Charting the career of Jakob Frímann Magnússon ( or JFM as he is affectionately known among friends ) is an impossible task: using even the broadest brushstrokes one gets the feeling that the subject is a mass movement, or several mass movements in fact and that his activities belong more to the rea... More

Charting the career of Jakob Frímann Magnússon ( or JFM as he is affectionately known among friends ) is an impossible task: using even the broadest brushstrokes one gets the feeling that the subject is a mass movement, or several mass movements in fact and that his activities belong more to the realm of natural forces than that of simple human affairs. There is the classically trained musician, the electronic innovator, the bandleader, the session man, the traditionalist, the improviser and a score of others. And this is just scratching the surface of his musical career... Add to this the public persone: the reformer, the politician, the filmmaker, the eco-activist, the visionary, the cynic, the entertainer, the humorist, the doom-sayer and the saviour ( the last two depend on whether you are for or against the submerging of a part of the Icelandic highlands in order to power a hydroelectric station that will ultimately serve an aluminium-factory...). Confused yet? I have been so for the better part of my life. Just when I think I have the man sussed out he takes off into a direction that is not just diametrically opposite the last one but also, I suspect, into the nth dimension that is only dealt with by the Superstring Theory. That there is a method in this I have no doubt. In JFM's varied career he has achieved so much, worked with a number of notables and often done what his fellow countrymen thought impossible.While he himself has chosen to follow his heart and sometimes spend his best efforts on matters unrelated to music, he has provided inspiration and help to countless Icelandic musicians and supplied the critical mass that broke the boundaries and made it possible for Icelandic music to be heard abroad. I have sometimes bemoaned the fact that JFM is sometimes more concerned with mundane matters, such as making ours a better world, rather than his God-given musical talent. But now I have a good reason to relax and enjoy and so do you. Written by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson Featuring: JFM: piano, organ, keys, vox Simon Taylor: Alto sax & Bass clarinet Guy Barker: Trumpet Steve White: Drums Tim Rennick: Guitar Bob Roberts: Guitar Sigurður Flosason: Saxophones, Flute, Bass clarinet Jóel Pálson: Saxophones Birkir Freyr Matthiasson: Trumpet Elizabeth Arden: Vox Ragga: Vox Jóhann Ásmundsson: Bass Kenny Campell: Synths Steve Sidelnyk: Percussion Ike Leo: Bass Neil Conti: Drums Mark Davies: Loops