Perhaps the most striking thing about the recent Reykjavík Jazz Festival was the number of highly accomplished musicians there are in a country whose population equals that of Stoke-on-Trent. Maybe having only two hours of daylight during the winter encourages Icelanders to stay indoors and practise the piano or the saxophone. But one thing is clear: culture really matters in Iceland.
Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, the country’s president from 2016 until he stood down last year, is an authority on recent Icelandic history, including the cod wars with Britain, and has numerous books to his name. He’s also an expert in heavy metal music, which draws heavily on the Norse literary heritage. Björk, the most famous living Icelander, came back from America to live in Reykjavík, and can often be seen shopping in her local supermarket. Siggi Baldursson, her drummer when she was in the Sugarcubes, is now one of the jazz festival’s organisers.
Many of the musicians at the festival played original pieces inspired by Icelandic poetry and folklore. None of this was meant ironically. The local culture is what generates the music, and it’s a culture derived originally from Norway and then Denmark. Underlining that historical connection, many of the bands appearing at Reykjavík included Danes and Norwegians.
Among the performers was a young singer, Björg Blöndal, whose band C4therine includes two Icelanders – Blöndal herself and a guitarist – a Danish vibraphonist and a Polish drummer. Their uninhibited approach to jazz, with its punk and metal influences, is original and refreshing. “What drew me to these musicians,” explains Blöndal, “is that when I first saw them play, I really loved how fearless and unapologetic they were. It’s something that also pushes me out of my comfort zone and gives me something to react to. They’re three quite different personalities.”
They certainly are: Blöndal herself, who writes the music, is the still centre of the playful mayhem that unfolds around her once they get started. Her voice is huge and beautiful; one feels she ought to be wearing a Viking helmet. Thorkell Ragnar, the guitarist, is an imposing figure who bashes out power chords while flinging his long, blazing red locks around like a refugee from some thrash metal outfit.
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Meanwhile the punkish Viktoria Søndergaard is a blur of energy, always finding new ways of attacking her vibraphone, and drummer Patrycja Wybrańczyk plays with determined ferocity throughout. But it’s still unmistakably jazz, because within the overall structure of each tune there are areas of improvisation. As Blöndal puts it: “The tunes are twisting and turning and going in directions that they haven’t done before.” True to her Icelandic roots, some of the songs are about trolls and elves, as well as one, Galactic Serenity, which is their notion of how aliens might play jazz.
Blöndal understands the need for international (and interplanetary) links better than most. She went to study at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, and then to the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. There she met Søndergaard on an exchange programme between Copenhagen, Gothenburg and Oslo, which is where the band formed.
As with many who move abroad, it took physical separation to make Blöndal appreciate what she had left behind. “For me, it was a way to get back to my roots. It made me even more connected and more curious about where I come from.”
The ‘4’ instead of the ‘a’ in C4therine represents that the band is a quartet. It also refers to Blöndal’s middle name. “My mother gave me the name Catherine because she thought it was so beautiful. It comes from the character of Catherine in Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush was also one of my mother’s favourite songs. She told me so many stories about elves and trolls, and I remembered everything that she told me when I started thinking about it after I moved abroad.”
Blöndal’s mother died a few years ago, and the band’s forthcoming album is dedicated to her. Considering the music was born out of grief, it’s surprising how cheerfully anarchic it sounds.
While the international composition of C4therine is what gives the band its unique character, working with musicians who are all busy with their own projects in different countries makes it even more difficult than usual to keep the whole show on the road. The gig in Reykjavík was only their fourth ever. “It’s always tricky, of course, but we’ve managed to figure out some meeting points. So it’s a matter of planning ahead and trying to make it work. But all of my bandmates try to be as flexible as they can to make things happen, which I really appreciate.”
The album Wild Blue Yonder is released on October 24
Peter Jones is a jazz musician, journalist and author
