Swedes Deliver Unpretentious Jazz

NEW YORK (AP) - It was just jazz - straightforward, unpretentious. But what the Swedish musicians delivered Tuesday at Carnegie Hall, in a kind of prelude to the 12-day JVC Jazz Festival, was of quality that the festival's participants may find difficult to match.

All evening, Swedish musicians in various groups made straightforward jazz interesting, playing with skill, feeling and fluency. They improvised and didn't overembroider; they played a lot more clarinet than one gets from American jazz concerts these days. All in all, they were more interested in the fine quality of the cloth than the decoration.

The concert, hosted by Duke Ellington's granddaughter Mercedes Ellington, began with “Deep Purple" by the Swedish Swing Society, doing a good job of portraying the Benny Goodman Quartet.

Next came a tribute to Dixieland from the five-member Stockholm Classic Jazz Band, playing banjo and a muted trumpet that sounded as tinny as an early New Orleans recording.

Small groups shone: the Allan-Gustafsson-Riedel Quartet with Jan Allan playing light but assured trumpet on “Sweet and Lovely" to easy, dissonant accompaniment; followed by “Toomba Samba" composed by bassist Georg Riedel.

The Monday Night Big Band ended the first half of the concert in emphatic but non-derivative American big-band style.

The second half was even better. Pianist Jan Lundgren's trio began with a gentle composition of his “A Touch of You," in Bill Evans' style. A guest, guitarist Ulf Wakenius, joined them for “Cakewalk," which Lundgren played in Oscar Peterson's style, and Wakenius played “Too Late Now" as a solo, with soft, full, round tones.

The Putte Wickman and Claes Crona Trio moved the evening in a more modern, less melodically intent direction with two compositions by pianist Crona. Then, while Crona improvised, clarinettist Wickman played “I Loves You, Porgy" with tonal beauty. They finished by making “Summertime" swing, Wickman noodling a final phrase of great originality.

A tribute to Jazz at the Philharmonic had a guitarist, clarinettist, trombonist and three saxophonists lined up across the stage. Organist Kjell Ohman and vibraphonist Lars Erstrand were exceptional. Two singers appeared briefly - the clear, flexible soprano Rigmor Gustafsson, and Svante Thuresson, whose vocal style is rooted in blues.

The June 12-24 JVC festival opens Monday at the Kaye Playhouse with a tribute to pianist Bill Evans.