Strings Attached by Karin Hammar is Outstanding!

This article is part of an ongoing series dedicated to recordings I love to listen to.  I hope many others have already discovered this recording, but to those of you who haven’t yet, give it a listen!  You won’t regret it!

Karin Hammar, trombonist and composer,  was born in Boden, Sweden, and studied at the Royal Conservatory of Stockholm.  Karin has been active performing and recording with her own groups, and she has worked with numerous other ensembles and artists in Sweden and around the world.  I have enjoyed listening to several of Karin’s recordings, including Circles, Everyday Magic, and Imprints.  They are all excellent.

Strings Attached, released in 2020, is something truly special, particularly if you enjoy music that transcends categorization.  The vision for this recording was Karin’s desire to expand the sound of her Fab 4, a jazz quartet of trombone, bass, guitar, and drums, with which she had recorded two previous albums.  The expanded sound includes a string quartet known as the Fab Stringz, and a harmonica, performed by Olivier Ker Ourio, whom she had previously played with in Tel Aviv in 2018.  The resulting sound is an incredible blend of colors found in jazz, classical, and film music.  In addition to providing incredible trombone playing, Karin also wrote all of the compositions.

The recording has 9 compositions. I love all of them, but my favorites are Dreaming in G, which grabbed my attention immediately, Strings Attached Part II, which highlights the string quartet beautifully, and Avenida Atlântica, which truly takes you to a Brazilian beach with its Jobim-like spirit.

The performers are Karin on trombone, Olivier Ker Ourio on harmonica, Hanna Helgegren and Karin Liljeberg on violin, Jill Johansson on viola, Anna Wallgren on cello, Andreas Hourdakis on guitar, Niklas Fernqvist on bass, and Fredrik Rundqvist on drums.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Paul Compton, Professor of Trombone