This month at Roxy Bar located in the Roxy Hotel New York, we’re proud to feature the acclaimed Swedish jazz trumpeter Oskar Stenmark. Oskar explores the traditional melodies he inherited from his ancestors by fusing them together with the sounds of New York City. Get to know Oskar before he makes his mark on Roxy Bar on Friday, June 14th. Reserve your table HERE.
NAME: Oskar Stenmark
HOMETOWN: Gothenburg, Sweden.
MUSICAL TRAINING: Bachelor in Improvisation at University of Gothenburg, Master of Music – Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music.
FIRST GIGS: One of my first gigs was with a ska band from southern Sweden, we went on tour to Germany and it was a wild ride – I must have been 19 or 20 years old.
MY MUSICAL INFLUENCES: Big influences are artists like Stevie Wonder, Ray Hargrove and D’Angelo, classical composers such as Stravinsky, Mahler and Shostakovich – also painters such as Kandinsky and Monet.
LATEST MUSICAL PROJECTS: I released my second album as a bandleader, mixing the melodies I have inherited from my ancestors in Sweden. I am the tenth generation in my family to play music and it resulted in ”In front of me”, a collaboration with the musical collective ”45 Riots”.
FAVORITE PLACE TO GO IN NYC: North Woods in Central Park, it doesn’t feel like you are in a big city anymore and I love the chance of clearing your mind by listening to a waterfall.
THIS YEAR I HOPE TO: Expand my music in many directions, including my Swedish/NYC Jazz project with 45 Riots, the band Brass Against I am a member of – but also my band ”Presence” that you can hear at the Roxy.
WHY I LOVE PERFORMING AT THE ROXY BAR: It represents what I love about music; people coming together from all around the world to have a good time, eat and drink something while listening to beautiful music. It is very fulfilling watching the audience enjoy their company and at the same time appreciating what we do on stage – I believe that they both contribute to the magic that I have encountered at the Roxy!
