What the critics say
Reviews
Niels Overgård (jazzogvinyl.blogspot.com) about ‘Our Groove Your Move'
A soulful and laid-back atmosphere flows towards me as I put drummer Jacob Roved’s new LP on the record player. He is joined by two experienced musicians from the Finnish jazz scene, Sami Linna on guitar and George Kontrafouris on Hammond organ. The latter has been playing regularly with my favorite Finnish saxophonist Timo Lassy since the mid-noughties.
Jacob Roved orients himself towards the American jazz tradition, as can also be heard on the album Dawn, which was released just half a year ago. In the organ trio, the focus is on the calm and intimate jazz atmosphere. Roved has written one of the album’s tracks, the rest are borrowed from the hardbop/soul jazz repertoire of the early 60s. We get two tracks from the great American tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, which originate from two of the most important Blue Note records, Soul Station and Roll Call. This I dig of you and the track that Roved has chosen as the title track of the album, My Groove Your move, offer fresh interpretations of these two gold nuggets of jazz. The trio gets under the skin of the material and provides a new and personal interpretation of organ jazz, as it is known from Freddie Roach and Don Patterson.
It is very easy for me to recommend the album. I love organ trios and I find it extra enjoyable to listen to a trio that, even though they cultivate the traditions of jazz so intensely, do not allow themselves to be inhibited or reined in by them. Jacob Roved has made a wonderful album that can be listened to at any time of the day.
Read the review here (in Danish):
https://jazzogvinyl.blogspot.com/2023/03/roved-linna-kontrafouris-our-groove.html?m=1
Adrian Prath (BerlinOnAir) about ‘Bowl Full of Yok’
‘Bowl Full of Yok’ is an excellent jazz arrangement by the artists Jacob Roved, Sami Linna, and George Kontrafouris… With their music, the trio from Denmark provides us with a perfectly coordinated duet of Hammond organ and guitar, alongside which the relaxing groove never stops. The riffs and rhythms as a whole are very precise and well thought out and tempt the listener to want to listen to the track in its full length of around seven minutes. It won’t be boring! The sounds that are created appear very light and carefree, and the track is easy and pleasant to listen to even for “non-jazzers”.
Read the review here (in German):
https://www.berlinonair.cc/post/706228985188794368/roved-linna-kontrafouris-bowl-full-of-yok
Adrian Prath (BerlinOnAir) about ‘This I Dig of You’
You might recognize this talented Scandinavian jazz collective from one of our last posts. Artists Jacob Roved, Sami Linna, George Kontrafouris just released another fabulous jazz arrangement entitled ‘This I Dig of You’ which shouldn’t be overlooked among all the new releases.
An ingenious interplay of organ and guitar in the lead voice, as well as a drum set with sophisticated rhythms, also comes to the fore here. On the one hand, the arrangement is very soft and at the same time lively, spirited and rousing. In addition, each of the three instruments convinces with an excellent solo passage. Have a listen right now!
Read the review here (in German):
https://www.berlinonair.cc/post/710837596460302336/roved-linna-kontrafouris-this-i-dig-of-you
Last Day Deaf about ‘Bowl Full of Yok’
Another lovely track from the accomplished jazz organ trio consisting of the Danish drummer Jacob Roved, Finnish guitarist Sami Linna, and Greek Hammond organist George Kontrafouris, will transfer you with its vibe sometime around mid 1950s in a a downtown bar full of smoke, and whiskey odour, looking for the next available mate to swing around. this one’s cool, playful, greatly performed and highly atmospheric, and a more than an ideal experience for every jazz aficionado. Let’s swing!
Read the review here:
http://lastdaydeaf.com/listening-now-jacob-roved-sami-linna-george-kontrafouris-bowl-full-of-yok/
Nagamag.com about ‘Bowl Full of Yok’
Slower and very smooth jazz song with some amazing instrumental leads that will stay in your mind on repeat mode. Especially the organ and the guitar solo moments. Beautiful atmosphere they bring with a subtle drums in the background.
Read the review here:
https://www.nagamag.com/the-latest/jacob-roved-sami-linna-george-kontrafouris-bowl-full-of-yok/
Tor Hammerø (nettavisen.no) about ‘Dawn’
It swings with the Danes
The Danish drummer and band leader Jacob Roved is a new name to me, but it doesn’t take many beats to realize that his message swings strongly.
When the drum role models are named Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Jon Christensen, you don’t need to be very good at maths to add up that Jacob Roved has something real and heartfelt to do. With his quintet, which has existed since 2008, he tells us that in a melodic and hard-swinging way.
Danish jazz musicians and Danish jazz have been strongly influenced by American jazz ever since the 1950s. Many of the greatest Americans settled in Copenhagen for a number of years and it is still easy to trace them.
Roved, who has also found a home on the Swedish-Norwegian company AMP, has written music that pays tribute to the beautiful melody. The roots go back to the bebop/hardbop school, but Roved has at the same time given it all a 2022 touch – the music is simple and timeless.
With him are the highly competent compatriots Jesper Bodilsen on bass, Thomas Fryland on trumpet and flugelhorn and Rasmus Ehlers Nielsen on piano and the influential American John Ruocco on clarinet and tenor saxophone. Together, they form an exceptionally empathetic cohort.
Not a single musical landmark is moved here, but a lot of exceptionally beautiful and melodic music is created. It lasts a good while!
Read the review here (in Norwegian):
ttps://www.nettavisen.no/plateanmeldelse/musikk/jazz/det-swinger-hos-danene/r/5-95-815285
Niels Overgård (jazznyt.blogspot.dk) about ‘Dawn’
…Jacob Roved does not try to prove anything to anyone. He is confident about himself and the music, and his thorough compositions successfully communicate a clear direction and vision. If you long for a calm, contemporary jazz release, which knows its roots and tradition, look no further. I give Dawn a strong recommendation.
Read the full review here (in Danish):
http://jazznyt.blogspot.com/2022/09/jacob-roved-quintet-dawn-amp-records.html
Nagamag.com about ‘Breeze’
No one ever has time to enjoy the taste of life flying by. And only Jazz, only its inexorable improvisation can fully make you feel how beautiful this sunny day is. Music that can revive anyone, even the most unfortunate person, and make them truly happy.
Read the review here:
https://www.nagamag.com/the-latest/jacob-roved-quintet-breeze/
Jacek Brun (jazz-fun.de) about ‘Dawn’
It’s an album full of good contemporary jazz. The great thing about Jacob Roved is that the music never strays from artistic beauty, not down the path of revolutionary exploration or challenge. Everything here has a background, a logical foundation of emotion and musical eloquence.
Read the review here (in German):
Jos Demol (jazzhalo.be) about ‘Dawn’
…this album is a delicate moment with a judicious title: between the moment of dream and awakening, “Dawn” is a beautiful moment between dream and reality, on a slow and harmonious impulse: «Breeze », « Shadow Motion », « Prelude » and the finale « A Short Moment » perfectly draw the contours of an atmospheric music very pleasant to listen to.
Read the review here (in French):
https://www.jazzhalo.be/reviews/cdlpk7-reviews/various/jazz-pour-ne-pas-perdre-le-nord/
Niels Overgård (jazznyt.blogspot.dk) om ‘Remembering Billy Strayhorn’
It’s actually fairly straightforward. Billy Strayhorn would have turned 100 years old on November 29 2015 and must of course be honored. He made some of jazz’s greatest compositions for Duke Ellington’s orchestra. He was a loner who felt best alone at the grand piano, where he made his immortal compositions. The album opens with one of jazz’s greatest tunes. Take the A Train, which Duke Ellington’s orchestra always had in the repertoire as an opening number. It is the drummer Jacob Roved who has put together a quintet with the American John Ruocco on clarinet and saxophone, Thomas Fryland on trumpet and arrangement, Rasmus Ehlers on piano, and Jesper Bodilsen on bass – he is replaced on the record’s last three tracks by Jakob Roland. These are 10 tracks from a composer who saw jazz as the black man’s sophisticated art form.
The quintet plays extremely tight as can be heard on Johnny come lately, where Fryland plays his characteristic sharp trumpet. Ruocco doesn’t let himself get bothered. He has a more laid-back and relaxed approach to matters and provides a healthy counterpoint to the fairly cool arrangements. Tracks such as Lotus Blossom, Chelsea Bridge, A Flower is a lovesome thing and Something to live for are delivered so that it oozes with jazz history. Jacob Roved safely steers all the boats in port. He is an old school stylist who creates a personal and beautiful statement from the drums. Billy Strayhorn is appropriately honored. It is jazz of the very classic kind, played with respect and from the heart.
Read the review here (in Danish):
http://jazznyt.blogspot.com/2015/10/jacob-roved-quintet-featuring-john.html
George Harris (jazzweekly.com) about ‘Remembering Billy Strayhorn’
With all of the headlines about Sinatra and Holiday’s 100th birthday, no one seems to remember that Billy Strayhorn was also born in 1915. Leave it to a drummer, Jacob Roved, to do something about it, as he leads John Ruiocco/cl-sax, Thomas Fryland/tp, Rasmus Ehlers/p and Jesper Bodilsen-Jakob Roland/b through ten Strayhorn classics.
Ruocco’s clarinet usage was a stroke of genius, as it melds wonderfully on the snappy “Johnny Come Lately” and glows on the dreamy “A Flower is A Lonesome Thing.” Fryland’s trumpet is open and warm on “Something To Live For” and thoughtful along with Ehlers’ piano on “Passion Flower.” Roved himself is sleek on the brushes during the chamber-sounding “Lotus Blosom” and gives a clever Latin tinge to the usually somber “Chelsea Bridge.” Even more surprising, and pleasantly so, is the extroverted read of “Day Dream” with a ¾ pulse a perfect vehicle for the horns. Strays would give a salute here.
Read the review here:
https://www.jazzweekly.com/2016/02/jacob-roved-quintet-remembering-billy-strayhorn/
