ABOUT
His work as a composer is influenced by his practice as a performer of improvised and often experimental music and frequently involves elements of indeterminacy and performer agency.
As a performer he has for the last decade appeared as both bandleader and musical collaborator in a diverse range of roles that frequently cross boundaries of genre and stylistic conventions.
Tumi has released three albums of original music. HLÝNUN, his debut album as a bandleader, featured Magnús Jóhann on keyboards, Skúli Sverrisson on bass and Magnús Trygvason Eliassen on drums and received six nominations for the Icelandic Music Awards 2021, winning the award for Composition of the Year in the Jazz category. Tumi has also released two acclaimed albums of duets with drummer Magnús Trygvason Eliassen, most recently Gleypir Tígur Gleypir Ljón in 2023.
Tumi premiered his latest piece SÓLVERK on the final night of Reykjavík Jazz Festival in August 2024. The piece is written for fifteen performers including a double rhythm section and received great reviews. „A jagged, fierce and thunderous piece full of rhythmic intensity“ critic Kevin Whitlock wrote in Jazzwise.
Tumi has appeared as both composer and performer of music for film and theatre, and wrote the music for the Icelandic National Theatre's production of Phaedra's Love by Sarah Kane.
Some other projects he has participated in include Ingibjörg Turchi, Magnús Jóhann, Benni Hemm Hemm, Óskar Kjartansson and Grísalappalísa among others.
And so to the final night. Following a hard-hitting daytime set by local jazz-rockers Gammar, the proceedings at the Harpa concert hall kicked off with tenor saxophonist-composer Túmi Árnasson [sic] and ‘Sólverk’, his piece for 15 improvising musicians. A jagged, fierce and thunderous piece full of rhythmic intensity, ‘Sólverk’ reminded me a little of the late, much-missed composer Steve Martland at his most strident. As much performance art or sound sculpture as a piece of music, it was a compelling audio-visual experience, with musicians playing all manner of strange instruments and positioning themselves away from the stage to create an immersive, 360-degree sound. This was serious music with a sense of fun, possibly the kind of thing only an Icelander could come up with.
Mike Gates for UK Vibe on Hlýnun:
There is an identity to Árnason’s music that is steadfast. His writing is uncompromising, experimental and tantalisingly unique. … Fully immersive and compellingly brilliant, “Hlýnun” is a true work of art.
Vital Weekly nr. 1299 on Hlýnun:
Combining these bass- and keyboard-dominated soundscapes with sections of free jazz-inspired improvisation makes this an exciting and surprising recording.
Alice Leclercq for Citizen Jazz on a performance at Pan Piper, Paris, December 2019:
The Icelandic duo of saxophonist Tumi Arnason and drummer Magnús Trygvason Eliassen turns out to be quite captivating. They immerse us in a free improvisation set and suddenly opens us up to beaches of incredible sweetness twice. The first time it is a delicacy of saxophone associated with the play with bare hands of the drummer on his drums. In the second, the drummer wraps us in the wadding with his mallet play while the saxophonist, expanding by his effects pedals, takes on a resonance comparable to that of a church.
(Translated from French)
Henning Bolte for All About Jazz on a performance at Pan Piper, Paris, December 2019:
Drummer Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and saxophonist Tumi Árnason, two headstrong musical individuals on ice and fire, have been playing in free improvised mode as a duo for quite a while and released an album Allt er ómælið in early 2019. Their music showed a broad range of dynamics and timbres, from extremely quiet and understated passages to high energy eruptions, often electronically processed.
Dæv Tremblay for Can This Even be Called Music on Allt er ómælið:
This Icelandic duo consisting of solely saxophone and drums has released a brilliant second (sic.) effort with Allt er ómælið —Everything Is Immeasurable. Fittingly, Tumi and Magnús play compositions and improvisations that recall the unfathomable and its many facets. Here, it is a contemplative state, there a crushing feeling, there a serene beauty, and there again an inescapable dread. The duo is, during precise and calculated passages, aided by electronic devices for sound manipulation, and it’s used to truly great effect.
Ettore Garzia for Percosi Musicali on Allt er ómælið:
The accent is placed on the sound and resonances of some melodic lines of the saxophone (also with electronic processing), so that against the background of the climate ignited by the percussion a clear voice is created, very present timbrally; among the many demonstrations of value, Kul kul is the one that most highlights Arnason's technical skills, and also claims an idea of wholeness, where there is jazz, the synthetic shore, the piloting of the free excursion (the only piece where the harsh climate thickens is Perfect Animal); the aim is therefore to exploit the acoustic relationships, especially those that pass from dense states to muted tones, almost silence. It seems to listen to Sonny Rollins who goes hunting for ghosts.
(Translated from Italian)
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
AS LEADER / CO-LEADER
GLEYPIR TÍGUR GLEYPIR LJÓN2023 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Tumi Árnason: Saxophone
Magnús Trygvason Eliassen: Drums
All songs by Tumi Árnason & Magnús Trygvason Eliassen.
HLÝNUN2021 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Tumi Árnason: Saxophone
Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson: Piano, Rhodes, Farfisa
Skúli Sverrisson: Bass
Magnús Trygvason Eliassen: Drums
Composed and written by Tumi Árnason.
ALLT ER ÓMÆLIÐ2019 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Tumi Árnason: Saxophone
Magnús Trygvason Eliassen: Drums
All songs by Tumi Árnason & Magnús Trygvason Eliassen.
Fyrir Jól 7”
2017 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Production, arranging, mixing, sounds
SMITUM 7”
2017 - Smit Records #6
Composition, production, mixing, all music
APPEARANCES
Stropha
2023 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Ingibjörg Turchi: Bass
Tumi Árnason: Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Recorder, Bagpipe Chanter
Hróðmar Sigurðsson: Guitar
Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson: Keyboards
Magnús Trygvasson Eliassen: Drums
Björg Brjánsdóttir: Bass Flute
Rósa Guðrún Sveinsdóttir: Baritone Sax
Sólveig Morávek: Clarinet
GORK
2022 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Óskar Kjartansson: Drums
Gabríel Markan: Guitar
Valdimar Olgeirsson: Bass
Helgi R. Heiðarsson: Saxophones
Tumi Árnason: Tenor Saxophone and electronics
Meliae
2020 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Ingibjörg Turchi: Bass
Tumi Árnason: Saxophone, Clarinet, Electronics
Hróðmar Sigurðsson: Guitar
Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson: Keyboards
Magnús Trygvasson Eliassen: Drums
Hróðmar Sigurðsson
2021 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Hróðmar Sigurðsson: Guitar
Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson: Keyboards
Ingi Garðar Erlendsson: Trombone
Elvar Bragi Kárason: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Tumi Árnason: Saxophone
Ingibjörg Turchi: Bass
Kristófer Rodriguez Svönuson: Percussion
Magnús Trygvasson Eliassen: Drums
Without Listening
2020 - Reykjavík Record Shop
Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson: Keyboards
Tumi Árnason: Saxophone, Electronics
Magnús Trygvasson Eliassen: Drums
Tracks 3, 5, 7 co-written by Magnús Trygvasson Eliassen and Tumi Árnason.
Tracks 6, 8, 10 co-produced by Magnús Trygvasson Eliassen and Tumi Árnason.
Týnda Rásin
Sumar á Gríslandi
Syngur Stuðmenn
Rökrétt Framhald
Syngur Megas 7”
ALI
SESSION WORK
Premiere
Vacation
Thank You Satan
Lending
Kast Spark Fast
Infinite Wellness
Visions of Ultraflex
SELECTED COMPOSITIONS
2024:
Myrkraverk - for ensemble, 10’+.
Tréhestur fyrir Bergrúnu - Horn Solo, 4’.
Sólverk - for improvising ensemble, 48’.
2023:
56 Tónasekúndur fyrir þverflautu - for 1-4 flutes, 5+.
2021:
Hlýnun - tenor saxophone, piano, farfisa, rhodes, electric bass, drums, 50’.
FOR FILM AND THEATRE
2023:
Ást Fedru (Phaedra’s Love) - Music for Phaedra’s Love by Sarah Kane in the Icelandic National Theatre.
2022:
Óvissuferð - Music for a Short Film by Kolfinna Nikulásdóttir.
CALENDAR
21.02.25 - Mengi
Playing with Róberta Andersen, Hilmar Jensson and Sölvi Kolbeinsson
15.02.25 - Tu Ha? Tu Bjö! in Hannesarholt
Playing with Tumi Torfason, Hannes Arason and Björgvin Ragnar Hjálmarsson
26.01.25 at Myrkir Músíkdagar, Reykjavík
Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra premiere Myrkraverk.