Kning Disk Jerry Johansson and a string quartet from Gothenburg Orchestra (S,2006)***'
Jerry Johansson, former guitarist and sitar player from progressive group Grovjobb, (with three albums between 1998 and 2001) was commisioned to compose a piece for sitar and a string quartet (with 4 members from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra). 10 months later, the world premiere was taking place in Hagakyrkan, in Göteborg. The piece of the orchestral arrangement, and the slowly developing raga is completely in harmony. There’s a certain deliberate simplicity in the arrangements of taking similar harmonies to the sitar melody. There are only tiny delicate extra melodic movements built over it, nothing more, making the orchestra work the same confirmation and effect of the accompanying tampura, something which might have been the intention of these two nice, rather similar compositions. In the second composition the orchestra after a wile takes over the melancholic melody, again so close in harmonies and sphere one hardly notices when the sitar comes back to conclude with the orchestra..
Kning Disk 
Jerry Johansson : Next Door Conversation (S,2007)****
After Jerry Johansson’s latest commission, a piece for sitar and a string quartet, which was released last year on the same label, he took a next step and added also the Persian santur to the musical texture, but I also have the impression there has been a deep and meditative reconsideration and ripening of the composition core of combining raga, melody and of using the transposing principles. A certain section of a basic fundament remains a raga in spirit, while another section adds (a sweet, slightly melancholic) melodic (theme) improvisation, a bit more often introduced by the string instruments (violin and cello). Like on the previously released composition, the strings, sitar, and now also santur leads are build up very closely in harmony and pitches with the previously played instrument, transposing so smoothly that the listener often hardly notices the total change. It is as if the raga first builds up around clustered harmony strings and droning vibrations. Then musical themes are taken over by different instruments closely and overlapping. Additionally, the melodic theme which is repeated adds also extra layers in the composition. Certain small parts are improvisations are with plucked strings. It is nice to hear how just relatively kept simple ideas are collected and seemingly musically meditated upon to develop and finds its own richness and inner harmony, in a vivid sense, because of its calm change.
Note : Jerry Johansson studied sitar under Roop Verma, former student of Ravi Shankar.
Limited edition of 800 copies.
