Equally adept as a saxophonist and composer, Óskar Guðjónsson’s presence has been a marker of quality on numerous jazz and contemporary music recordings in Iceland. His eclectic interests have exploded onto ambitious solo albums spanning introspective jazz, timeless popular songs, and innovative collaborations. He has released several solo albums and collaborated with a wide range of artists, including jazz-bass legend Skúli Sverrisson and drummer Jim Black.

Growing up in the tight-knit musical community of Reykjavík was a godsend for Óskar Guðjónsson’s voracious creative appetite. Since his teens, he has been an artist in high demand, and the confounding variety of projects he’s worked on has seen him grow in many directions simultaneously. Nevertheless, he has carved out a personal sonic niche characterized by bold melodic colors, space for improvisation, jazz harmony, and a healthy disregard for genre conventions.

Although trained as a jazz saxophonist, Óskar Guðjónsson finds inspiration in–well– nearly everything. ‘If your creative antenna is powered on,’ he says, ‘the most mundane things or activities can be sources of deep inspiration.’ Maybe this helps explain his innovative approach to music and his ability to blend different genres seamlessly. When one finds the world so rich with meaning, nothing is simple or single-sided. The same holds true for Óskar Guðjónsson’s music: it is never merely serious or silly, loud or quiet, plain or complex… it is neither this nor that, but always many things at once.