Henrik Öhberg’s Tvärvägen project gets a spacious, physical reading from Stockholm’s Magenta Quartet. The writing is melodic but rarely settles, using canons, phase shifts, loops and sampled ideas to make short figures circle back in altered forms. Two altos and two tenor-range saxophones give the ensemble a close, dense blend, with harmonies rubbing against each other rather than resolving cleanly. “Seedlings” and “Ensemble Delay” establish the language, while “Turtle Formation (Variations)” pushes its patterns through a more extended set of changes.
The quartet, formed by Julia Strzalek in 2022, comes from a meeting point between jazz, free improvisation and contemporary art music. These pieces began with Öhberg, then changed through rehearsals and workshops, so the written material still leaves room for individual entrances, duos and brief departures from the group sound. The original concert involved the players moving among the audience, and the Atlantis Studios recording keeps that sense of motion through surround microphone placement. Calle Gustavsson recorded it, with Öhberg producing and mixing. Fans of melodic minimalism, modern chamber music and adventurous saxophone playing should find plenty here, though the repeated structures may test anyone looking for conventional song form. Released by Hare Tracks on May 15, 2026, with a vinyl edition available.
