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MATHIAS SANDBERG
Jazz Guitarist / Composer based in Vaasa, Finland
He has been called ”one of Finland’s best kept secrets”, the highly acclaimed guitarist and composer Mathias Sandberg is one of the hardest working jazz musicians in the country. For the past 15 years, he has been touring with some of the greatest artist on the Nordic jazz scene, including Georg Riedel, Pierre Swärd, Peter Asplund, Nick Mancini, Jukka Eskola, Teppo Mäkynen, Manuel Dunkel and many others. Sandberg plays a hundred or so concerts a year and has toured both Europe and the United States.
Born in Jakobstad on the west coast of Finland, Sandberg started playing guitar at the age of eleven and landed a teaching job at the main music school in the region just five years later. After raduating from the conservatory in his hometown and a short stint at the Berklee College of Music, he moved to New York City to attend the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. After returning back to Finland to his new home base of Vaasa, he formed the Mariah Hortans / M Sandberg Duo, with whom he has recorded two albums and toured both domestically and in the United States.
Sandberg also fomed the now almost legendary soul jazz quartet Dr. Sandberg’s Soul Clinic. Though the band was short-lived, ”The Doctor”, as he is still referred to, soon formed the first incarnation of the Mathias Sandberg Trio, which has since become the hardest touring jazz group in Finland. Sandberg’s long-awaited trio album ”The Doctor” (2020) showcases his unique blend of hard swingin’, groovy and soulful jazz with strong melodic writing, rhythmically playful improvisation and a delightful, almost telepathic interplay between the three. The album has received both huge critical review and airplay on jazz radio stations in Europe, United States, South America, Asia and Australia.
In the fall of 2020 Sandberg did a successful 11-date album release tour with his trio, before the COVID-19 lockdown put touring to a halt. When things finally began opening up in the summer of 2021, the trio embarked on a 30-date tour across Finland, in line with their socially and environmentally informed motto of bringing jazz to the people, not the other way around.
”Superb debut album… such a fresh take on the genre… his tone is gorgeous throughout… as tight as it gets.” (Rochester City News, USA)
”This is an excellent album… swings from start to finish” (Jazz Journal, UK)
”Maailmanluokkainen on se sana, joka levystä The Doctor nousee väistämättä mieleen… yksi Suomen parhaiten varjelluista salaisuuksista. Todellakin!” (Karjalainen)
”The perfect musical medication for any occasion” (All About Jazz, USA)