble” in 2007, he created a breathtaking manifesto of beautiful sound in a duet with the Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer, which occupied the terrain between classical music and jazz, and received superb reviews. ”Tarantella” continued the productive collaboration with Możdżer in 2009, but transferred the basic musical idea into the context of a chamber jazz ensemble. All these albums (as well as those that followed) went either gold or platinum, and the orchestral project ”Blauklang”, co-initiated by him and conducted by Vince Mendoza, was nominated for a Grammy.

To some extent, Danielsson really found the quintessence of his diverse forms of expression in 2012 – and also the right name for it: ”Liberetto”. His newly-created word ”describes a certain mood in which I want to develop my music,“ he says. ”It follows on from my earlier albums – purely linguistically as in the reference to classical music.” The album, itself entitled ”Liberetto” with the Armenian star pianist Tigran, e.s.t. drummer Magnus Öström, British guitarist John Parricelli and trumpeter Arve Henriksen found a new balance between jazz, classical music, pop and European folk music and thus opened up a new dimension of how compositional processes and dramaturgy could be used in jazz. It was so successful that the project continues to this day: After ”Liberetto II” in a very intimate duo with Tigran and ”Liberetto III” in the tried and tested quartet, with the addition of a new and different hue in the form of French-Caribbean pianist, Grégory Privat, Danielsson performed a symphonic version of this concept and the compositions for it at the Leopolis Jazz Fest. There will also be a recording of this project in the near future.

Naturally, Danielsson also leaves plenty of room for other interesting projects: he participates in the unique concert series ”Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic”, and he works in a duo with the Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, one of the most lyrical players anywhere. Their joint album ”Summerwind” is the latest proof of what makes Danielsson quite so special: technical brilliance, a vivid and consistently fertile musical imagination, and an almost telepathic understanding with other musicians.

Gregory Privat
Born in Martinique in December 1984, Grégory Privat is the son of pianist José Privat, known for his participation in the internationally recognized Caribbean group, Malavoi. Attracted by the piano at a very young age, he took private lessons from the age of six and devoted himself for 10 years to a classical apprenticeship before turning to improvisation techniques and jazz.

Student in engineering school in Toulouse, he escapes at night to play in some jazz clubs in the city. It was later in Paris that Grégory Privat, with an engineering degree in his pocket, continued to satisfy his passion for the stage. During this period, in the early 2000s, the pianist crosses the path of other musicians such as Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Stephane Belmondo, Guillaume Perret or Sonny Troupé.

Willing to find a place in the jazz world, Gregory Privat participates in the piano competition of the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2008 and the Martial Solal Competition in 2010, during which he reaches the place of semi-finalist. The following year saw the release of the first album in his name, Ki Koté. The success of esteem received by this first essay of personal compositions encourages the pianist to continue in this way.

In September 2013, he released the album Tales of Cyparis, inspired by the story of Louis-Auguste Cyparis, the only prisoner who survived the Mountain Pelée eruption in 1902 and was hired by the Barnum Circus. The project, well received by the critics, places Grégory Privat among the most prominent musicians of the new jazz scene. A status confirmed by the release in January 2015 of his third album Luminescence duet with Sonny Troupé, faithful partner and great master of Gwoka music. The album is named at the 2015 Victoires du Jazz in the category « revelation of the year, Frank-Ténot prize".

In 2015, Grégory is the new piano player in the Liberetto quartet of Swedish bass player Lars Danielsson, who encourages him to sign with the label ACT: the album Family Tree of his first trio (Tilo Bertholo, drums and Linley Marthe, bass) is released on the prestigious label in October 2016.

Three years later, in search of freedom and artistic independence, Grégory creates his own label Buddham Jazz, produces and records the album Soley in 2020 with Chris Jennings on bass and Tilo Bertholo on drums.

In 2022, Gregory Privat will release his first solo album, Yonn.

In 2022, he recorded his first solo album: Yonn. In this intimate production, he mixes his voice with the piano, echoing the recent journey through the pandemic and the confinements that marked it.

In 2023, he received the Adami Prize for "The Artist to Watch" during Artists’ Night. A solo improvisation album was released the same year, entitled Nuit & Jour and recorded in Marseille on the Paradis Improvisé label.

In 2024, Grégory Privat released Phoenix, a new trio album which he considers as a continuation of his album Soley and received the same year the Django Reinhardt Prize of the Jazz Academy.

In 2025, Buddham Jazz released the album 22 in duo with saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart.

In the same year, Grégory Privat received the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

John Parricelli
A founding member of the now iconic British big band Loose Tubes, guitarist John Parricelli is renowned as a musician of impeccable taste, versatility & skill. His work alongside highly regarded jazz artists such as Andy Sheppard, Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler and Mark Lockheart further established his reputation as a first-call player, which then expanded to include the who’s who of the pop world, Annie Lennox, Robbie Williams, Mike Oldfield and Goldfrapp to name just a few. And, he’s also heralded for his performances on film scores including Skyfall, Lord of the Rings and Wonka-in short, he’s one of the best there is!

Born in 1959, Evesham, Worcestershire, England, John Parricelli began playing guitar professionally in 1982, thereafter working in many genres within the UK music business. In the mid-80s, he was a founder member of Loose Tubes, appearing on Loose Tubes, Delightful Precipice and Open Letter. Through the 80s, 90s and on into the 00s, he has worked and often recorded with numerous artists in contemporary jazz, among them being Julian Argüelles, Iain Ballamy (Acme), Lee Konitz, Mark Lockheart, Paul Motian, Gerard Presencer, Andy Sheppard (Learning To Wave and Dancing Man & Woman), Martin Speake, Stan Sulzmann, Kenny Wheeler (A Long Time Ago), Annie Whitehead, and Tim Whitehead. His work with Sheppard in duo has met with the highest praise, and so too has the Ordesa Trio with Sulzmann and Wheeler. Parricelli also is in demand for work outside jazz, including appearing with Judy Tzuke, Shara Nelson and Mike Oldfield. He is also very active as a studio musician, appearing on soundtracks to many television programmes and numerous films.

Magnus Öström
Swedish drummer Magnus Öström became known worldwide as one of the members of e.s.t., probably the most influential jazz band of the last decade. Esbjörn Svensson (piano) and Dan Berglund (bass) were his congenial partners in this trio of equals, that changed the way jazz is listened to and played today.

After the untimely and tragic death of Esbjörn Svensson in 2008 Magnus Öström took a two year break from music to redefine himself and in summer 2010 formed his own band, with Andreas Hourdakis (guitars), Gustav Karlöf (piano) and Thobias Gabrielsson (bass).

Magnus Öström composed, arranged and produced all the music for the debut album of the band "Thread of Life" (ACT) which was released in February 2011 and won critical acclaim. Besides his new band it features Pat Metheny and Dan Berglund on the song "Ballad for E".

Booklet for Liberetto V: Echomyr