1951 - September 5

The Swinging Swedes – September 5 1951 

 

Leonard Feather: Down Beat November 30 1951 Volume 18 Issue 24 

New York—In a hastily-prepared, schnapps-splattered dispatch from Stockholm which appeared in the Aug. 10 Beat, this roving reporter promised to acquaint you at a later date, both biographically and photographically, with some of the young stars who make the Swedish jazz picture so astonishingly bright to every visiting American. 

On most instruments Sweden offers a choice of several major talents, but for the present I'd like to introduce mainly those who were first-place winners in the poll conducted recently by Estrad, for which 25 Swedish jazz critics did all the voting. 

Bad Influence? 

And if it occurs to you that some of the Swingin’ Swedes might rate a place in the Down Beat poll, too, mark me down as a subversive pro-Swede-anti-American influence. 

Trumpet winner, of course, was 29-year-old Rolf Ericson, whose own story appears elsewhere in this Swedish survey. Rolf took part in the series of sides cut during my visit, with most of the poll-winners, eight of which are due out here on a Prestige LP disc and one of which (Swedish Butterfly) shows him at his very best in a tasteful, pretty, muted solo. 

Aake Persson, the trombone winner, is 19 years old and a bashful country boy from south Sweden— the only cat on the all-star session who couldn’t speak English. But when he blows he sneaks fluent American and could be mistaken for Kai or J.J. Discovered by bassist Simon Brehm, he played valve trombone in his school band and has been gigging with Brehm. 

Alto Man  
The alto winner. Arne Domnerus, is a bashful, clean-living guy in his early 20s who, though he'll inevitably be compared with Bird, has a personal style that becomes apparent after awhile. Also plays fine clarinet. Some of his records so impressed a Birdland operative that were attempts made to get him over here for a date in the club, a venture that promptly quashed by the AFM.  

The tenor winner. Carl-Henrik Norin, is 29, began playing about 10 years ago in Malmö, was a sideman before entering the army, and has had his own sextet most of the time since leaving it: is a good showman and a versatile musician who has graduated from a pseudo-Ventura kick into a completely natural Getz-like sound. 

Lars Gullin, the baritone winner, came closest to a unanimous vote—24 of the 25 critics voted for him. Now 24 years old, he has been prominent as a pianist. arranger, classical composer, has played concerts around Sweden doing only classics; was clarinetist in a military band on an island off the Swedish coast. Played a tenor sax duet with James Moody on Two Fathers (Prestige) which Lester Young mistook for an Ammons-Stitt duet. On baritone, the reaction he usually produces among Americans who hear his records is "Why, he's better than Gerry Mulligan!”  

Worked with Stan 
Bengt Hallberg, the winning pianist, was two months shy of his 19th birthday when he cut the Swingin'  
Swedes session, and several months short of that when he did his well-remembered eight  
sides for Roost with Stan Getz.  

Hails from Gothenburg, studied privately, has broadcast with his own bop quintet. Has a better ear than most musicians twice his age. Hallberg grabbed 17 votes in the poll. Gunnar Svensson, who placed with five, has cut many fine records including some piano duet sides with Reinhold Svensson, who showed with only two votes.  

Far from reflecting on the blind pianist's talents, this merely reflects the embarrassment of riches on the Swedish jazz scene; all three of them are excellent. And by the way, Gunnar Svensson is related to Reinhold Svensson like Kate Smith is related to Stuff Smith.  

Best Known 

Reinhold is perhaps the best known Swede among American collectors, having cut numerous sides with a group that, at the request of Prestige records here, sounded exactly like the Shearing quintet. About 30, he's from way up in north Sweden, got a good education at a school for the blind, plays organ and good classics. Looks like a young Charles Laughton and has a similarly caustic personality.  

Was the big hit at the international jazz festival held in Paris in 1949, has blind wife and housemaid. two sighted children. Under pseudonym "Hammond Olsen." has made very successful comic corny duets, Twelfth St. Rag and stuff, which squarer Swedes lap up.  

Guitar voting was a 10-point tie between Rolf Berg and Sten Carlberg. Both, of course, play electric guitar; neither has anything in common with Django Reinhardt. (Sweden has about as much in common with France, musically, as New York has with Iowa.) Berg. who was on Roy Eldridge's Swedish sides, worked at the American Legation in Stockholm as a guide, is now playing with Andrew Burman. Latter is a Swedish drummer who's also an executive of Metronome records, one of a half-dozen progressive-minded independent labels.  

Followed Hasselgard 

Clarinet winner was Putte Wickman, who followed the late Stan Hasselgard in two jobs: replaced him with Arthur Osterwald when Stan was drafted, and with Simon Brehm when Stan took off for America. Now 26. has his own band which includes Reinhold Svensson, has toured successfully in Germany and other countries in the past few months. Sounds like Buddy DeFranco with a Tristano influence.  

On bass, the ace is Simon Brehm, who has often been called the Swedish Chubby Jackson, although Chubby no longer has a beard and is no longer fat. Simon, who may well be the best-liked guy in Sweden both musically and personally, is 29. Stockholm-born, had his own vibes-clarinet quintet featuring Stan Hasselgard, which also recorded with Tyree Glenn as guest soloist. Played Switzerland and Denmark with commercial bands, but lately has had his own combo on the road in Sweden. lnsatiable appetite for everything— solid, liquid, and musical — and, like most of his colleagues, speaks excellent colloquial English.  

Jack Noren, the victorious drummer, is a Swedish-American, born in Chicago in 1929, whose parents  
took him to Sweden in 1946. Went to Englewood High school. A very hip cat with an unbeatable beat;  
now working with the Ericson-Domnerus combo at the National ballroom in Stockholm.  

Winner for miscellaneous instruments was Uffe Linde, whom you may know from his work on the Svensson quintet sides; and the top vocalist was Alice Babs, a good pop singer with a huge local following.  

Finally. and perhaps most remarkable of all, there is the No. 1 arranger. Gösta Theselius, who not only cornered all but two of the votes in this department, also got six votes for his tenor sax work and one for his piano. Has been featured on records or, both instruments.  

Theselius' writing has produced some of the finest and most original jazz group sounds since the Miles Davis band on Capitol. Moreover, the men to whom he hands his music interpret it with loving care, pay attention to dynamics and shading, never let a record go through with a fluff.  

These, then, are the men who, between them. have made more first-class organized small-band jazz lately, in their little country of people, than has been produced in the whole length and breadth of the United States Of America. Many of the sides they've cut are due for American release; others are still available and, it is to be hoped, will be grabbed up soon. They should provide ample justification for our Bouquet To Sweden. 

 

Down Beat 14 January 1953  

Played by a group of Estrad magazine poll winners, these two sides immediately establish Gosta Theselius as one of the greatest arrangers in modern jazz—right up there with up there with Burns and Sauter. His scoring of Summertime for this 11 piece band is the prettiest treatment we can remember of the tune; his Pick Yourself Up has form, continuity, humor, and leaves room for a flock of terrific solos. 

Rolf Ericsons trumpet, Arne Domnerus’ alto, Carl-Henrick Norin’s tenor, Lars Guilin s baritone, Bengt Hallberg’s piano, Ake Persbest trombone and the rest are all at their best, though it’s Theselius who walks off with top honors. The rhythm section is fine; ensemble shading and precision, recording—everything comes off as if this date were a true labor of love. We raise our glass of schnapps to the Swedes for two sides that should make many American jazzmen look to their laurels. (Blue Note 1605.) 

Down Beat 25 March 1953 Volume 20 Issue 6 

We've already saluted the Swedes’ Summertime and Pick, released as a single. The six-minute Crop is no less impressive. Theselius wrote a fascinating 12-bar theme and intermittant flashes of arrangement that break up the solo passages admirably but leave plenty of room for everyone to expound at length: Ericson’s trumpet, Persgon’s trombone, Wickman’s clarinet, Domnerus’ alto, Norin’s tenor, Gullin’s baritone, Linde’s vibes, Hallberg’s piano, Carlberg’s guitar, and backing them all beautifully, Brehm’s bass and Noren’s drums. We've heard hundreds of Scandinavian sides, and to our knowledge this was the most successful date ever cut by the Swedes. Don’t miss it. (Blue Note BLP 5019) 

Leonard Feather: New Sounds From The Old World Liner Notes – BLP 5019 Every musician on Summertime, Pick Yourself Up and the double-length Cream Of The Crop was selected, in a poll taken by Estrad magazine among 25 Swedish music critics, as the No. I man on his instrument and the superb arrangements were the work of the No. 1 penman, Costa Theselius, whom we hailed in Down Beat as the most brilliant new arranger on the jazz scene, irrespective of country. Rolf Ericson, who is now back in this country playing with top U.S. name bands, shares our feeling, as do the other musicians involved, that this was the most successful session ever recorded in Sweden. The precision and shading of the ensemble work is matched by the superb consistency of the soloists, who include such amazingly talented teen-agers as Bengt Hallberg and Ake Persson. Outstanding solos are also contributed by the 28-year-old Stockholm-born Arne Domnerus; by 25-year-old Lars Gullin, whose background includes work as a classical composer and pianist, and as clarinetist in a militarv band; and by all the other members of this all-star unit.

Session Information 

Leased from the Cupol label 

Rolf Ericson, trumpet; Ake Persson, trombone; Putte Wickman, clarinet; Arne Domnerus, alto sax; Carl-Henrik Norin, tenor sax; Lars Gullin, baritone sax; Ulf Linde, vibes; Bengt Hallberg, piano; Sten Carlberg, guitar; Simon Brehm, bass; Jack Noren, drums. 

Stockholm, Sweden, September 5, 1951 

 

2186, Cream Of The Crop Part 1, BN 1604, Blue Note 5019

2187, Cream Of The Crop Part 2, BN 1604, Blue Note 5019 

2188, Summertime, BN 1605, Blue Note 5019

2189, Pick Yourself Up, BN 1605, Blue Note 5019