1. Solen Glimmar Blank Och Trind
2. Sommar, Sommar, Sommar
3. Joachim Uti Babylon
4. Uti Var Hage
5. Visa Vid Vindens Angar
6. Min Polare Per
7.Waltz-a-Nova
8. Sag Det Med Ett Leende
9. Min Blekingsbygd
10. Nu Har Jag Fatt Den Jag Vill Ha
Jan Lundgren - Piano
Mattias Svensson - Bass
Rasmus Kihlberg - Drums
This session was recorded back in 1997 but it sounds
like a new release, partly because of the way the trio plays and partly
because the recording is particularly live and has great clarity.
The music may be unfamiliar to British ears, as indeed it was to me,
but these Swedish standards are doubtless as familiar to people in
Sweden as the works of Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, etc. Certainly all
are well structured compositions and provide plenty of scope for improvising
jazz musicians. Lundgren and his extremely well integrated rhythm
partners take full advantage. There is a buoyancy in all the playing
on this album and nowhere is it more pronounced than on the first
track: Solen Glimmar Blank Och Trind. The piano lines
positively float along, light as air.
Sommar, Sommar, Sommar flies along at
lightning tempi with Kihlberg providing fills at the end of each opening
piano run. Lundgren appears to take the up-tempo flights in his stride,
tearing along regardless as bass and drums seem to be working very
hard to keep up with him. Kihlberg again gets a solo spot and his
brushwork is flawless both in accompaniment and when soloing. Not
too many drummers seem to have the knack of playing well at low volume
with brushes but this one does. The rich clarity of the recording
points up the big sound of Svensson’s bass.
Uti Var Hage is a melodic slow ballad, a contrast
to what has gone before, introduced by Svensson’s big, ripe bass and
continued with delicate, lyrical piano lines. The trio inject a good
measure of pathos into this short selection. The next track demonstrates
the trio’s ability to play in 5/4 time at up tempo in a less dramatic
and flowery manner than Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond’s Take Five
but effective for all that. Waltz-a-Nova is gentle, reflective
and rather Bill Evans-inspired I would think. It is a credit to Lundgren
that he is able to get so much variety into his programme of music
and at the same time produce fascinating variations on everything
he plays. He was impressive on the Fresh Sound discs he made a short
time ago with a top U.S. bassist and drummer but I think overall he
functions best with his own musicians who probably know him well and
have played and recorded with him frequently. Best of all here is
a wonderfully evocative, short solo reading of Nu Har Jag
Fatt Den Jag Vill Ha which rounds out and closes a thoroughly
enjoyable set.
Derek Ansell
CD Reviews
Act
9022-2
