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Trombonist Oscar Utterström plays his horn with a warm and sensitive tone. Mixing jazz with rock and electronica, the Oscar Utterström Quintet is the ultimate experience in improvised music. Oscar's writing mixes his Swedish roots with the American jazz tradition, giving the finished product a unique sound. To top things off, the use of electric trombone and a DJ makes this group one of the most exciting groups on the scene today. Their new CD Home was released in May of 2008.
Oscar is also an active arranger, having written the horn arrangements for vocalist Christina Watson’s latest album. He is also the band-leader/arranger/composer of Nashville’s own TV-show Music City Live.
Oscar grew up in Sweden and started playing the trombone at the age of ten. He began his musical career at the music school in Växjö. When Oscar was twelve, he moved with his family to Belgium where he continued playing in various bands, including blues bands, concert bands and fanfare orchestras.
After graduating from high school, Oscar took his trombone to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he majored in Music Business/Management. While at Berklee, he studied trombone with mentors like Phil Wilson, Hal Crook, Jeff Galindo, Tiger Okoshi, Lin Biviano, and Charles Lewis.
After graduating Summa Cum Laude from Berklee, Oscar moved down to Nashville where he worked as a Production Assistant at The Sessions Agency on Music Row before deciding to get his masters in Jazz Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in May of 2005. Through Middle Tennessee State University Oscar had the privilege to play with masters such as Jim McNeely, Benny Golson, Carl Allen, and Eddie Daniels.
Today, Oscar is very active on the music scene in the southeastern US, as well as internationally, having performed in China, South Korea, and Europe. When not performing with his own group, he can be heard with groups such as Afinke Salsa Orchestra, the Christina Watson Quintet, Halfbrass, and the Nashville Jazz Orchestra. As a freelance trombonist, Oscar has had the opportunity to perform with acts such as the Temptations, Wycliffe Gordon, Jeff Coffin, David “Fathead” Newman, Nils Landgren, My Morning Jacket, Kirk Whalum, and the Four Tops.
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