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Erik Soderlind: Twist For Jimmy Smith
ByShould Sweden's Söderlind be passed over, it's the world's loss. Here he teams up with two other extremely talented local musicians, organist Kjell Öhman and reed man Magnus Lindgren to make an album that brooks repeated listening. Söderlind plays in a line stemming from Charlie Christian and continuing through Wes Montgomery and George Bensonand that's George Benson when John Hammond billed him "The Most Exciting New Guitarist On The Jazz Scene Today." Before someone discovered he could sing, dressed him in glittery suits and stuck him on the cabaret circuit.
Twist For Jimmy Smith provides a glimpse of what jazz was all about in those far off days; though this album is not about nostalgia. It's about the real thing, what Söderlind, on the sleeve calls "the joy of making music" and communicating that joy.
From the opener, Burt Bacharach's "Wives and Lovers" to Hoagy Carmichael's closing "The Nearness of You"via "Willow Weep For Me," with Söderlind doffing his cap to Montgomerythere is nearly an hour's worth of classic, straight-ahead jazz, with the accent on melody but with Öhman giving it just that hint of rhythm 'n' blues in the old sense of the term.
New ground is not broken and there are no tormented experiments with atonality or discord. It's just musicbut oh so superbly well-played and enjoyable.
Track Listing
Wives and Lovers; Close Your Eyes; Polka Dots and Moonbeams; Mr C; Twist for Jimmy Smith; The Shadow of Your Smile; Broadway; Willow Weep for Me; Blues for Pat Martino; Flamman; The Nearness of You.
Personnel
Erik Soderlind
guitarErik Söderlind: guitar; Kjell Öhman: organ; Magnus Lindgren: tenor saxophone, flute; Claes Orlandersson: trumpet; Martin Sjöstedt: bass; Moussa Fadera: drums.
Album information
Title: Twist For Jimmy Smith | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Prophone Records
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