You might think that Free Swing is a fitting name for a jazz quartet, but there is actually more to it in the case of this international band of four; the two words are composed of the internationally customary abbreviations of the countries of origin of the protagonists: Trumpeter Axel Schlosser comes from Germany (GER), tenor saxophonist Karl-Martin Almqvist and bassist Mattias Welin from Sweden (SWE) and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen from Finland (FIN).

Of course, Free Swing also stands for the music of the quartet: "We play music that swings," Axel Schlosser put it in a nutshell, "but it is very freely designed.”

The four musicians are well-established protagonists of the European jazz scene. Axel Schlosser has been the soloist of the "hr big band" for twenty years and also maintains his own ensembles. Swedish tenor saxophonist Karl-Martin Almqvist has already released four CDs with his own quartet, has collaborated with Pat Metheny, Dave Liebman and Dee Dee Bridgewater and was part of the Norrbotten Big Band and the Danish Radio Big Band in Copenhagen. Mattias Welin has been a sought-after bassist on the Scandinavian scene for years. Jaska Lukkarinen was influenced by drummers such as John Riley, Adam Nussbaum, and Ari Hoenig, from whom he learned his trade.

The music of Free Swing really sounds fresh; the four musicians whirl through eleven tracks with a lot of energy, all of which are their own compositions except for one Brahms arrangement. The songs are not only vehicles for improvisations, but also captivate with original themes such as the Latin influence in Almqvist's "Welin in Acapulco" or the beautiful ballad "Near Birches, Birds and Bees", which Axel Schlosser composed. A piece by Axel Schlosser, with which the album closes, proves that Free Swing, despite its enthusiasm for freedom, has also preserved a heart for tradition: “If There Is No Blues…”