Goran Kajfes

Sweden serves as home base for trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Goran Kajfeš, whose work fuses 21st century jazz, experimental folk, classical elements, psychedelia, and kosmische. He also participates in Oddjob, Nacka Forum, Angles, and multiple additional groups. Sounds drawn from Don Cherry, Enrico Rava, Tomasz Stanko, Can, and Miles Davis inform his approach. Hundreds of sideman sessions preceded the 2000 release of Home, his first album for Blue Note France. Head Spin from 2004 received a Swedish Grammy. Kajfeš supplied co-composed music for the 2005 film The Well, while the double-length X/Y from 2010 threaded jazz, folk, and psych through a nine-part suite that captured the 2012 Nordic Music Prize. Across 2012–2017 the expansive jazz-rock-psych fusion outfit Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra delivered The Reason Why in three volumes. Goran Kajfeš Tropiques followed with the 52-minute single Enso in 2017, then the albums Into the Wild in 2019 and Tell Us in 2024.

Born in 1970 in the Stockholm suburb of Tyresö, Kajfeš is the son of Croatian pianist and composer Davor Kajfeš. Classical trumpet lessons began at age ten, yet jazz became the focus during his late teens. He studied at Copenhagen’s Rytmisk Music Conservatory from 1993 to 1995. After work with marching bands and orchestras, his first sideman credits arrived on Swedish jazz trio Blacknuss’ 1994 album Made in Sweden (plus later releases), along with recordings by Robyn, Happy Alright, and Lisa Nilsson. The initial of many appearances with Eagle-Eye Cherry occurred on 1997’s Desireless; he also joined Monika Zetterlund on Det Finns Dagar. Longstanding ties continue with Oddjob and Nacka Forum.

A one-off arrangement with Blue Note France produced the 2000 debut Home, which featured his father and saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar. Critics noted the album’s fluid integration of post-bop, electro-jazz, and progressive fusion. A brief European tour preceded his entry into Oddjob, Angles, and Nacka Forum. Oddjob issued its self-titled album in 2002 and Koyo the next year; Nacka Forum released a self-titled date in 2002.

Head Spin arrived in 2004 with keyboardist Jesper Nordenström, saxophonist Per Johanson, bassist Johan Berthling, electronicist/producer David Österberg, and others. The blend of funky contemporary jazz and hip-hop reached the Swedish charts and earned a Grammy for Album of the Year. Nacka Forum’s Leve Nacka Forum charted in 2005. That year Kajfeš collaborated with Berthling, Österberg, and Johan Soderberg on the score for director Kristian Petri’s The Well, issued on the Headspin label to strong international notices. A return to Oddjob yielded 2006’s Luma. The duo album Mirrors with his father appeared in 2007. Sumo with Oddjob followed in 2008, and he performed with Magnus Carlson’s the Moon Ray Quintet on 2009’s You Do Something to Me. Echoes with Carlson and the Moon Ray Quintet plus Clint with Oddjob both emerged in 2010.

The award-winning double-length X/Y surfaced in 2011. Presented as an art book containing drawings by Moki Cherry (Don’s widow, and Eagle-Eye’s and Neneh’s artist mother), Ulf Rollof, and others, it paired two discs. The first showcased the newly formed Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra in seven pieces merging psychedelia, kosmische, ’70s exploitation soundtracks, spiky funk, and electric jazz. The second held the nine-part suite “Perfect Temperatures for Leaving Home,” in which Kajfeš and Österberg combined minimalist keyboards, sound effects, electronic textures, organic and synthetic percussion, and improvisation as a response to In a Silent Way. Reviewers debated the structure and reach of the music; the ensemble toured Europe, North Africa, and Mexico. At home in Sweden in 2012, X/Y received a Grammy for Jazz Album of the Year together with the Nordic Music Prize.

Nacka Forum released Fee Fi Fo Fum in 2012, with material contributed by all members. Late that year the ten-piece Subtropic Arkestra, including guitarist Reine Fisk, issued The Reason Why, Vol. 1. The eight-track collection consisted solely of covers of works by Karl Jenkins, Bo Hansson, Moebius, Roedelius, Arthur Verocai, and others. Observers weighed whether the results leaned prog rock, jazz fusion, or another category, yet praise remained consistent and drew parallels to Frank Zappa’s Grand Wazoo and Jaga Jazzist’s What We Must. The Reason Why, Vol. 2 followed in 2014 with the same cover approach, drawing from Milton Nascimento, Francis Bebey, Okay Temiz, and additional sources. The Reason Why, Vol. 3 appeared in 2017 with further adventurous selections, among them pieces by Ethiopia’s Hailu Mergia, avant-jazz rockers Panda Bear, and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou. Sell-out tours spanned Northern and Western Europe.

Seeking a fresh direction, Kajfeš assembled Goran Kajfeš Tropiques in early 2017 alongside bassist Berthling, keyboardist Alexander Zethson, and drummer Johan Holmegard. Their debut, the single 52-minute track Enso, traversed post-bop, ambient, classical crossover, and chamber jazz. Touring experience informed the expanded lineup that added Christian Bothen on bass clarinet and doussn gouni for the five-track Into the Wild in 2019, which evoked Terry Riley’s early overnight concerts and early Popul Vuh recordings. Appearances also occurred on Nacka Forum’s Så Stopper Festen and Oddjob’s Kong.

Kajfeš entered the collective Magic Spirit Quartet in late 2019 with guitarist/oudist/vocalist Majid Bekkas, keyboardist Jesper Nordenstrom, and drummer Stefan Pasborg, plus guest vocalists the Chaouki Family. The self-titled album emerged on Intakt in January 2020 after sessions in Sweden, Denmark, and Morocco. Further 2020 credits include Fire! Orchestra’s Krysztof Penderecki, Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra’s If You Listen Carefully the Music Is Yours, and Mauro Scocco’s Den Stora Glömskan. The following year he appeared on Fire! Orchestra’s Defeat, Ida Sand’s Do You Hear Me?, and the Weeping Willows’ Songs of Winter.

Activity intensified in 2022 with Tropiques tours and sessions alongside assorted acts. Angles recorded A Muted Reality; Fire! Orchestra released Echoes; and Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra issued Family in early 2023. Goran Kajfeš Tropiques delivered their second album, Tell Us, on We Jazz in May 2024. Recorded by Daniel Bengtson and mixed by Daniel Ögren, the three extended compositions also featured violinist Josefin Runsteen and cellist Leo Svensson Sander.