Isak Hedtjärn is a Swedish, Stockholm-based clarinetist, known for his contributions to Mats Gustafsson’s Fire! Orchestra, Viagra Boys, Rotem Geffen and Kali Malone, as well as the notorious @JazzIsak, the deft editor of a stream of classic jazz and tiktok dance/crash mashups. Hedtjärn plays a unique instrument, a straight, metal variant of the more common wooden B flat Clarinet, and Kvarpan, his debut solo offers a deep perspective to his diverse and always invigorating musical world.
Kvarpan (the title refers to a slang word for the clarinet that Swedish sax player Roland Keijser used) is a suite of eleven, short and spontaneous, unedited improvisations – «without a plan, seeking new paths, taking chances, allowing the unintentional» – some featuring Hedtjärn playing clarinet quartets with himself, and all recorded on a single day in December 2021 at Patons Malmgår (located on the northeast side of Stockholm’s Södermalm), Hedtjärn’s usual practice spot just by where the ferries head over to Finland.
These improvisations map Hedtjärn’s continuous search and experiences with sounds and techniques. He thanks his late mentor Harald Hult (the owner of Blue Tower Records and Andra Jazz shop) who introduced him to clarinet players like Johnny Dodds, Perry Robinson. Later on Hedtjärn discovered other improvisers like Getatchew Mekurya, Raymond Strid, Christer Bothén and Roland Keijser who assisted him shape his approach and sound.
Hedtjärn investigates fleeting, ethereal tones and overtones, brief and playful melodic veins, resonant harmonies and meditative, microtonal phrasings, the beautiful ways they interact or collide with each other, and construct a most personal, deeply touching and imaginative sonic vision. Mats Gustafsson, in his liner notes, describes Kvarpan as offering a dangerous «kvarpa as a state of mind», challenging labeling and conventions, extending the possibilities and going deep. «Jump straight into it! You will be deeply rewarded. Hear the shifts of color. See the microtonal layers of beauty. One mind». You can trust Hedtjärn and Gustafsson.
Kvarpan is released as a limited edition of 302 vinyl plus a download option.
Eyal Hareuveni
Isak Hedtjärn (clarinet)
