”A dynamic and very appealing melodic approach and personal way of playing the piano.”
Jan Olsson, Skånska Dagbladet

”What a musician, what a great sense of the magic of those black and white keys this man owns.”
Tomas Pranell, SydÖstran

”He played with powerful authority during constant, spontaneous applauses induced by the flow of ideas coming completely from his fingers.”
Christer Nilsson, Orkester Journalen

Awarded with ”Lommas Kulturpris 2008” and awarded “Jazz musician of the year in Skåne” 2007 & 2008 by Jan Olsson, Skånska Dagbladet.

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The dynamic young Swedish pianist, Mattias Nilsson captures his audience through his ability to swing and his appealing melodic approach. "No unnecessary notes, a great springiness to his touch, a personal and very appealing melodic taste." (Jan Olsson, Skånska Dagbladet).

Nilsson sprang from the jazz piano tradition, inspired by musicians such as Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson but also Brad Mehldau and the Swedish pianists Lars Jansson, Jan Johansson and Bengt Hallberg to name a few. He has received a lot of prasie by the writers and journalists in different jazz magazines and magazines. In 2008 he was awarded with Lomma Culture Prize and voted Jazz musician of the year in Skåne for the second time (also voted in 2007) by Jan Olsson, Skånska Dagbladet (Scanian Newspaper).

In the fall of 2009 he played with a quartet consisting of the great bass player Lasse Lundström, Danish tenor giant Jesper Thilo and the legendary big band drummer Butch Miles (Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis a.o.) at the Malmoe Concert Hall in Malmoe, Sweden.

Mattias has always followed his own path and that is why, when he was offered a place at the Musical Academy in Malmo 2004, he turned it down. He wanted to learn things that you can only learn by playing in public. Playing in public led to Mattias becoming extremely active on the Malmo jazz scene. He created new opportunities for playing jazz, thus creating meeting places for the musicians and for the public. Places such as”Stompin´ at the Savoy – Mattias Nilsson with guests” (2006-2008) and his own jazz club”The Way WE Play” (2007-2008) are outstanding examples of his contributions to the Malmo live jazz scene. He has organized all of his projects without any financial support.

The music of Nilsson sprang from the jazz tradition where swinging and beautiful melodies play a significant part, but Nilsson also cherishes his Swedish legacy consisting of songs, psalms, folk songs and Swedish composers such as Wilhelm Peterson-Berger.
Lasse Lundström, René Sandoval, Jonas Castell, Roger Berg, Pelle ”Trazan” Jonasson, Jonas Holgersson are some of the people who have played with the trio.

Mattias Nilsson was born in Karlskrona in the south of Sweden on October 20th 1980. He was raised in Bjärred, Skåne and began playing the piano at the age of 3 to 4 years old. He was giving classical piano lessons from his father, who at an early stage found out that Mattias wanted to improvise instead of playing what was written. At the age of 8, Nilsson made his debut by accompanying the famous Swedish operetta singer Sonja Stjernquist.

As a child Mattias was always surrounded by all kinds of music, as his father loved listening to a wide range of music, especially jazz and classical music. Father and son used to play a lot together in a playful way and with the attitude that it should be fun making music. This attitude is something Mattias still cherishes to this day.

After diverse studies in the African American music and tradition (The Musical Program at Spyken, Lund; Kapellsbergs, Härnösand Folk High School; Bollnäs Folk High School; Fridhem Folk High School, Svalöv), Nilsson began his freelancing career as a musician, playing in a lot of different groups as well as playing in various musical styles, such as jazz, blues, gospel, salsa, rock and pop. He was offered a place at the Musical Academy in Malmo 2004 but turned it down as he chose to go his own way, to learn from his own experiences.

Nilsson started to attend various jam sessions and to organize new live scenes in Malmo. Between the autumn of 2006 and summer 2008 he held his weekly “Stompin´ at the Savoy – Live Jazz with Mattias Nilsson and guests”, at The Savoy in Malmo. This turned out to be a great success; by doing so he created a new meeting place for live jazz as well as for people of all ages.

In 2006 he took part in Sweden’s largest competition for”Classic Jazz” together with female vocalist Elin Wrede. The Group won first place as well as “Vote of the public”. The concert was recorded live by Swedish National Radio.

In 2007 The Mattias Nilsson Trio went on tour. The trio played 15 concerts in 17 days and the trio received a very warm reception everywhere they performed. The following year, in 2008, Nilsson got an invitation to perform at the famous Grand Jazz Party in Lund. Later that year he was awarded with Lomma Culture Prize and he was also voted Jazz musician of the year in Skåne for the second time (also voted in 2007) by Jan Olsson, Skånska Dagbladet.

The Jazz club “The Way WE Play” was opened by Nilsson in the autumn of 2007. Without any financial support, he managed to create a new live jazz scene in Malmo. With concerts and jam sessions every week, he offered local musicians a new scene and with the jam sessions; it eventually became the meeting place for musicians and creative people as well as for the growing and enthusiastic audience.

In the fall of 2009 he played with a quartet consisting of the great bass player Lasse Lundström, Danish tenor giant Jesper Thilo and the legendary big band drummer Butch Miles (Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis a.o.) at the Malmoe Concert Hall in Malmoe, Sweden.

Mattias´ approach to Music can be resumed in his own words: “…for myself and for a lot of the musicians I admire, the main focus is to get that beat swinging, to have fun and more importantly, to share those feelings with the audience. In every new musical challenge, I try to have an open approach. Music is a wonderful gift, its’ most important task being to communicate between hearts and souls.”

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