About an hour's drive from Stockholm, there is a place called Ilandet_a patch of Swedish countryside overgrown with an abandoned apple orchard, with century-old trees stretching across verdant fields. It's one of those places that invites introspection, where the sound and sights and smells of nature can envelop you entirely, and transport you far away from the humdrum of modern life. It's in this environment where Nils Berg, the jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist, conceived of his new album, the hypnotic and breathtaking Coming and Going. Across eight tracks of ambient instrumental jazz, spanning everything from tender clarinets to plaintive violins to soaring flutes, Nils invites the listener into this world of his own creation, one whose sole purpose is to arrest time and lilt its inhabitants into a state of peace and joy. Swedish jazz pioneer Nils Berg is one of the most influential voices in nordic jazz. With his own groups Nils Berg Cinemascope 6 The Stoner, he has made a name for himself both in Sweden and internationally. As a composer he won't dodge projects that cross over conventional borders - collaborations with Fatoumata Diawara, Forss and The Cullberg Ballet, to name a few. While one could argue that Nils' music has somewhat always had this effect on his audience (for example: his Nils Berg Cinemascope project, a trio that uses found footage to craft unique live experiences, or his acclaimed band The Stoner, who set the standard for Nordic jazz in the `00s and `10s), but what sets Coming and Going apart is its explicit ties to the natural world that entices Nils so much. Throughout the record, birds, insects, woodland animals, all make an appearance, woven in between the simple-yet-arresting melodies that compose the songs' structure. In order to maintain that organic feel in-studio, Nils and his band recorded all of Coming and Going live, and the spontaneity of the tracks feels almost infectious. In the end, it all comes back to the central theme of escapism, that sentiment that drives Nils to travel up to Ilandet to take the time to bathe in nature. "I need to be reminded of that," he says, "that the essential things in life, maybe they can be found very close to you.