Per Tjernberg

 Percussionist and composer Per Tjernberg has been active on the Swedish music scene since the mid-seventies when he started the group Archimedes Badkar, of now- declared cult status. He has brought his huge collection of instruments and knowledge of music from all over the world to numerous groups in the fields of jazz, free improvisation, rock, reggae, latin, afro and R&B, and collaborated with artists such as Dr John, Don Cherry and painter Mati Klarwein with whom he made the music & spoken word-album “No Man´s Land” (1997) that Carlos Santana in his liner notes labeled “music of the spheres with earth rhythms and overtones of deliciously mad, sensual and spiritual overtones”. He was the first Swedish artist to work with American rap-artists (on the internationally successful album “Don´t Stop” in 1982) and his dub-reggae outfit Universal Riddim included scratch-turntablists alongside tabla-and oud-players, releasing two albums unlike any other reggae music.

Tjernbergs last album “Inside Information” showcased his compositions for a large assembly of Swedens finest jazz musicians, including Bobo Stenson and Bernt Rosengren. On “Music Is My Salvation” – his 12th solo outing – he continues to write in the large format while the expanding the instrumentation into chamber territory with harp, strings and multiple woodwinds. The latter was mostly handled by the brilliant multi-instrumentalist Kjell Westling, who tragically passed away shortly after the recording. Tjernberg calls Westling “one of the music worlds hidden treasures” who among the many instruments he so masterfully played (piano, violin. brass instruments etc:) here shines on saxophones, flutes, clarinets and Spanish lute.