Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra

RIYL: Mats Gustafsson, Fire! Orchestra, Antibalas, Sons of Kemet, Dungen, Nala Sinephro, Jaga Jazzist, The Comet Is Coming, Arun Ghosh, Don Cherry, Enrico Rava, Tomasz Stańko, Miles Davis.

Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra doesn't play songs—they conjure sonic weather systems. After a hiatus, this unruly force returns, pulsing with new life and electric memory. At the helm is Kajfeš, trumpet sorcerer and conductor of chaos, who steers his ensemble through a rich topography of sound—part psych-jazz ritual, part cinematic detour. Subtropic Arkestra has never been about genre fidelity; it’s an ecstatic blur of influence and invention, where Anatolian rhythms, Afrobeat pulses, and Brazilian tropicália collide with krautrock spirals and Swedish prog mysticism. The band’s celebrated The Reason Why trilogy remains a touchstone, and we’ll revisit its far-reaching echoes, alongside unreleased transmissions from their latest explorations. Live, they’re less band, more ecstatic engine—relentless, hypnotic, joyously uncontainable. Think post-rock with a brass section, or Sun Ra beaming into a Stockholm basement. This is music that moves like weather—sudden shifts, slow builds, full eruptions. For listeners who find the edges most fertile.

Musicians: Andreas Söderström, Goran Kajfes, Jesper Nordenström, Johan Berthling, Johan Holmegard, Jonas Kullhammar, Per "Ruskträsk" Johansson, Reine Fiske, Robert Östlund.