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
CD Reviews
PCD122
