Daniel Cederskär

Daniel Cederskär was responsible for both the sandwich and the music programming in this small space. A Swedish saxophonist, drummer, and producer based in Malmö, he has built a genre-spanning career rooted in improvisation, curiosity, and a strong musical identity.

Starting out as a teenage punk drummer, he later moved fluidly between reggae, hip-hop, rock, soul, and jazz projects, developing a broad rhythmic and sonic vocabulary.

After studies at Malmö Academy of Music, Daniel formed several experimental bands, such as åddbåpp, Cure-a-Phobia, and Nezelhorns in an Elephant String, while running a small independent record label to release the music created within those circles.

Cure-a-Phobia — Live at Kulturgjuteriet

Cure-a-Phobia began as a conceptual safe zone for confronting fears through music. Within the band he picked up bass clarinet, and together they challenged roles in an experimental workshop where imagination set the limits. All credits belong to Cure-a-Phobia.

Under the Boat — Live Performance at K A R A V A N with Cure-a-Phobia and Versus Operandi

This Cross over project was the culmination of the experimental years at Malmö Music academy and served as Daniels Master Exam. They wanted to explore the meeting of Cure-a-Phobias experimental music and modern dance and created a ”under water” world where the music served as the story telling.

Additionally, he built a freelance career – filling in for DJs, subbing with Faela, working on musicals, and performing in horn sections when legendary groups like Four Tops and The Temptations visited Sweden. He later joined Pelle Hanspers’ band and assisted with label-related work.

At one stage he toured Europe as the drummer in the hard rock project Galt, and a few years later launched his own concept band, Sax On The Beat — a project built around live energy, improvisation, and unfiltered performance, that resulted in a live performance from the top of one of Sweden’s tallest buildings, the Turning Torso here in Malmö.

Turning Torso — live performance

During the pandemic, after discussions with Fredrik Nelderup, then events manager at Turning Torso, the team staged the first live performance on what was then Sweden’s tallest building. Elias Nilsson filmed, Tobias Ekqvist recorded the audio, and everything heard was played live. Even the monitoring cables had to be run discreetly through clothing to avoid signal interference and keep the shot clean.

We asked him to provide a meditation on his musical identity:

“I like to think about music the way Duke Ellington did: there are only two kinds — good music and the other kind. I’m not interested in boxes; I’m interested in sounding like myself.

Improvisational music is where I feel most free, but I’m equally at home floating over electronic beats or stripping things down to minimalist jazz setups. The goal is always the same: honesty, personality, and groove.”

My main voice — the instrument that tells my story without filters — is the alto saxophone.

I also have a deep love for baritone and soprano sax, plus bass clarinet, all instruments I still approach with the same respect and curiosity as when I first picked them up. These days I’m also exploring tenor sax, flute, and a C-melody sax.”

Drums and percussion come naturally and shape my rhythmic thinking, while voice and piano mainly serve as sketchbooks for new ideas. Synths and effect pedals let me stretch the saxophone beyond its traditional role — expanding the register and pushing into new worlds of sound.”

Meditation on music & identity

A personal meditation on Daniel’s relationship with music — why it defines him, and how he strives to stay true to his own sound. The music in the video is from his trio åddbåpps´ third album Ballader, Bråk och lite Blues released, only, on limited number of 180g vinyl.