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Swedish jazz during the 50s - new photo book


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Ah ... those .... I have Vols. 1 to 8 (Vols. 1 to 4 on vinyl, Vols. 2 to 8 on CD) and I find them all excellent (if CDs would really wear out then some of the would be worn by now :)).

Evidently my tastes differ from those of King Ubu (and I am biased in favor of Swedish jazz from the 1935-60 period anyway), but while Vols. 6 to 8 would be most fitting as musical illustrations to Jan Allan's book, I'd certainly advise not to downplay or shrug off Swedish jazz (even pre-1945) unduly. They did have their own thing going, and while some vocals and some big band arrangements are indeed relatively stiff (but not more so than the average German oreven English ones), there are a fair bit of individualistic voices to be found there that make for interesting listening. But of course, to some extent you DO HAVE to be able to listen to this music in the context of its times in order to be appreciate then on their proper terms. Blah about them being "derivative" etc. won't do the matter justice.

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They are not cheap, and that is the only way to get the documentation. The focus is very much Swedish, so it really is not about visiting musicians, though there are some (Cherry - well, he lived there - Red Mitchell, maybe others). On Spotify, without the documentation and with personnel incomplete and no other details, these are simply very pleasant anthologies of music. I like the *project* as such though - well-funded, well mastered and documented, based on archival (rather than discographical) work, mostly unpublished recordings.

By the way you *don't* need facebook to register on spotify, and it is relatively cheap....

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As far as info goes, have you tried this:

http://old.visarkiv.se/jazzdisk_en.htm

?

By the way you *don't* need facebook to register on spotify, and it is relatively cheap....

I know that ... but I have no interest in it there are hundreds and hundreds of discs around that need (well, I want!) to get a spin! Simply no need as there'd be no time for it, so I don't want to pay a cent there, it would just be wasted.

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Ah ... those .... I have Vols. 1 to 8 (Vols. 1 to 4 on vinyl, Vols. 2 to 8 on CD) and I find them all excellent (if CDs would really wear out then some of the would be worn by now :)).

Evidently my tastes differ from those of King Ubu (and I am biased in favor of Swedish jazz from the 1935-60 period anyway), but while Vols. 6 to 8 would be most fitting as musical illustrations to Jan Allan's book, I'd certainly advise not to downplay or shrug off Swedish jazz (even pre-1945) unduly. They did have their own thing going, and while some vocals and some big band arrangements are indeed relatively stiff (but not more so than the average German oreven English ones), there are a fair bit of individualistic voices to be found there that make for interesting listening. But of course, to some extent you DO HAVE to be able to listen to this music in the context of its times in order to be appreciate then on their proper terms. Blah about them being "derivative" etc. won't do the matter justice.

:tup

I hear you. What I hear so far is quality in the selections. So often with box sets the principle is discographical inclusiveness. Here they include really a lot of different musicians and ensembles but have still manged to concentrate on quality. How are the booklets?

As far as info goes, have you tried this:

http://old.visarkiv.se/jazzdisk_en.htm

?

By the way you *don't* need facebook to register on spotify, and it is relatively cheap....

I know that ... but I have no interest in it there are hundreds and hundreds of discs around that need (well, I want!) to get a spin! Simply no need as there'd be no time for it, so I don't want to pay a cent there, it would just be wasted.

Noooo! I'm doing my tour of Swedish jazz history as I type - and I could be doing it from anywhere in the world...

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They are not cheap, and that is the only way to get the documentation. The focus is very much Swedish, so it really is not about visiting musicians, though there are some (Cherry - well, he lived there - Red Mitchell, maybe others). On Spotify, without the documentation and with personnel incomplete and no other details, these are simply very pleasant anthologies of music. I like the *project* as such though - well-funded, well mastered and documented, based on archival (rather than discographical) work, mostly unpublished recordings.

By the way you *don't* need facebook to register on spotify, and it is relatively cheap....

Yes, the booklets that go with those CD sets are real gems. And, BTW, they once again show what a pity it is that comprehensive booklets really became a WIDESPREAD addition to collector discs in the CD era only. If you compare the booklets of the VINYL versions and those of the CD versions (like I said, Vols. 1 to 4 were first issued on vinyl) then the LP-size booklets win hands down, of course, because the (numerous) illustrations are significantly larger overall.

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Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's no merit to early Swedish jazz ... (or to its counterparts in many other European countries). It's just that there's so much time to listen to stuff and there's so much on my real (and virtual/wishlist) pile and my priorities are different.

As for going into the sixties, what little I've heard by the likes of Bernt Rosengren and his gang, Monica Zetterlund and very few others, I would definitely enjoy a taste or two more there, and these compilations could be a wonderful addition there!

Steve, do they include english liners, too?

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About the liner notes: They are essentially Swedish (no major reading problem for me, I'll admit..) but they include a summary in English that is far shorter than the Swedish liner notes but still comparatively detailed (i.e. not just a single-page brief rundown).

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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Well, I wouldn not have minded a full bilingual version either (particularly since this would have meant more pics, more period publication repros, etc. spread throughout the inlcreased numer of pages :D)) but I do think they had their budget constraints too and figured such single-country box sets would sell largely on the domestic market anyway.

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The book is out of stock everywhere I've looked. I've never heard of a Swedish book of this kind selling out so fast and I'm certain there will be another print run. I got it as a birthday gift - it's wonderful.

The CD series is well worth having; first rate presentation - if you can read Swedish... However, the music itself is what counts. Lots of rare stuff never released elsewhere. It could still be had for half the price from some domestic vendors a few years ago. Now the price is 30-40 euro per box of 3 CD:s.

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I think you got something wrong there, bdamusic.

This is a book that features the personal photographic recollections of trumpeter Jan Allan from the way HE witnessed the 50s and the musical scene that he was part of. Which is why the title of the book is "Jan Allan remembers his Fifties".

He had just turned 16 when Bird toured Sweden in 1950 - small wonder that Jan wasn't present at those sessions, isn't it? ;)

There is a time and place for everything, and understandably and expectedly - from the intentions of THIS book - there is no place for Bird there. ;)

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