He promises a new album “Smooth Jazz Piano Tales” soon and he is an energetic and vibrant keyboard player whom we follow after his time at #HOTJAZZCONCERTS in 2018. We invite you to get to know Jonathan Fritzén more.
Jonathan Fritzén is an American keyboard player of Swedish descent. This 38-year-old artist has captivated Smooth Jazz lovers around the world with his lively, upbeat style and performances that are pure spectacle lifting people off their seats. His sixth album, Ballads, released in 2017 has reached number 1 on the Smooth Jazz Billboard charts and was a drastic change in the style that Fritzén offered until now, offering more relaxed and soft songs. To this day, he is one of the most recognized keyboardists of the genre, counting on several occasions in all his albums with collaborations of the most prominent artists of Smooth Jazz.
In Madrid we were able to enjoy his energy just two years ago, in October 2018, when he raised the entire audience of the Sala Shoko to the rhythm of his keys:
Recently, in May 2020, he advanced the title of his new album “Smooth Jazz Piano Tales” with a release forecast for 2020, although we are still waiting for it two months after the end of the year. As a preview, he has told us that it is an album for the summer, similar to his previous albums “Diamonds” and “VIP”.
Do you want to know more about the artist? Don’t miss the exclusive interview for Smooth Hot Jazz below:
1. Your father was a pianist and your mother a flute player. To what extent did your parents influence your music? And how did you get to Smooth Jazz?
Well, I would say that my parents were definitely my biggest influence in terms of music. I studied at the World Music Academy in Stockholm and obtained a Major in Music at high school, which is all-great, but growing up in a household, where music is as natural as the air you breathe, it was the very best education for me.
My mother is from Sweden and my father from the US. They met at the well-known Berklee College of Music in Boston. I grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, but since my father was American, when I was a kid he used to take the family every year to the US.
Sometime in my mid-teens, during one of the family trips, while riding in my grandmother’s car, she turned on the radio and of course, in the US radios play a lot of Smooth Jazz. I was probably 15 at the time and I remember leasing to it with enjoyment, I liked it very much and said to myself, wow! what is this?
Obviously, at that time I could not dream that ten years later I would be making my own records, and at the same time touring the US. So it’s all very exciting.
2. Going on with the thread to your parents, you were born in Stockholm and your mother is Swedish. What do you think about the situation of Smooth Jazz in Europe? Can Europe achieve the same success level of the United States?
I´m very optimistic, very excited about the future of Smooth Jazz in Europe, because according to my personal experience, when people hear this genre of music, they love it! And the reason is that there is such a broad audience. You have both the people who like the more traditional Jazz with all the improvisation elements, but also those who enjoy and can relate to the Smooth Jazz Music. This has the funky, the catchy melody hooks, and the same type of elements you can hear in the music of great artists such as Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Earth Wind and Fire…
So I think is very appealing to large audiences. Nowadays, with the Internet and the widespread possibilities of global connection that we have, it´s going to be expanding more and more. Back in the days when Smooth Jazz first started in the US, in the middle 80’s and 90’s, it was almost only available there through the local radio stations. Now we have so many international broadcasters and the exposure is much wider. This is naturally going to lead to a very big growth.
3. In 2018 you present in Madrid in the Smooth Hot Jazz #HOTCONCERTS your sixth album, called “Ballads”. It might perhaps be the calmest and sophisticated version of Jonathan Fritzén that we have heard so far? If so, what has lead you to this?
With “Ballads”, I wanted to try something different. Right now, there are many crazy things happening in the world and my idea was to make a record where you start to play the first track and don’t stop until you have listen to the entire album, all the way thru, and still can feel in a certain kind of mood.
I hope this record can help, you know, to relax and calm the soul and inspire new creative energy. It´s a project I have been thinking about for quite a while, so it was a very fun and enjoyable project to work on.
4. In your previous album “Fritzened”, you had great collaborations with Gerald Albright or Paul Taylor. Tell us a little more about the “Ballads” collaborations…
Well, “Fritzened” was a very exciting record for me. Yes, like you say, I had a number of guest artists such as Gerald Albright and Paul Taylor and of course, this was kind of a dream come true… You know, going back to my childhood, growing up in Sweden and listening to Gerald and Paul, I was completely blown away by their musical talent. Who would then have guessed that a number of years later, they would be featured in my album.
And this is not all, because Paul Taylor actually asked me to play on his own record and the song we did together reached number 1 in the Billboard charts. Therefore, I mean, I have to pinch myself to believe all this has happened to me. It was really a dream come true working with these incredible musicians.
5. You have published six albums in nine years. You are clearly an artist in the growth, with a lot of energy and willingness to offer new things. We are sure that you are already preparing new projects…
Oh yeah! It´s been quite a journey! Actually almost over 10 years now, six records very enjoyable, very intense and I am always thinking about the next project coming up.
After coming back from Spain, I went on a US tour, playing the festivals there and sometime, I will probably be more active thinking about my next album. We will then see where things take me. I´m always so excited about the future and will just see what is in store for Jonathan Fritzén!
