Jazz Articles

Hakan Brostrom: New Places

by Jack Bowers
December 6, 2006

The New Places to which Swedish composer/arranger Håkan Broström takes us are sunny and pleasant, teeming with scenic avenues and charming byways. At the center are his charismatic charts and evocative alto (or soprano) saxophone, twin beacons that gladden and safeguard the listener on a consistently agreeable and rewarding journey.

It's an impressive debut for Broström, who has played and recorded with a number of big bands but never led one before. Besides having written and arranged everything, he conducts ...

Jan Levander / Ann-Sofi Soderqvist / Joakim Milder: Composer's Big Fun

by Jack Bowers
April 16, 2006

The first question that arises relative to this new recording from Sweden is this: Does Composer's Big Fun translate into big fun for the listener? For some listeners, perhaps--but not this one. Second question: Is Composer's Big Fun the name of the album, the group, or its mind-set? All of the above, I suppose. What we do know, according to Johan Scherwin, who penned the liner notes, is that Composer's Big Fun is “far from the caricature of a big ...

Mikael R: Suite Extended

by Jack Bowers
April 12, 2002

I’ve nothing against suites, extended or otherwise. I ask only two things of them — that they include (a) some sort of comprehensible melodic structure and (b) sturdy rhythmic components (in other words, that they swing). I’m happy to report that Mikael Råberg’s four–movement Suite Extended for soprano, big band and symphony orchestra easily satisfies both requirements, as does his Ebu–Suite for big band and string quartet, which helps fill out this generously timed disc (along with the ten–minutes–plus “Rhythm ...

Lars F: Heureka

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

“Heureka,” recorded in 1970, is the first of this album’s two extended orchestral works by the late trumpeter Lars Färnlöf who was fifty–one years old when he passed away in February 1994. Completing the album is the six–movement “Svit (Suite) Caçhasa,” recorded in 1973 with the Swedish Radio Jazz Group. The three–part “Heureka,” on which Färnlöf’s quartet is accompanied by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, is symphonic in character with a subtle Jazz overlay provided by the quartet to complement ...

Goran Klinghagen: Na's the Time

by James Nichols
June 1, 2001

Swedish guitarist Goran Klinghagen offers a very creative jazz outing on his album Na’s the Time for the Phono Suecia label. I assume the title alludes to the famous Charlie Parker blues, but bop is one of the few jazz styles that really doesn’t too heavily inform this album. Klinghagen reevaluates fusion, mid-60s Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman, melding these and other influences into a multifarious patchwork. Several trends evident in jazz today, such as the ECM sound, Frisell-like country-jazz, ...

Goran Klinghagen: Na's the Time

by James Nichols
May 1, 2001

Swedish guitarist Goran Klinghagen offers a very creative jazz outing on his album Na’s the Time for the Phono Suecia label. I assume the title alludes to the famous Charlie Parker blues, but bop is one of the few jazz styles that really doesn’t too heavily inform this album. Klinghagen reevaluates fusion, mid-60s Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman, melding these and other influences into a unique musical patchwork. Several trends evident in jazz today, such as the ECM sound, Frisell-like ...

The Swedish Radio Jazz Group: A Swedish Tribute to Duke

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 1999

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Swedish Radio Jazz Group’s two–disc salute to Duke Ellington in his centenary year is that it includes no songs composed by Ellington himself. Son Mercer Ellington is represented by “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” strong right arm Billy Strayhorn by the elegant “Portrait of a Silk Thread.” The other half–dozen numbers were written to honor Ellington by a number of Sweden’s leading Jazz composers. There are three suites, Mikael Råberg’s three–part ...