Skúli Sverrisson | |
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Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson
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Background information | |
Born | October 23, 1966 |
Origin | Reykjavík, Iceland |
Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
Instruments | Bass guitar |
Labels | Extreme, 12 Tónar |
Associated acts | Laurie Anderson, Mo Boma, Blonde Redhead |
Website | http://skulisverrisson.com/ |
Skúli Sverrisson (born 23 October 1966) is an Icelandic composer and bassist residing in New York City.
Over the past two decades, bass guitarist-composer Skuli Sverrisson has worked with a veritable who’s who of the experimental world, from free jazz legends (Wadada Leo Smith, Derek Bailey) to music icons (Lou Reed, Jon Hassel, David Sylvian, Arto Lindsey) and composers (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Johann Johannsson and Hildur Gudnadottir). Sverrisson is also known for his work as an artistic director for Olof Arnalds (Innundir Skinni, Vid og Vid), recordings with Blonde Redhead and as a musical director for legendary performance artist Laurie Anderson. He has released a series of duo albums of in collaboration with artists such as Anthony Burr, Oskar Gudjonsson, and Hilmar Jensson. He has been a member of many influential groups including Pachora, Alas No Axis, The Allan Holdsworth group and The Ben Monder group. Sverrisson has also composed music for The Icelandic Dance Company (Open Source) the National Theatre of Iceland (Volva) and numerous films and installations such as Welcome and Music for furniture with Olafur Thordason, Spatial Meditation with Claudia Hill and When it was Blue with experimental film maker Jennifer Reeves. Sverrisson founded Seria, an ongoing ensemble featuring Amedeo Pace (Blonde Redhead), Olof Arnalds, David Thor Jonsson, Anthony Burr, Eyvind Kang and Hildur Gudnadottir in 2005 and released Seria in 2006 and Seria ll in 2010. He has appeared on over 100 recordings and has performed around the world with a wide range of artists. Three new recordings of the ongoing collaboration with Anthony Burr and a new duo recording with Oskar Gudjonsson. Sverrisson has been awarded 5 Icelandic Music Awards, including Icelandic Album of the Year for Seria in 2006.
He has worked with numerous musicians and groups, including Hildur Guðnadóttir, Hilmar Jensson, Jim Black, Chris Speed, Anthony Burr, Laurie Anderson, Allan Holdsworth, Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Sylvian, Blonde Redhead, Yungchen Lhamo, Jamshied Sharifi, Ólöf Arnalds, Pachora, and Alas No Axis. He was a part of Mo Boma with Jamshied Sharifi and Carsten Tiedemann, releasing 4 albums on Extreme; "Jijimuge", "Myths of the Near Future - Part One", "Myths of the Near Future - Part Two" and "Myths of the Near Future - Part Three".