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Reviewers: Tony Augarde [Editor], Steve Arloff, Nick Barnard, Pierre Giroux, Don Mather, Glyn Pursglove, George Stacy, Bert Thompson, Sam Webster, Jonathan Woolf



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Lars GULLIN

Jonas plays Gullin

PCD122

 

 

1. Without a chance [4:42]; 2. It’s true [5:08]; Suite: 3. Toka voka oka boka [2:24], 4. The waltz [5:08]; Merlin [4:30]; 6. Lars meets Jeff [4:31]; 7. Late summer [3:09]; 8. Bugs [4:16]; 9. Late date [2:21]; 10. Dyningar [3:39]; 11. I have seen [5:17]; 12. Peter of April [5:06]; Bonus Track: 13. Forever (Eddie Gomez) [4:45]

Bertil “Jonas” Jonasson (Saxes), Kjell Öhman (piano & keyboard), Krister Palmquist (guitar), Hans Backenroth (bass), Joakim Ekberg (drums), Jan Allan (trumpet)

rec. at OAL Studio, Sollentuna, Sweden, 16-17 January, 2012. [55:29]

 

Just as there is so much classical music that one inevitably never comes across so the same situation pertains in jazz so I had never heard of the inspiration behind this disc, the baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin. I’ll go further and say that there is a huge corpus of jazz that rarely sees the light of day outside its own country if that country is not the USA and we are all the losers because of it. Therefore I consider myself fortunate to have been able to have had the opportunity of reviewing several discs recently that involve Nordic jazz, particularly Finnish. The present disc is from the Swedish label Prophone and features Swedish saxophonist “Jonas” Jonasson. His musical journey must be often repeated in that he wasn’t able to make a living playing the jazz he loved, having, instead, to work as a dance-band musician until the beginning of the 1990s when he decided to go for broke and play jazz at every opportunity and it has finally paid off and he can at last do what he was clearly meant to do. His name was also unknown to me and this disc has been a revelation as he is a superb saxophonist and Lars Gullin was obviously a brilliantly gifted composer for his chosen instrument. The first number gets everything off to a cracking start, setting the bar for the whole disc. Jonas’ baritone sax immediately paints a warming glow over everything and makes you smile and Krister Palmquist’s guitar compliments it perfectly as does Öhman’s piano, with bassist Backenroth and drummer Joakim Ekberg creating a great backing. It’s true is a lovely relaxed ballad as is Toka voka oka boka while The Waltz is exactly what it says on the tin, and here the quintet is joined by trumpeter Jan Allan. Merlin has pianist Öhman alternating between his piano and his keyboard set to organ mode which I took was to help create the air of mystery evoked by the name of King Arthur’s eminence grise. In any event it was very effective.Lars meets Jeff is a great swinging tune with each musician taking a short solo and I especially enjoyed the piano solo from Öhman. Late summer is a lovely lilting tune with another outing for Öhman’s organ mode and beautiful playing from Jonas. Bugs has a driving beat that keeps the feet tapping in a real evocation of the ‘50s while Late date is a laid back little audio oasis. Dyningar is a little tune in waltz time and I have seen is a slow and dreamy one beautifully played by all 5 principals. Peter of April, the last of Gullin’s tunes is a fitting end to a survey of this composer’s work with the quintet joined once again by the trumpet of Jay Allan and some nice solos from Jonas, Allan, Öhman, Palmquist and Backenroth with Ekberg’s drums anchoring things in the background. There is a bonus track in the shape of an Eddie Gomez number, Forever with no explanation for its presence, but it’s a lovely tune with Öhman’s organ sound again replacing the piano and it fades out to a rather abrupt end with Jonas, this time on tenor sax. What is clear from this disc and the others I’ve reviewed from Nordic countries is that jazz is very much alive and well in northern Europe and the warmth of the sound is a contrast to the temperature of the weather. I enjoyed the disc very much and shall try to find more of both Gullin’s compositions and Jonas’ playing. Thanks goodness Jonas threw caution to the winds at the start of the 90s and played what he loved best. He plays what is after all an unwieldy instrument that few people have truly mastered and I enjoyed his playing as much as I have ever enjoyed the baritone sax since I first heard the great Gerry Mulligan in the late 50s - I can’t pay him any higher compliment than that!

Steve Arloff


 

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