
SIMON WESTMAN
SIMON WESTMAN
BIOGRAPHY
Simon Westman (born 1979 in Jakarta, Indonesia) grew up in the Swedish town Sundsvall. As a child, Simon often sat down at an old Farfisa organ in his home, trying to pick out melodies by ear and playing around on the keys. A few years later, a real upright piano was given to the family and Simon started to take piano lessons.
In 1998 Simon moved to Piteå, in the northern part of Sweden, where he studied music at Framnäs Folkhögskola. Two years later, Simon headed south to Gothenburg, when he was accepted at the Gothenburg University of music. The Swedish jazz pianist Anders Persson was teaching there, and Simon became his student during a couple of years. After graduating in Gothenburg, Simon continued his music studies at Cologne University of Music in Germany, where he studied under the British jazz pianist John Taylor. Still, Simon is very influenced by Taylor, both in composition and piano playing.
Today, Simon is based in Gothenburg. He is a highly appreciated pianist that can be heard in many groups/constellations and recordings. He has performed and worked with jazz artists/bands such as Georg Riedel, Bohuslän Big Band and Nisse Landgren, and pop artists such as Nordman, Mikkey D, Linda Bengtzing, Dogge Doggelito and Nanne Grönvall.
Simon is a member of several Swedish jazz groups, such as Westman Boson Standard Quartet, Anders Boson Jazz Ensemble, Hamrå Orkester, AGLAIA, Ewan Svensson Quartet, Göteborg Jazz Orchestra etc. During the years he has toured in countries like Japan, Germany, Italy and performed at venues like Montreux Jazz Festival.
In 2019, Simon formed his own trio "Simon Westman Trio", together with bassist Magnus Bergström and drummer Magnus Gran. Simon began composing music for the trio, and in 2020 they recorded their debut album "Stay a while. It was released on renown record label Prophone Records (Naxos Jazz) and the album received good reviews from different jazz magazines. In 2023 the trio released their second album "Moving Forward", and today they have reached over 5,5 million streams on Spotify.
"...a piano trio with magnificent qualities, whose wonderfully warm tone should attract far more than just jazz lovers"
- Mats Hallberg, Orkester Journalen -
"Without exception, we are talking about exceptionally beautiful melodies that invite you to a universe where beauty is given free rein" - Tor Hammerø, Nettavisen
A new project is also about to see the light of day, a collaboration with Swedish singer Alexander Lövmark that started in the autumn of 2024. In the very near future they will record some really nice music, stay tuned!