Christoffersson Dobrogosz Page

Press release - IT'S ALWAYS YOU (Swedish Grammy nominated Best Jazz Album 2006)

It's not easy to categorize Steve Dobrogosz' music and then get the labels to stick. Dobrogosz, who is equally at home in the classical idiom as he is in popular music, moves comfortably in quarters where Cole Porter and George Gershwin don't have trouble being good neighbours with artists like Keith Jarrett, Shania Twain or Lennon/McCartney. His songs are just as remarkably timeless as they are refreshingly borderless. Not jazz, not pop, just music...

The songs on the new album It's Always You have the unmistakable tone of something well known and comfortable despite the knowledge that such is not the case. It's as if they've always been there, waiting for the right opportunity and the right context before choosing to present themselves to a broader audience. Some of them have already appeared in less auspicious circumstances, such as demo recordings or as interpreted by others. But it required a chance meeting, a lucky coincidence, to attract them all out into the light.

Anna Christoffersson comes from Gothenburg and grew up in a musical family. She has always sung; music has been the center of her life right from the start. Still, taking the precarious step of concentrating solely on music was not something she was sure she wanted to do. Kulturama, Stockholm's School of Performing Arts, provided the opportunity to work with music on a fulltime basis, to see if taking that chance was right for her. She wound up practically moving into the school, practicing constantly, writing songs and rapidly developing as a musician and a singer. While at Kulturama she started singing gospel as well. There were also numerous jam sessions singing the blues at jazz club Stampen during those years.

In the spring of 2004, at the auditions to the vocal program at Stockholm's Musikpedagogiska Institut (University College of Music Education), Dobrogosz agreed at short notice to fill in as accompanist when the regular pianist fell ill. Among those trying-out was Anna Christoffersson, who had chosen two classic blues numbers for her audition: Bessie Smith's Backwater Blues and Body and Soul. The musical chemistry was there right from the start in a meeting that was tumultuous for both of them (...and Anna Christoffersson was of course accepted). When, a short time later, Dobrogosz was about to make a demo recording of some new songs, he decided to see if the girl who had knocked him out at the college audition might also suit his own music. It was a perfect match from the very first note.


		STEVE DOBROGOSZ / ANNA CHRISTOFFERSSON MySpace booking: MTA Production


		videos/tracks Remember Me Rivertime It Was Only Love live: Something A Baby Understands Life With You/Higher reviews Sweden Sweden New Zealand Germany concert review
		Press release - RIVERTIME (Swedish Grammy nominated Best Jazz Album 2008) The Dynamic Duo is an epithet usually reserved for DC Comics superheroes Batman and Robin, but for those of us who’ve seen Steve Dobrogosz and Anna Christoffersson deliver before an audience recently the title now has new owners. With a repertoire that includes music from their debut success It’s Always You, songs from Anna’s solo album One, well-chosen covers and, not least, the high-octane material from their new CD Rivertime, the duo generates an energy on stage that can only be described as explosive. Few Swedish recordings, regardless of genre, have been praised so unanimously by the press in recent years as Dobrogosz and Christoffersson’s first collaboration It’s Always You. ”The duo lifts jazz to heavenly heights” wrote Svenska Dagbladet, and the Stockholm City paper declared ”A singing star is born – you can be sure of that.” The public also took the duo to heart, making It’s Always You one of the top-selling jazz albums in recent years. As an indication of things to come, their release concert at Fasching (Stockholm’s jazz club) was not only packed to standing room only, but a long line of people down the street outside had to be turned away – something very rare for Swedish artists. It was a new and big step for Anna, from being a student at the SMI singing pedagogy institute to suddenly figuring in literally every branch of Swedish media, including engaging appearances on popular TV shows like Så ska det låta and Doobidoo. For Steve it wasn’t as great an upheaval, as he’d already seen success with the classic Fairy Tales recording (from 1982, with Radka Toneff). But as with Fairy Tales, both critics and audience found it difficult to categorize It’s Always You. The answer to the question ”Is it jazz or pop?” lies somewhere between “neither nor and probably both”. Both albums are excellent examples of music that doesn’t limit itself with labels. Along with touring together in Sweden, Steve and Anna have been busy since their 2006 debut. Anna wrote and recorded her solo album One, comprised almost entirely of her original music and lyrics, and has toured the country with her band. Steve released a solo piano CD and has performed internationally with his choir music – in among other countries, Japan – in venues such as Westminster Abbey with the queen in attendance. In December 2007 the dynamic duo, with producer Göran Petersson, created the tracks that would become Rivertime, which like It’s Always You was recorded in Stockholm’s Atlantis studio and engineered by Janne Hansson. Rivertime contains solely original material by Dobrogosz. From the intense opening title track to the last instrumental reprise, these songs perhaps more than ever demonstrate his ability to write timeless material with solid content and core. Add to this that in the studio the duo succeeded in charging the songs with the same explosive energy they share on stage, and the result is an organic whole above and beyond.

		Press release - IT'S ALWAYS YOU (Swedish Grammy nominated Best Jazz Album 2006) It's not easy to categorize Steve Dobrogosz' music and then get the labels to stick. Dobrogosz, who is equally at home in the classical idiom as he is in popular music, moves comfortably in quarters where Cole Porter and George Gershwin don't have trouble being good neighbours with artists like Keith Jarrett, Shania Twain or Lennon/McCartney. His songs are just as remarkably timeless as they are refreshingly borderless. Not jazz, not pop, just music... The songs on the new album It's Always You have the unmistakable tone of something well known and comfortable despite the knowledge that such is not the case. It's as if they've always been there, waiting for the right opportunity and the right context before choosing to present themselves to a broader audience. Some of them have already appeared in less auspicious circumstances, such as demo recordings or as interpreted by others. But it required a chance meeting, a lucky coincidence, to attract them all out into the light. Anna Christoffersson comes from Gothenburg and grew up in a musical family. She has always sung; music has been the center of her life right from the start. Still, taking the precarious step of concentrating solely on music was not something she was sure she wanted to do. Kulturama, Stockholm's School of Performing Arts, provided the opportunity to work with music on a fulltime basis, to see if taking that chance was right for her. She wound up practically moving into the school, practicing constantly, writing songs and rapidly developing as a musician and a singer. While at Kulturama she started singing gospel as well. There were also numerous jam sessions singing the blues at jazz club Stampen during those years. In the spring of 2004, at the auditions to the vocal program at Stockholm's Musikpedagogiska Institut (University College of Music Education), Dobrogosz agreed at short notice to fill in as accompanist when the regular pianist fell ill. Among those trying-out was Anna Christoffersson, who had chosen two classic blues numbers for her audition: Bessie Smith's Backwater Blues and Body and Soul. The musical chemistry was there right from the start in a meeting that was tumultuous for both of them (...and Anna Christoffersson was of course accepted). When, a short time later, Dobrogosz was about to make a demo recording of some new songs, he decided to see if the girl who had knocked him out at the college audition might also suit his own music. It was a perfect match from the very first note.