When he was six years old, Anton Jarl's parents gave him his first drum kit for Christmas. "Since then, I've spent my whole life hitting innocent drums and that's how I make a living," jokes the musician and composer, originally from Malmö, Sweden, and based in Barcelona for two decades, to the point of not knowing very well "if I feel more at home here or there. I guess I'll always feel like a Swede on the run!"
He sips a "very dry" Dry Martini at the bar, while the beats of La nevada by Gil Evans guide the listener into his monumental Out of the cool. "My older brothers had a punk band. I played badminton on Saturdays, but I wasn't good at it and I thought it was better to bet on the drums. I spent my adolescence in the basement with my metal band. It was very cold, but playing metal keeps you warm!", he recalls in relation to his youth in a gray and industrial Malmö "of working people, my parents were", so different from how it looks today.
"At 14, I took my first drum lesson with Henrik Rosengren. That's when I really understood what it means to learn to play an instrument. How difficult it is and the sacrifice it entails, I got fully involved and there was no turning back," he explains about immersing himself in the profession.
---And when did you also bet on composition? Or did it come along with playing?
"In 2018 I saw a master class by Stephen Sondheim on YouTube, talking about his way of composing and writing texts, his method. I had already written songs and lyrics for some of my bands, but at that moment I saw that that was my path. I went to bed unable to sleep, very inspired by Sondheim, thinking about betting on that new facet of mine."
He also cites two albums that radically changed his existence. The first is Transition by John Coltrane with Elvin Jones on drums. "I heard it in 1991 and that intense, free and hypnotic energy left an indelible mark on me." He discovered the second more recently, "one autumn night in 2020, in a crappy hotel in Valencia, just when we did the first gigs after lockdown. It's a country album by Glenn Campbell singing Jimmy Webb's songs. I listened to it four times in a row and cried like a child. The album is called Reunion. I immediately thought that I wanted to try to write songs like that for Rambalaya, that there was no longer any need to avoid strong emotions, the epic, the great melodies."
A year that has been intense
The drummer of emblematic bands of the city such as Los Mambo Jambo, Koko Jean & The Tonics and Myriam Swanson pours his most personal facet into his project Rambalaya. After debuting with a first album in the middle of the pandemic, he has just released the second, Only in my dreams (Buenritmo), leading this formation that includes seasoned and renowned musicians such as trumpeter David Pastor, guitarist Héctor Martín or pianist and organist, Gerard Nieto.
"The pre-production, recording and mixing of this album has been the wildest thing I've done. From when I started composing for the album in 2020, until the final result now, it has been a long journey, with a lot of effort but also very much enjoyed. We have strings, a vocal group and other guest musicians, apart from the seven members of the band. It's a new proposal with R&B musical roots, but it sounds more melodic, like Roy Orbison, Tom Jones or Glenn Campbell."
And if it's about not avoiding strong emotions and great melodies, the parishioner is having a very intense 2023. "At the beginning of the year we recorded the new Los Mambo Jambo, El gran ciclón, which will be released in September and will be our second album in big band format... and it must be one of the most powerful big bands that exist on this planet! It's an R&R steamroller!"
In addition to these recordings, there are a large number of concerts with his various bands and performances with Symphonic Jazz Sketches, "a project we have with David Pastor's quartet and with which we play alongside several orchestras in Spain: a true sonic marvel." In parallel, Anton organizes the monthly party ¡Yaketi-yak! at the Milano Jazz Club: "a live music session with special guests and DJs who spin R&B, soul and R&R vinyl."
A city with too many cars
The musician arrived in Barcelona in February 2004, "I didn't know a word of Spanish and I was quite lost, but I remember when spring arrived that year. On Mondays I would go down to Plaza Real to go to the WTF jam sessions at Jamboree. The atmosphere was incredible for me, the warmth, the palm trees, the architecture of the square and... the Jamboree. It was packed with people, there was a queue all around the square, people from different cultures and nationalities, it was incredible. I remember walking home at dawn thinking that this is magic and I want to stay here."
The venue in Plaza Real would become, a decade later, the setting for one of his sweetest memories as a musician: "the tribute concert to Buddy Rich with the Original Jazz Orchestra."
"My relationship with Barcelona is good! Because of my work, I travel a lot and, whenever I come back here, I feel that it is a unique and beautiful city, which I am still in love with and where I feel very comfortable." The only thing that grates in this relationship are the cars. "The other day I spoke with my friend, the architect David Bravo, about this topic, and it's truly amazing: there is a density three times greater of cars per square kilometer here than in London or Paris. It's crazy how private vehicles dominate the city, and I'm not even talking about air pollution, noise, and accidents!"
---Here, at the Bar, the only accident that can happen is not choosing your dish well. We have a set menu, portions, combo plate, sandwiches, or tapas, if you want to have something for dinner after your Dry Martini.
Anton Jarl thinks about it for a moment and, without losing his smile, lets the notes of Stratusphunk by Gil Evans briefly fill the space, before speaking:
---If I were in Sweden, I would order a combo plate, but I'm in Barcelona, so it will be the set menu!