Joy

Composer and arranger Maja Svantesson makes her debut on HOOB Records with Joy, a powerful and imaginative big band album featuring some of the brightest young talents on Stockholm’s jazz scene.

Inspired by personal encounters, real and imagined, as well as places that have left a lasting impression, Svantesson’s music explores the big band as a vehicle for storytelling, colour and collective expression.

Her background as a singer lies at the heart of the music. Although entirely instrumental, the album is shaped by the presence of her voice — in the phrasing, dynamics and character of the arrangements. Originally conceived with her voice as a solo instrument, the music was later reworked so that its vocal qualities could merge into the sections themselves. The result is a distinctive sound where the voice is present without ever being heard.

Joy brings a singer’s physical and musical experience into the world of big band composition, creating a rich and expressive sound where the collective becomes the storyteller.