Kicking off its tour on September 24, at Vara Konserthus, the groundbreaking production “Den här tiden” merges spoken word poetry by Daniel Boyacioglu with jazz pianist Mathias Landæus and the Grammy-nominated Bohuslän Big Band, forging a politically charged, genre-defying musical landscape across Sweden.
The Bottom Line
- The Premiere: “Den här tiden” launches its national tour on September 24, at Vara Konserthus before traveling to Lund, Göteborg, Upplands-Väsby, and Stockholm.
- The Collective: The production unites poet Daniel Boyacioglu, jazz pianist Mathias Landæus, and the world-class Bohuslän Big Band under an artistic vision exploring identity, power, and contemporary society.
- The Musical Scale: Arrangements elevate intimate material from Boyacioglu and Landæus’s previous collaborative albums into expansive, monumental orchestral textures.
When Big Band Jazz Meets the Spoken Word
Late September marks the official launch of “Den här tiden“, a striking cross-disciplinary production hosted by Vara Konserthus. Here is the kicker: instead of playing safe standards, the project drops poet and estradeur Daniel Boyacioglu right into the roaring, dynamic klangwelt of the Bohuslän Big Band, anchored by the lyrical precision of jazz pianist Mathias Landæus.
This isn’t your grandfather’s jazz concert. The material takes sharp aim at the fractures and unifying threads of modern society. Boyacioglu’s texts confront identity, belonging, love, and political power, balancing sharp critique with intense vulnerability. According to Vara Konserthus CEO Karin Beckman, the collaboration exemplifies the venue’s core mission to foster unexpected artistic collisions that defy neat categorization.
Scaling Up: From Intimate Trios to Monumental Orchestration
Translating spoken word into a big band arrangement requires immense dynamic restraint. The production draws heavily from music originally featured on Daniel Boyacioglu and Mathias Landæus Trio’s albums Bön för världen and Älska oss nu. But scale changes everything. As Bohuslän Big Band saxophonist Linus Lindblom notes, the collaboration pushes the absolute limits of what a modern big band can achieve.
Landæus’s improvisational fluency weaves through the orchestra’s massive sonic register. The resulting arrangements deliberately oscillate between sparse, naked moments where the spoken syllables hang completely unprotected in the room, and explosive, wall-of-sound crescendos that match the weight of Boyacioglu’s socio-political themes.
Tour Logistics and Institutional Backbone
For jazz enthusiasts tracking elite Scandinavian ensembles, the involvement of Bohuslän Big Band adds significant weight. Praised as “A World Class Jazz Orchestra” by Quincy Jones, the ensemble heads into this tour fresh off a Grammy nomination ahead of the American Grammy Awards 2026. Operating under an artistic mandate from the Västra Götalandsregionen as part of Vara Konserthus, the band boasts a history of bridging the gap between international jazz royalty—such as Vince Mendoza, John Beasley, and Maria Schneider—and beloved Swedish vocalists.
Following its high-profile premiere in Vara, the tour hits major urban hubs and cultural centers across the country:
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| September 24 | Vara | Vara Konserthus (Turnépremiär) |
| September 25 | Lund | Stadshallen |
| September 27 | Göteborg | Stora Teatern |
| September 29 | Upplands-Väsby | Messingen |
| September 30 | Stockholm | Kulturhuset Stadsteatern |
Tickets are currently available directly through Vara Konserthus and the respective regional venues. As Boyacioglu—whose expansive career spans literary poetry collections and an opera for the Kungliga Operan—brings his distinctive vocal cadence to the stage alongside Landæus and the orchestra, audiences are guaranteed an evening that refuses to stay inside the lines.
The Cultural Takeaway
Projects like “Den här tiden” remind us why live performance remains irreplaceable in an era dominated by algorithmic playlists and risk-averse programming. By forcing a collision between spoken word lyricism and heavy orchestral jazz, the production challenges listeners to rethink how political and personal narratives are delivered on major stages. How do you feel about poetry stepping outside of quiet bookstores and into the sonic footprint of a massive big band? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
