BIOGRAPHY
"To produce music for piano trio is for me very challenging. I learn new things every day. There are so many aspects of dynamics, my orchestra is full of beautiful acoustic sounds but they still need to be mixed to a well balanced design". Anders Helmerson
Anders Helmerson is an artist who has reinvented himself many times since his first album "End of Illusion" in the 80ies.
Born in a musical family in Sweden where his mother was a piano teacher and his father was a jazz musician, Anders has initially studied classical piano. However, his primary interests evolved toward progressive rock, such as Yes, King Crimson, as well as jazz music as Chick Corea or Bill Evans.
Anders spent three years working on his debut album, “The End of Illusion”, which was completed in 1981 has been released on the Swedish label TMC. The wait for success of his first album kept Anders out of the music scene for years. It will be necessary to wait for the middle of the nineties to see "The End of Illusion" got a cult status and became a big seller after its re-release on the French label Musea Records. A success that encouraged Helmerson's return to music after a long period in which he took time away from music to practice medicine.
With a range of Brazilian artists and the backing of one of Brazil’s premier progressive labels, Som Interior Productions, Helmerson recorded the album, “Fields Of Inertia“.
The result released in 2002 is a combo of progressive rock and Latin jazz with neo-classical flavors.
In 2010, his third album “Triple Ripple” was released after a few years preparations. This was when Anders left the prog sphere and stepped into his own invention stage – prog fusion. The album was launched by Musea Records as a result of collaboration with an German drummer Marco Minnemann and American bassist Bryan Beller. By working it trough, bar by bar it was finally mixed and mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, the U.K.
Since, Anders left the electronica behind and replaced it with a grand piano. In 2018, his fourth album “Quantum House Project” was released. Anders expressed his passion on the keys of a grand piano and he composed music suggesting he had become a jazz musician. For this project, he chose the French musicians Christian Grassart on drums and Thierry Conand on bass. Anders’ “Quantum House Show” live tour started in September 2018 at Vortex Jazz Club in London to be completed at Instituto Ling in Brazil in October 2020.
Prior to his fifth album, his new single “Ritual iDance” was released on 5th June 2020, which was a collaboration with a Japanese drummer Senri Kawaguchi and a Polish bassist Lukasz Chyla.
In 2021, Anders released the fifth album “Opus I” with Lukasz Chyla on bass and drummer Juan Felipe Mejia Tobón. This album featured seven tracks of progressive and innovative original jazz music showcasing the best of Anders’ eclectic contemporary style, which was reviewed as “The world’s first Opus in the key of I – this is music like you have never heard before.”
Quotes
The modal harmonies and keyboard solo with a Chick Corea style lead is very effective. In fact, these guys could open for the Elecktrik Band! There is a nice change of textures to lighter bell sounds and the lyrical Metheny/Mays sound towards the end with continuous cathedral style bell tones later in the song. “Touchdown” ends on a strong note with sounds comparable to Lee Ritenour or ELP.” - MusicEmissions.com
“Anders Helmerson’s new CD “Triple Ripple” is a Jazz Rock Fusion Tour de Force!” - SBWire.com
"There are guest musicians, but keyboard is King with this artist. The classic influences are there, but he also blends a bit of techno. Imagine Wakeman meets Kraftwerk." - H.T. Riekels