William Parker Heart

In 2022, we celebrate Vaughan Williams's 150th birthday, and the pinnacle of Albion Record's contribution to this important milestone is this Pan's Anniversary album, which contains five world premiere recordings.

Jonathan Bäckström Quartet is an acoustic improvising quartet based in Helsinki with members from Finland and Sweden. Bassist/composer Jonathan Bäckström leads the quartet and they are set on a mission to navigate and discover the music that is being created in the moment. The quartet's expression consists of minimalistic landscapes and explosive, multi-layered free improvisation and is the result of each musician bringing their individual voices to create a strong, collective statement. The group consists of Bäckström, saxophonists Adele Sauros (of Superposition) and Marcus Wärnheim, and drummer Benjamin Nylund – each an active member of the vibrant Nordic scene.

Jonathan Bäckström Quartet is an acoustic improvising quartet based in Helsinki with members from Finland and Sweden. Bassist/composer Jonathan Bäckström leads the quartet and they are set on a mission to navigate and discover the music that is being created in the moment. The quartet's expression consists of minimalistic landscapes and explosive, multi-layered free improvisation and is the result of each musician bringing their individual voices to create a strong, collective statement. The group consists of Bäckström, saxophonists Adele Sauros (of Superposition) and Marcus Wärnheim, and drummer Benjamin Nylund – each an active member of the vibrant Nordic scene.

Honey Wine is the first of two albums, years in the making, featuring special guest Sophie Nzayisenga. Sophie is a vocalist and the only professional female inanga player in the world. The inanga is a ten string zither-like instrument so rare there isn’t even a wikipedia page for it. We are also joined by legendary jazz bassist and multi-instrumentalist William Parker and percussionist Tim Keiper who has toured internationally with Vieux Farka Toure, Cyro Baptista, Matisyahu, and many others.

Jonathan Bäckström Quartet is an acoustic improvising quartet based in Helsinki with members from Finland and Sweden. Bassist/composer Jonathan Bäckström leads the quartet and they are set on a mission to navigate and discover the music that is being created in the moment. The quartet's expression consists of minimalistic landscapes and explosive, multi-layered free improvisation and is the result of each musician bringing their individual voices to create a strong, collective statement. The group consists of Bäckström, saxophonists Adele Sauros (of Superposition) and Marcus Wärnheim, and drummer Benjamin Nylund – each an active member of the vibrant Nordic scene.

SEVEN: words from the cross, is a diverse and innovative program of music for Good Friday, pairing music from the United States with choral music from other parts of the world. This highly original album progresses through the scriptural seven last words of Christ on the Cross, pairing the music of William Billings and the Sacred Harp with the music of contemporary composers Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. In conjunction with this March 2018 release on the Sono Luminus label, Skylark will make its international debut at Tenebrae’s Holy Week Festival at St. John’s Smith Square in London.