Gilbert Holmström

Swedish jazz saxophonist and composer, born 1937 in Gothenburg. In 1956, he began his education as a dentist in Malmö. At the same time he studied alto saxophone for Erik Lövgren at Malmö Conservatory of Music at the same time as another musician; Helge Albin, now leader of Tolvan Big Band. In 1958 Holmström played in Lasse Lindström's sextet, and returned to Gothenburg in 1961 where he began playing in a quintet with the tenor Thomas Fehling. In the following years he switched to playing the tenor saxophone and in 1964 he formed his own quintet, which was strongly influenced by "free-form" musicians such as Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp. He made his record debut in 1965 with Without Suspicion. As Sweden's representative at the Montreaux Jazz Festival June 16-18, 1967, she won second prize in the EBU's international orchestra competition. In 1972, the quintet changed its name to Mount Everest, which focused on the fusion of jazz and rock. In 1975, Mount Everest became a trio that concentrated again on an expressive acoustic "free-form" jazz. In 1979 the music again took a fusion focus and in 1980 after a change of drummer, the music got more of a Latin focus. This orientation was further strengthened by the conga player Arturo Trujillo joining the group. At the same time, Holmström played together with his brother Chris Holmström in a quintet that combined the harmonious subtleties of bebop jazz with an element of funk rhythms.