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Rymden

Dec 24, 2025 By Irina Shtreis Photography by Cem Gültepe

Jazz and Istanbul seem almost synonymous, especially when the Bosphorus Strait takes on darker hues, reflecting the late autumn skies.

It is during this time that the Akbank Jazz Festival, one of the city’s most vibrant jazz events, takes place. Its summertime counterpart, Istanbul Jazz Festival, also does a great job, amplifying the lively music scene of this eclectic megapolis. The two events complement one another as AJF makes a transition into the colder season, smooth and joyful.

With its sterling line-up this year, the 35th Akbank Jazz Festival reveals various facets of the genre. From Norwegian prog-jazz to Pakistani spiritual take, peppered with intense spoken-word vocals. Just like the city hosting it, the festival becomes an all-inclusive ground where different styles peacefully co-exist.

Taking over multiple iconic venues, the 35th Akbank Jazz Festival is large-scale. One might come across events at more intimate jazz clubs such as Bova, hidden in the busy hub of Taksim, and concert halls, like Zorlu Center PSM, inserted in the glossy shopping mall of the same name in the residential Osmanbey district.

One of the international acts performing at the latter is Rymden, a Norwegian trio featuring Bugge Wesseltoft on keyboards, Dan Berglund on double bass, and Magnus Öström on drums. The last two are known from the Swedish project Esbjorn Svensson Trio, while Norwegian-born Wesseltoft has produced several works under the umbrella of New Conception Of Jazz. Considering the international status of these collectives, Rymden is a supergroup.

Drummer Magnus Öström, who played with Rymden in Istanbul in 2019, expresses their love for the city by addressing the audience in Turkish. The following ephemeral impressionistic intro evokes scenes from nouvelle vague films. There is an undeniable cinematic power in Rymden’s music: Öström’s nuanced percussion, Berglund’s tenacious basslines, and Wesseltoft’s contribution balancing between pitter-patter piano and sci-fi-sounding synthesiser.

The presence of Rymden at the 35th Akbank Jazz Festival reflects the event’s adventurous interpretation of jazz as a developing and fluid phenomenon. There are too many facets to Rymden’s sonic world to place it in any specific category. Psych-prog halo of “The Hike” from the 2023 album Valleys and Mountains conjures up the late 60s British trio Bobak, Jons, Malone, while more abstract improvisations echo hazy instrumentals by Mikael Tariverdiev from Soviet films such as 17 Moments of Spring. On “Himmel”, haunted dub transforms into ambient, with Öström operating customised chimes engaging in a dialogue with Wesseltoft’s outlandish synth pad.

Finishing off their sonic journey with the encore, Rymden performed a topical composition called “Ro”, which translates from Swedish/Norwegian as “peace” or “calmness”. Its soothing pace spiced with the oriental double bass line (reminiscent of the traditional Ethiopian instrument masenqo) is almost meditation-like. Purely instrumental, it conveys a powerful message: peace is easy to achieve when at least one side can listen carefully.