Videos

 

Koma Saxo feat. Sofia Jernberg, live at House of Music Berlin 2022

Projekt Drums feat. Savannah Harris, live 2022

Koma Saxo feat. Sofia Jernberg, live at Bimhuis 2022

 
 

Press

“Der schwedische Bassist Petter Eldh gehört zu einer jungen, internationalen Szene, die Berlin wieder zu einer Hauptstadt des Jazz macht”   — Der Spiegel

“Eldh has managed to inject its ideas within a jazz setting with a logic, musicality, and integrity that’s rarely been achieved before.”   — The Quietus

“The group’s wild, deeply musical set [...] asserted promise as one of this year’s most striking projects on the European jazz scene.”   — Downbeat

Projects

Post Koma

Petter Eldh (double bass)
Christian Lillinger (drums)
Otis Sandsjö (tenor saxophone)
Jonas Kullhammar (tenor & alto saxophone, flute)

featured guest:
Sofia Jernberg (vocals)

Projekt Drums

Petter Eldh (bass, synth, MPC, samples)
James Maddren (drums)
Ketija Ringa Karahona (flute)
Otis Sandsjö (tenor saxophone)

core unit sub. to change

Booking

Agent

Thomas Vermynck

Territories

Europe & UK

 
 
 

Selected discography

  • Petter Eldh was obsessed with Jazz, Classical, Soul, Reggae, Swedish folk music, Middle-Eastern and Hip Hop at an early age and collected vinyl since the age of 7. He initially played guitar before switching to what became his primary instrument, the double bass. Early influences such as Charles Mingus, Anders Jormin, Charlie Haden, Charlie Parker, A Tribe Called Quest, Monica Zetterlund, Samla Mammas Manna, Aretha Franklin and Earth Wind & Fire have guided his diverse output as a musician.

    Long-standing collaborations include the following erratic and progressive forces: Django Bates Beloved (ECM records), Enemy (Kit Downes/James Maddren), Jameszoo, Lucia Cadotsch Speak Low, Hayden Chisholm, Gard Nilssen, Peter Bruun, Christian Lillinger, Benoit Delbecq and Kaja Draksler. As a producer he has remixed work by Jameszoo – Flake (Brainfeeder), Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra – Vula (Afterhours), Speak Low (Enja) and releases his own music on his own imprint Galatea Records and the Finnish label WeJazz Records.

    Koma Saxo is a highly potent new five-piece produced by Eldh. The lineup brings together five heavy jazz names on the Berlin–Nordics axis, including Eldh on bass, Christian Lillinger on drums and the frontline of three saxes: Otis Sandsjö, Jonas Kullhammar and Mikko Innanen. Despite the top-billing names, make no mistake: this is not just another "supergroup", but a real working band with their own sound and musical trajectory. Eldh's vision for the Koma Saxo sound is one step ahead of what groovy avantgarde jazz can sound like, involving postproduction work with the raw material recorded in Helsinki in connection to Koma Saxo's successful debut at the 2019 We Jazz Festival. Both studio and live tapes exist side by side, and Eldh goes deep in molding the final music to be heard on the upcoming Koma Saxo releases. The Koma Saxo debut LP on We Jazz Records is a revelation for anyone seeking contemporary jazz music with edge and vision. From the opener, the brief but fiery "Kali Koma", right into the pastoral finale, "Så Rinner Tiden Bort", Eldh & co are on it, like a tightly-knitted posse of jazz assassins on the run. At times, the pieces fall gloriously apart, just enough in order to be ripe to put back together again. Take "Ostron Koma" for example. From the intense opening seconds full of suspension, the track moves forward with breathtaking swing, then onto full-on free breakout, to be born anew. In addition to scorching originals by all members of the band, Koma Saxo tackle a handful of carefully-picked and highly inspirational borrowed tunes from Finnish legends Matti Oiling, Edward Vesala and the Swedish composer Olle Adolphson. Even at their most freeform, Koma Saxo have an underlying "threat" of swinging hard. At their most peaceful, their hymns are full of genuine serenity and charisma, enabling them to never fall into easy sentimentality. 

    September 2023 sees a new release from Eldh and the Koma Saxo lineup with Post Koma, released on We Jazz. Eldh and his music are always pushing the boundaries of production and composition in jazz. The result is an expressive, progressive album combining live instrumentation and post-production sampling. Post Koma is a true representation of this ethos, and represents yet another milestone from one of the most visionary and collaborative creative forces in the contemporary jazz scene.

    This is jazz to the fullest: music that understands its past but always moves forward, and is never afraid of taking risks. Petter Eldh uses jazz as a starting point, not the end goal. This gives his music edge and mobility beyond what can be contained on one album. In a way, an album, then, becomes a snapshot of a creative process in constant flux and evolution.Whatever the mood, Koma Saxo are like lightning in a box, yearning to be set free.