ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY
OTHER ISSUES MMVV: 2025
ÓSKAR GUDJONSSON & MAGNÚS JÓHANN
The pianist Magnús Jóhann and the saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson share an insatiable curiosity for the world around them, whether it’s music, espresso machines, or saxophone reeds. Although born in Reykjavík twenty years apart, they have found a natural connection and a sound that is deeply Icelandic. Founder of the band ADHD, Óskar accepted Magnús’s proposal to record a duet album. Together, they rehearsed weekly and wrote new music before entering the studio in May 2023.
The city of Reykjavík, Iceland's capital, has just over 120,000 inhabitants. Two of them are ÓSKAR GUÐJÓNSSON and MAGNÚS JÓHANN. Both of their grandfathers were harbour guards and they were both jazz musicians. Both admire and are inspired by Jóhannes Kjarval, who was a poor fisherman that became Iceland’s most revered painter. He always painted on the borderline between consciousness and imagination, which is also the place where Icelandic landscapes are. On saxophone and piano, respectively, GUÐJÓNSSON and JÓHANN also aim to inhabit this delicate and unstructured threshold. Their album is called ‘fermented friendship’, a title reflecting the way it was made: slowly, through weekly meetings, mutual influence, and organic growth. Watch the live performances they’ve recorded at home, and you’ll understand: to grasp their music is to aspire to live in the quiet, familiar intimacy of this edge-of-the-world place.
Jordi Graupera
Political scientist