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Swedish jazz during the 50s - new photo book


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Jan Allan, probably Sweden's finest jazz trumpeter and who is still playing wonderfully, is perhaps most well known abroad for his recordings with Lars Gullin. During his early carreer as a jazz musician he usually brought a camera with him and took thousands of pictures. His son talked him into going through the negatives that mostly were never developed and last week a 256 page book with some of them was released.

It seems like a very nice document of the Swedish jazz scene and guesting stars of the 50s. His wife's site has a few of the photos:

http://www.annallan.se/Ann_Allans_hemsida/Jans_fotobok.html

The title is 'Jan Allan minns sitt femtiotal' (Jan Allan remembers the 50s) and the book is being published by Brombergs in Sweden.

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Too bad that it looks like the book is not available outside Sweden...

would have made a very nice Christmas present!

It should be available outside Sweden via Bokus. See their English-language FAQs. They specifically list both Germany and France. ;)

It just is so that shipping costs from Sweden are not exactly cheap (I've bought from private and professional sellers on a number occasions from Sweden in recent years).

And this book weighs close to 2 kg.

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Let us know what they ask for shipping if you do put in an order!

And of course let us know if you find a better way to get it!

Adlibris would have been a bit cheaper but if they don't ship aborad ...

Ginza.se have a list price that is a wee bit (not much) above that of Bokus.

We'll see ...

Maybe some of the Swedish forumists around here might have a hint to add?

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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Thanks, Daniel. This is more or less what I figured (from past experience).

But considering the price paid for similar books elsewhere ...

(Or to put it another way: If the book is of the 28x28 cm coffee-table variety (like it seems) and of a presentation to match, then the book itself isn't THAT expensive, so .... ;))

I have written to Bokus this morning to inquire and they have acknolwedged recipt but have not replied to my question yet.

We'll see ... ;)

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I'll look at a bookshop nearby to see if there are any copies. If there are, I'll post a few pictures of the book. Adlibris (who has the best price so far at 249 SEK) offers free shipping within Sweden. If someone abroad has trouble ordering the book I could always order it and send the package further at actual cost.

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So ... I have taken the plunge and ordered the book ...

And I think I've found a good solution for Europeans wishing to order this book from outside Sweden:

I ordered through

www.ginza.se

and they charge a flat shipping fee of 99 SEK for shippings all through the EU.

See for yourself on the above website - go to "Kundservice" (Customer Service) and then to "European Delivery".

This is quite a bit more affordable than the shipping cost indicated by Daniel (which appears to be on the low side for actual shipping costs anyway because Bokus.se quoted almost 280 SEK for shipping costs).

I paid through Paypal and the order confirmation from Ginza arrived at once.

So let's see how long it will take for the book to arrive. Ginza says the book will ship within 3 to 6 days (other sites claim 1 to 2 days) but with international shipments I think the difference will be negligible because you never know where things might be delayed in transit.

Not wanting to plug that site (this is my first order with them) but they seem to be a good address for a lot of items connected with music; in fact I remember seeing regular ads by Ginza on 50s music CDs in Swedish collector's car mags that also cover 50s music and related "lifestyle" to some extent. Hope their speed of service will live up to their publicity. ;)

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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  • 2 weeks later...

Soooo ....

... the book arrived today. :tup :tup

Had inquired on Monday about when the book would actually be available (as I had a doubt about its avilability before its presentation scheduled for Oct. 19) but Ginza told me the book had arrived and should be shipped ASAP.

And here it is today - not bad for speed of shipping from Sweden to Germany.

Below are a few impressions of the contents. A very fine book IMO. Almost LP-sized, not likely too many of the pics have been seen anywhere before. Tours of Swedish musicians and popular artists as well as guesting jazz stars, but above all, lots of backstage candids, private party and holiday pics, impressions of what tour life was like in the 50s (that's Lars Gullin on the far right in the pic of the Standard Vanguard headed for that wintery ditch, BTW), including in the rural "outback" of Sweden, lots of anecdotes. etc.

The pictures are the main ingredient, of course, and worth the price any time, but a working knowledge of Swedish would be a bonus to make the most of the anecdotes (sometimes hilarious and at any rate an important part of bringing the feeling of the 50s back to life) but even without that, this book really is something to enjoy flipping through again and again (preferably while listening to the music that would go with it ...).

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As for ordering, no problem with ginza.se. As mentioned above, they shipped within the announced time frame after payment through Paypal and in fact did hold true to their EUROPEAN shipping cost of 99 SEK announced on their site. According to the slip on the box, the total weight of the parcel was some 2.4 kg which according to Swedish postage rates would equal some 300 SEK for shipping throughout Europe. Don't know how they manage to do this cross-subsidizing but it did work out fine here, so full marks to them for their service!

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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  • 2 months later...

what would be the best way to get the book to Australia (if it still in print) ?

would really like a copy of this - I'm a big fan of Lars Gullin

Flurin, my South African Jazz book is still in transit (was able to get surface mail) - have you gone through it yet?

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All on Caprice http://statensmusikverk.se/search/?q=swedish+jazz+history&site=3&fromsite=3&lang=en#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=swedish%20jazz%20history&gsc.page=1


That should display in English but if not go back to the home page, switch to 'English' and search on Swedish Jazz History.


I guess we'd have to start buying these to see full discographical information and they are reported to have good booklets (like the Cherry release we discuss).


I wish more governments and banks would support this kind of work!

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Kewl! Link works well, in english!

Guess from Vol. 6 onwards, they'd be most interesting (before that, each European country seems to have had its own share of trad bands, dance orchestras, swing combos and big bands etc. ... so gar I never felt compelled to check out too much of that stuff on a larger scale ... some bits of French, a few things out of Germany and some Swiss stuff is more than enough for me there).

They can be found on amazon's sites - but not exactly cheap (and as opposed to what the cover says for Vol. 10, you don't get "4 for 3", it's more expensive than any others).

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