| Jazz |
Kinds of Blur by Jazz & Fly Fishing: A Free-Flowing Nordic Jazz Album That Sounds Superb on Vinyl
Kinds of Blur, the new record from the Finnish-Norwegian-Swedish quartet Jazz & Fly Fishing, pushes the boundaries of jazz without ever betraying the standards the genre inherited. The technical mastery is there, but it stays discreet, which leaves room for freedom and spontaneity across the nine tracks. It is a great album, and we love it.
Jazz & Fly Fishing started in 2009 from an almost disarmingly simple, charming idea: bring together a love of jazz and a love of fly fishing. That simplicity is a big part of the quartet’s charm. The band has since released a few acclaimed albums and a DVD, toured widely in Scandinavia and beyond, and built an international audience through a long-running series of short films that blend documentary and music video. Those films have passed a million views, particularly in the Nordic countries and the United States.
The music of the band refuses to be locked into a single definition of jazz. What happens here is not a juxtaposition of traditions, and certainly not an artificial blend made in the name of a “modernity” that has too often become a marketing argument. It is a search for another path, one of total freedom of musical expression. The music may surprise or unsettle you, but it always holds out a hand, inviting you to join these four friends, hear them play their jazz and, why not, go fishing with them.
Kinds of Blur feels like the outcome of a collective experience rather than a group of musicians gathered around completed sheet music. In jazz, a composition does not reveal all its possibilities on paper. It changes as the players take it over, test their instincts against each other and learn to recognise the directions each one suggests. The studio captures one moment in that evolution without claiming to exhaust it. That collective spirit is one of the album’s greatest strengths. Each musician helps build the whole, answering the others’ motifs, shifting the colour and leaving open spaces where the music can turn in a new direction. The beautiful reading of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” is a fine example. The album also includes a version of the traditional Norwegian hymn “Sjung Hjerte, sjung en aftensång” and Thorgeir Stubø’s “Pajeb Njuorajaure”, alongside mostly original compositions.
The relationship between Håvard Stubø on guitar and Joona Toivanen on piano rests on no rigid hierarchy. Neither tries to impose himself over the other, so their flights of invention keep circulating. The guitar may briefly take the lead before the piano reshuffles the cards and reveals a different reading of the piece. This suppleness gives the quartet a distinctive way of breathing and keeps the music from settling into a predictable sequence of themes and solos.
Tapani Toivanen on bass and Fredrik Hamrå on drums do far more than hold the rhythm steady. They help shape the architecture of the compositions, and their shifts in pulse are never showy displays of virtuosity. They serve the musical progression and alter our sense of time, so the quartet seems to walk on familiar ground while constantly discovering new paths. Their confidence and mastery are so discreet that you begin to suspect these musicians are also formidable fly fishers.
While the quartet’s melodic and improvisational approach remains the core, the sound goes well beyond the traditional jazz quartet. Alongside piano, guitar, double bass and drums, the band brings in a nearly 100-year-old Guitarophone, a pump organ, synthesizers and other unusual textures. The result is warm, highly individual and at times cinematic. The album moves between light, airy arrangements and deeper, brooding improvisational passages, and it suggests the shifting light and mood of a river landscape.
The record was recorded at Studio Folkhemmet in Sweden in November 2024, with Petter Eriksson as recording engineer, and was mixed and mastered by Joona Toivanen. The finished product is of excellent quality, and I want to salute the people behind it. On vinyl, the sound is close to exceptional. The pressing gives the nine tracks a luminosity that the format delivers to perfection, with warmth, depth and clarity. If you are a vinyl lover, this is a record to own on the format.
Jazz and fly fishing share more than you might expect. Fly fishing is often described as a form of active mindfulness. The rhythm of casting demands focus, coordination and timing, and it can clear the mind of daily stress and screens. Time spent near water is also linked to what marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols calls the “Blue Mind”, a calm, meditative state of general happiness. It is also a physical activity: wading, balancing on river stones and casting all work the whole body with little impact on the joints. It takes you to some of the cleanest and most beautiful rivers and lakes, and it encourages respect for the environment, with catch-and-release practised by much of the community.
Kinds of Blur offers a similar kind of well-being. Put the record on, let the music flow, and your mind unwinds as if you were standing in a river at dawn. Having never tried fly fishing myself, I can say that after listening to this album again and again, I am tempted to join these four musician-fishermen and share their free way of life. Kinds of Blur is free, collective, beautifully played and superbly recorded. It is one of the most inspiring Nordic jazz albums of the season, and an easy recommendation for jazz fans, vinyl lovers and anyone curious about the world of fly fishing. A great album that we love!
Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
PARIS-MOVE, October 23rd, 2026
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To order the album on their Bandcamp
Jazz & Fly Fishing musicians:
Håvard Stubø: guitar
Joona Toivanen: piano
Tapani Toivanen: bass
Fredrik Hamrå: drums
Tracklisting:
- Flamingo (Håvard Stubø)
- Becoming Petzi (Joona Toivanen)
- Hälsingland (Fredrik Hamrå)
- Masters of War (Bob Dylan)
- Sjung Hjerte, Sjung en Aftensang (trad.)
- Onion (Håvard Stubø)
- Pajeb Njuorajaure (Thorgeir Stubø)
- Roger (Håvard Stubø, Joona Toivanen, Tapani Toivanen, Fredrik Hamrå)
- Time is Now (Fredrik Hamrå)
Running time approx: 43 45
“Masters Of War” is an arrangement of “Masters Of War” written by B. Dylan.
Published by Universal Tunes. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Credits:
Produced by Jazz & Fly Fishing
Recorded at Studio Folkhemmet in November 2024
Recording engineer Petter Eriksson
Mixed and mastered by Joona Toivanen
Photos by Jazz & Fly Fishing
Cover design: Rolf Nylinder