Nils Berg has been a cornerstone of the Swedish jazz scene since the turn of the millennium. Known internationally as an innovative bandleader and collaborator, this release places the spotlight — for the first time — on Berg’s work as a composer for large ensemble. Paid To Cry is the result of an intensive collaboration with the Norrbotten Big Band, one of Scandinavia’s most acclaimed jazz orchestras. Drawing melodic clarity and emotional directness from composers such as Burt Bacharach and Kurt Weill, while embracing the raw courage of Björk and Sun Ra, and the pulsating minimalism of Steve Reich, the music forms a sound world that feels both familiar and entirely its own.

About an hour’s drive from Stockholm, there is a place called Ilandet—a patch of Swedish countryside overgrown with an abandoned apple orchard, with century-old trees stretching across verdant fields. It’s one of those places that invites introspection, where the sound and sights and smells of nature can envelop you entirely, and transport you far away from the humdrum of modern life. It’s in this environment where Nils Berg, the jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist, conceived of his new album, the hypnotic and breathtaking Coming and Going.