“I don’t think I was the only one who was completely fascinated by Jonas Johansen’s drumming. He took the lead from time to time, but was always very supportive  in the background when needed and frequently varied his solid groove with
wonderful fills on the toms.”

“Jonas Johansen…is finally allowed to fire it up in the closing number…Oh, how charitable.”

“…Jonas Johansen laid a secure foundation. He belongs among the best practitioners of his
profession in the country, and his playing is hard and poetic at the same time.”

“Drummer Jonas Johansen got his big part halfway through the second set…He hit the drums and
bells and let his rattle work sweep across the skins of the drums before giving the tom-toms a turn
with the clubs and then just spiced it all up with a – for jazz – rather hard-hitting drum solo. It was
really a pleasure both to watch and to listen to.”

“…with both straight-ahead solos and ensemble work a match for any comparable band. If indeed
such a band exists.” (On Blanco y Negro “Timbero”)

”Music at the highest level, self-assure, competent, and powerful. These five know exactly what
they are doing”

“The interplay between Percussionist Eliel Lazo’s rhythmic figures and Jonas Johansen’s informal
drive is perfect”

“It’s breathtakingly virtuoso.”

“Oh my goodness, that sounds good. Johansen has laid out some strict and demanding guidelines
and pressured the young musicians to do their best. That one can even doubt that RMC no longer
trains “jazz” musicians should be silenced when you hear this record.”

“Especially the drum battle between Jonas Johansen and Niclas Bardeleben was terrific.”

“Mike Stern…on Dexter in Odense. The interaction with Chris Minh Doky was excellent, and the
two were closely supported by drummer Jonas Johansen.”

… with a super drum track from Johansen, his ride cymbal playing capturing the turbulence of the wind

Jonas Johansen … was the guarantor of a rousing pulse which, by virtue of the subdued language of the Bossa Nova, can seem simple, but requires musical bonanza to perform. With Jonas Johansen the rhythm was brought to live, by very small accents, punktuations and dynamic audacity

Chris Minh Doky and Jonas Johansen came together in a fantastic drive, that just made the music swing – divinely

In the later https://danmarkpillen.com/kob-aldactone/ years Johansen has, by the way he masters to “drag” his beats – rather than to “beat” them, and by his “whipping” gusto, risen to a very distinguished successor to Elvin Jones – without any clone-like about it. For that, he’s too interested in other challenges. There is not many patterns or grooves he doesn’t master, and his almost professorial wingspan is cemented by this release

… and purely symbiotic, became the interplay Friday, when duo (Enrico Pieranunzi and Jesper Lundgaard) became a trio, and the drummer Jonas Johansen laid a crackling fire under the whole thing. Johansen can play with the highest intensity, without increasing his volume, and can be a maximum of loyal, yet controlling … the evenings main character (Pieranunzi) used Johansen’s potential to show the connections between a number of themes as well as to free passages, where nothing but the tremendous musicianship of the trio, was holding up the music … Jazz doesn’t get much better

Danish power drummer Jonas Johansen was an excellent example of the need for taste when hitting hard. He found his place in the music with natural ease, but despite his awesome technique and big prescence he knew the importance of allowing space for the music to breeze. Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette had it, and so does the young and exuberant Dane. I’m keen to hear his trio with Steve Swallow and Hans Ulrik, but that will have to wait for another time

With ‘Up’ MOVE takes abeautiful step upwards. And the ‘Bolero’ has all the of becoming a long lasting hit!

… Johansen clearly appreciates jazz’s broader continuum. With a confident swing and the kind of elastic time sense that seems to be de rigueur for Scandinavian drummers in particular, Johansen was able to navigate even the more rigorous meters of some of Swallow’s compositions

An exemplary combination- ….if you look at a number like Jonas Johansen’s ‘Mosse’, then it is actually characteristic of the way Swallow composes Also his ‘It Will All Get Better’ is a wonderful example … of how closely the three musicians (Ulrik, Swallow and Johansen) have meshed together

The playing is very dynamic, from not just the piano but the whole band, including great drum solos from Jonas Johansen (whom I recently caught live with Ulf Wakenius, and his drum solos were just as nice on stage as they are on this recording

Jonas Johansen is a unique musician. His playing is extremely versatile, it sounds like he has four arms. A springy lightness combined with fine dynamics and drive, but also strong concentration. I never heard someone who is so much at one with his instrument

…when Jonas Johansen…was allowed to spread his wings it was the rhythmic subtlety and energetic drive of the music that lifted it skyward. Especially in the interaction between [John] Taylor and Jonas Johansen were there moments of magic to be found

And precisely here is where Jonas Johansen’s elaborately dynamic drumming comes in is an obvious stimulating factor: not only is his accompaniment extremely alert, he also seems to inspire both [Karsten] Houmark and pianist Thomas Clausen to express themselves with a remarkable combination of daring and concentration… and it is after all not too often one can credit a drummer for such a large part of a successful result.

…in his [Jonas Johansen’s] ability to not only mark the time with razor-like sharpness (as in the solo in Night in Tunesia), but also to move on the edge of the time and thereby add an elasticity to the music, was he capable of lifting the whole orchestra… [Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra with Joe Henderson as soloist]

It must be said that he [John Scofield] also had the best backing

imaginable in Jonas Johansen.