Cosmic Ear – Traces (LP)

Cosmic Ear is a new group bringing together Christer Bothn, Mats Gustafsson, Goran Kajfe, Kansan Zetterberg and Juan Romero. Their debut album TRACES is released by We Jazz Records on 23rd of May, 2025. Including 6 deep cuts, TRACES is an album that sees Cosmic Ear tracking down the “traces” of the legendary Don Cherry’s legacy while paving their own way in contemporary creative music expression.

Christer Bothn, a collaborator with Don Cherry during his Swedish period in the 1970s, brings depth to the history of the band, while his bandmates each belong at the top of the game in Scandinavian jazz. Their music is meditative and deep, much recommended for fans of the likes of Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, and Pharoah. That being said, listeners should approach Cosmic Ear only with openness and curiosity, without set stylistic boundaries, as it’s the group’s natural flow and togetherness that brings their music into a fresh territory of their own.

As John Corbett writes in his liner notes:

“The Cosmic Ear. Five souls, sometimes six, on the same road. The pied piper path of Mr. Cherry. Christer Bothn, one of Cherrys main collaborators in his Swedish period and one of the most beautiful bass clarinetists on planet earth, together with next-gen saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, who has carried so many torches in Cherrys procession, and younger Swedish stars trumpeter Goran Kajfes, bassist Kansan Zetterberg, and percussionist Juan Romero. Together a tempo is set, a path is charted. There are global grooves. A berimbau, a karignan (metal scraper from Guinea), donso ngoni. There are ET grooves. Synth, live-electronics, slide flute. The globe is a glove, a hand warmer that radiates with extraterrestrial power, returning the fingers to their place at the center of the galaxy; the Cherry path is a balm that restores essential moisture to the lips that blow life back into the megacosm. Let us all praise warm fingers and moist mouths.”
credits
releases May 23, 2025

Christer Bothn; donso ngoni, bass clarinet, contra bass clarinet, piano
Mats Gustafsson; tenor sax, flute, slide flute, Ab clarinet, live electronics, organ, harmonica
Goran Kajfe; trumpet, pocket trumpet, synth, electronics, percussion
Juan Romero; congas, berimbau and percussion
Kansan Zetterberg; bass, donso ngoni

Special guest: Marianne NLemwo, karignan

Recorded by Gustav Lindelw at Studio Ingrid, Stockholm
Mixed by Andreas Werliin at Puttane
Mastered by Juho Luukkainen
Liner notes by John Corbett
Band photo by Johan Bergmark
Original artwork by Christer Bothn
Design by Matti Nives

Produced by Cosmic Ear and Matti Nives