GROWING MUSIC WITH DON by Bengt Berger

When I first planned my overview of Don Cherry's Swedish albums more than a year ago (which was then delayed for several reasons), I thought it needed some more depth than I could possibly give it myself. I figured I needed an eyewitness report from someone close to Cherry during his Swedish years, or better yet: someone who actually played with him. I couldn't possibly think of anyone better than drummer par excellence Bengt "Beche" Berger. He happily agreed to do it, and I sent him a set of questions. I thought it would be a simple little Q & A – he indeed generously answered all my questions, but in the shape of what very well can be called an essay on his years with Don Cherry, with many and valuable peeks into the creative process. (I only translated it.) A massive THANK YOU to Bengt Berger who graciously took the time to provide us with this!

Don Cherry iwith Bitter Funeral Beer Band in 1982

I had of course heard Ornette's quartet already, but the first time I saw Don live was with Sonny Rollins's quartet at the Stockholm Concert House in January 1964. A house next door was on fire, so there was smoke in the hall and they did a fantastic gig. I still listen to the tape I made of the radio broadcast every now and then. [Jazz presenter] Olle Helander aired just about every show at the Concert House. It was a fantastic concert, Don didn't play a lot, mostly tossed in a phrase here and there och joined in with the free handling of themes. Rollins played continuously and was marvellous. Henry Grimes on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. Listen to the show! Don later told me that after the concert, Moki told him to come and look at her paintings in the next room but there she turned out the light, and that's how they met.

Next I heard Don's European quintet with J.F. Jenny-Clarke, Aldo Romani, Gato Barbieri and Karl Berger at the Golden Circle [a legendary jazz venue in Stockholm] a few years later. Moki was up front in the audience. That too was fantastic but for some reason, I only saw them one night. I wonder why – when Charles Lloyd's first quartet with Keith [Jarrett], Jack [DeJohnette] and Cecil McBee played at the Circle I saw them every night for two weeks.

At Embassy at Sturegatan [in Stockholm] I heard the trio with Johnny Dyani and Okay Temiz. When Don played a little phrase on a wooden block and sang ”kukorokoko” and paused, I responded from the audience. But it might have been after we met in Uppsala, because Okay had his ordinary drum kit there and that was before he got his giant darbuka drum kit. 

Don and Beche in The Dome 1971

I had started playing with Arbete & Fritid and we had one of our earliest gigs at Norrlands Nation in Uppsala. We shared the bill with Don Cherry who was there with Bernt Rosengren's quartet with Tommy Koverhult and Leif Wennerström. Tommy Koverhult was in the back room before the gig and changed springs and pads on his sax, and when Don heard I play the tabla he told me to sit in with them. I was just back from India, but for some purist reason, I never used them in Arbete & Fritid. And finding tablas in Uppsala on such short notice was impossible, so I never sat in with them that night. But both bands played some fine music that night.

We often played in Stockholm around that time, and it sometimes happened that you could hear Don play along in the middle of a song. He sneaked up on stage behind us, played along for a while and then disappeared. It happened several times with Arbete & Fritid but also when I played with for instance Handgjort, maybe at Gärdet.

But then came The Dome at the Museum of Modern Art. The Cherry family lived in an old bunkhouse next to The Dome, and they spent whole days in The Dome. Moki sewed and painted and Don played with those who came there, and a lot of people did. When I was there, he told me to bring the tablas so I did and we played there every day after that. Moki played the tanpura and Don sang, played the trumpet, flute, a little gamelan or whatever was at hand. A grand piano and Okay's drums were there too, so we used these a lot too.

Don and Beche in The Dome 1971

I can't remember exactly when they bought the schoolhouse in Tågarp, but it must have been around the time when they had just moved there that he asked me to come along. We drove down there, Don, me and Gittan [Jönsson] that would become my girlfriend a few years later. She did a very nice little painting on a log of wood showing how we filled up gas late in the evening on our way down. I think it's still there.

Always when in Tågarp, I stayed in a little room in the attic, it was very cozy. An old schoolhouse is a very harmonious building with its square classrooms at each end and the teacher's residence in-between. They fired up a stove in each schoolroom, one was Moki's atelier and the other was the music room where we also ate and socialized.

Don, Eagle-Eye and the old schoolhouse in Tågarp

Moki had painted the piano in beautiful bright colours and next to it was [Don's son] ”Eagle-Eye's drum kit”. When it was us only, we played piano and drums, lots of Ornette themes that Don played over and over again while I played along in full blast. It NEVER happened that he told me what to play. I always played exactly what I wanted (and I've tried doing so ever since). I could try to catch the melody and learn it, play along with it, but I could also play against it and around it. At first he would play the same thematic turnover forever, and then he played some kind of rhythmic harmonic accompaniment based upon it. My understanding of Ornette's harmolodics is that you construct a chord over an optional number of notes of the melody, and how many notes you choose defines how large the chord will be. You decide for yourself when you create a new chord from a different chunk of the melody. The chords will be different for each melodic section. Anyway, that's how I perceive it. It would have been interesting hearing Ornette himself play over a piano comp like that. Oh, by the way, sometimes Don could give me a sign that he wanted me to play a fast comp on the cymbal, it added brilliance. He gave a cymbal comp sign with his hand. But that was the only instruction he ever gave me.

Or we could play tablas, wooden blocks or some other smaller percussion instruments, and flutes, trumpet, vocals or whatever. Then we were in some kind of Asian territory. Tibetan music also figured. I showed him ragas, scales, and we made up melodies/songs/ways of playing together. Later on they could show up during concerts or at workshops. Don loved to learn and when I gave him his first tabla lessons, I was taught a huge lesson myself. I gave him the first lesson, and then we sat playing together but not like doing the homework – we played music! We could play it over and over again but not as an excercise in order to go on to something new after that – this was the actual creating of music! I had never understood that before, and only occasionally experienced it later.

Beche, Don, Eagle-Eye and Christer Bothén in 1974

My second great piece of learning was the way we treated ”the reportoire” in concert. Case in point: We had a gig at [jazz club] ArtDur, later Nefertiti, in Gothenburg. Bernt Rosengren and I came down from Stockholm, Don from Tågarp, while Christer Bothén already lived in Gothenburg. Don't think we had ever played with that line-up before. We get there, unpack our instruments and start rehearsing on stage. Don plays just like he does when it's just me and him in Tågarp. He picks up a theme and plays it round and round while the others try to learn the tune. All of a sudden he changes to a different theme or a different instrument. Perhaps he sits down at his harmonium. I switch to mridangam, Christer to a donsu'nguni, Bernt maybe to a taragot, and something new takes shape. So it changes; in the middle of a solo Don might switch to a completely different song and you just have to follow along. Either you know the theme, or you try to learn it while playing. All of the time we're making music fully focused. After having kept going for an hour or two, they let the audience in and we keep going without a break or without starting over. After another hour, we might stop or take a break only to start in a while again.

This method of not necessarily playing a song from beginning to end but to change it altogether when you feel like it is something I have tried to practice with all bands I've played with, but with the difference I want everyone in the band to have that same possibility. I think it probably worked best with Berger Knutsson Spering, maybe three people are realistically the best, but it of course depends on who you're playing with. In our case we also allowed ourselves to pick up a song in any tempo or in any style at all, but also refuse to change if someone didn't want to. It can go far but it can also go to hell and that's of course exciting.

* * * 

The photos are taken by unknown photographers and come from countryandeastern.se, all used by kind permission of Bengt Berger.

DON CHERRY – The Swedish albums 1967-1977

It's really quite strange that it took me 13 years of progg blogging before Don Cherry got his own post here. He's emblematic to what I think is the true spirit of the blog, a place where all kinds of music meet as long as it has a mind of its own. And perhaps that's why I overlooked his inclusion for so long: he's so huge and obvious that maybe I thought he was here already. Well, he actually is if only in small portions as he appears on albums by Bengt Berger and Bitter Funeral Beer Band.

Born in Oklahoma City in 1936 with music running in the family, he made his mark on jazz already in the late 1950s when teaming up with Ornette Coleman for a long series of albums including milestone releases ”The Shape Of Jazz To Come” and ”Free Jazz”. He also performed with John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, George Russell, Albert Ayler, Charlie Haden – he passed gracefully through jazz history and jazz history passed smoothly through him and his trumpet. He even played percussion on Allen Ginsburg's album of William Blake interpretations, collaborated with Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and Terry Riley, and co-wrote the score for Alejandro Jodorowsky's surrealist movie ”The Holy Mountain”. There's also a famous 1976 recording of Lou Reed live at The Roxy in Los Angeles with Don Cherry sitting in. He often did that – I know several Swedish musicians of different kinds who can tell stories of how they suddenly heard a beautiful sound on stage and when they turned around, there was Don Cherry with his pocket trumpet joining in, uninvited but welcome.

He spent time in Europe in general and Scandinavia in particular. There are for instance a set of great recordings from the Montmartre jazz club in Copenhagen 1966 released on ESP Disk in the late 00s. But it's his recordings with Swedish musicians that stand out from his European years. Cherry's playing was usually great no matter who he performed with, but it was here in Sweden he really found a home both musically and physically. He moved permanently to Sweden in the late 60s, bought a defunct schoolhouse i Tågarp in the beautiful Österlen region of the southern county of Skåne with his wife Monica ”Moki” Cherry. Moki was a textile designer; her works were as colourful and striking as her husband's music and graced several of Don's album covers. They had several children involved in music, with Eagle-Eye Cherry being the best known. Don's stepdaughter Neneh Cherry has also had an interesting and multifaceted career in music.

The house in Tågarp became something of a centre for friends and musicians, and the place where Don Cherry's Organic Music Society shaped and developed, a concept that to all intents and purposes was the forerunner to what would later be known as 'world music', only freer and more open.

Outpourings of Don Cherry's Swedish years weren't that many to begin with, but there's been an upsurge of archival recordings from this period, especially after Cherry's untimely death at 58 in 1995. I have included every album recorded in Sweden and/or with Swedish musicians between 1967 and 1977, except for those where only Moki Cherry appears usually on tamboura. That's not to dismiss her efforts but because I consider her and Don a unit. Also, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I consider Maffy Falay and Okay Temiz Swedish musicians too even though they techncially were Turks. There are also recordings featuring Swedes prior to 1967, such as ”Psycology” [sic!] with domestic free jazz pioneer Bengt ”Frippe” Nordström and released on his own Bird Notes label in 1963 (an album that interestingly enough also features drummer Bosse Skoglund on one track). A George Russell live document from Beethoven Hall in Stuttgart 1965 has both Don Cherry and Bertil Lövgren on trumpets, but that too is excluded due to the early date.

Movement Incorporated (Anagram, 2005; rec. 1967)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Don Cherry used to hold workshops and music classes at ABF, the labour movement's education centre, and this disc was recorded at one of their locales in July 1967. Old friend from years back Frippe Nordström appears along with Leif Wennerström and Okay Temiz on drums, Maffy Falay on trumpet and flute, Tommy Koverhult on tenor sax and Bernt Rosengren on tenor sax and flute, plus American trombonist Brian Trentham. I'm not sure how official this release actually is. Anagram had a few interesting discs out (including a great one by Gilbert Holmström). The sound quality is nevertheles a good mono recording and once it gathers momeutum, the recording is an excellent example of spontaneous collective composing. ”Suite 3” and ”Surprise Surprise” particularly point to the future with their clear Oriental/Arabic influence. Not easy to find these days – I suppose it only had a small run and the label is now definct, but it's well worth looking for.

 

Brotherhood Suite (Flash Music, 1997; rec. 1968-1971)

released as Don Cherry with Bernt Rosengren Group

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Recorded at various Stockholm locations during the course of four years with roughly the same group as on ”Movement Incorporated”, this is one of my favourite Don Cherry releases. Not only am I a fan of Bernt Rosengren in general, but him in combination with Cherry is usually explosive matter. The sound quality varies due to the different sources, but it's a varied and vivid selection. Some continues along the lines of ”Movement Incorporated” with free jamming while other tracks are composed and focused. If you don't mind the fidelity fluctuations (nothing sounds bad) and the stylistic span, this is a wonderful compilation of an excellent composite of musicians.

 

Live In Stockholm (Caprice, 2013; rec. 1968/1971)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Much like a latecoming expansion pack to the Flash Music disc above, these recordings originate from 1968 and 1971, with the half-hour long ”Another Dome Session” being recorded the same night as ”In A Geodetic Dome” on ”Brotherhood Suite”. The remainder of this release is dedicated to the two-part ”ABF Suite” with the second portion being based on Turkish folk melodies brought in by Maffy Falay. Again a collaboration between Cherry and Rosengren's group, but it's a bit different than the two albums above. Here you can sense the direction in which the trumpeter was heading in the future, getting closer to a more dissolved, genre bending style, the musical crossroad of the entire world. As a study of his development it's certainly rewarding, but it doesn't quite have the same impact as other Rosengren/Cherry documents.

 

The Summer House Sessions (Blank Forms Editions, 2021; rec. 1968)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

This is an absolutely fantastic album that perfectly melds Cherry's free jazz power with his search for a universal expression! It was recorded in the summer home of Göran Freese, sound engineer and musician (appearing on, for instance, G.L.Unit's ”Orangutang”), and mixes members from the ”Live In Stockholm” band with musicians from his international ensemble New York Total Music Company. The idea was to have them jam and rehearse freely without any intention of making an album, but thankfully the tapes rolled and the recordings were finally presented to the world in 2021. The undemanding setting made for some stunning performances that rank among the finest ever from Cherry and his cohort. The music flows freely between traditions, and Turkish hand drummer Bülent Ateş really adds an extra dimension. Essential!

 

Eternal Rhythm (MPS, 1969; rec. 1968)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Another international grouping comprising American, German, Norweigan and French musicians, plus Swedes Bernt Rosengren and Eje Thelin, recorded live at the Berlin Jazz Festival in November 1968. It's a long suite notable for utilizing a large number of flutes and an array of Gamelan percussion. A giant step in Cherry's career, and the first album to properly predict the 'organic music' concept. With names like Albert Mangelsdorff and Sonny Sharrock it's clear from the start that the music is grounded in free jazz, but when adding the unusual (for jazz) timbres of the metal instruments, it becomes something else, something wider in scope and emotion. The thing is that is doesn't sound at all contrived suggesting that Don Cherry had a very clear idea worked out in his head what he wanted to achieve by using them. AllMusic's Brian Olewnick called ”Eternal Rhythm” ”required listening” and I am the first to agree.

 

Live Ankara (Sonet, 1978; rec.1969)

Instrumental

International relevance: **

Having already acquainted Maffy Falay and Okay Temiz, Don Cherry was no stranger to Turkish music, and in late 1969 he got to play at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara with Temiz, saxophonist Irfan Sümer and bassist Selçuk Sun. Despite relying heavily on Turkish traditional material, it's a fairly straightforward set revealing strong traces of Cherry's past with Ornette Coleman (especially with two Ornette compositions in the set). It's not very exciting, and the dull sound also hampers the experience a bit.

 

Music For A Turkish Theatre (Caz Plak, 2024; rec. 1970)

released as Don Cherry/Okay Temiz

Instrumental, wordless vocals

International relevance: **

Another Turkish recording, this time with an interesting backstory. The music was commissioned for a play written by James Baldwin who was living in Turkey off and on between 1961 and 1971 having fled racism and homophobia in the U.S., and produced by theatre owner Engin Cezzar. Dealing with gay relationships in an Istanbul prison, the play was controversial and banned by the Turkish government in after 30,000 people had already seen in it in two months. The music has its moments, but it's by no means essential. It's value lies mainly in the story behind it. Released physically on vinyl only, it came with four different covers, all in limited editions and now sold out.

 

Blue Lake (BYG, 1974; rec. 1971)

Instrumental, wordless vocals, other languages

International relevance: **'

A trio date from Paris, 1971 with Cherry, Temiz and bassist Johnny Dyani. I don't like it at all. First of all, I don't think Temiz and Dyani is a good team (see thisreview), and second of all I don't like Don Cherry's vocals and there's a lot of that on ”Blue Lake”. The playing is messy and sometimes simply directionless, it just goes on forever without getting anywhere. The album was originally released only in Japan 1974 but has for no good reason been reissued several times since.

 

Orient (BYG, 1973; rec. 1971)

Instrumental, wordless vocals, other languages

International relevance: ***

A sister album to ”Blue Lake” released the year before, with half of the double album having more tracks from the same Cherry/Dyani/Temiz date, meaning they also sound about the same. The two albums were reissued together on CD in 2003.

 

Organic Music Society (Caprice, 1973; rec. 1971-1972)

Instrumental, English vocals, other languages, wordless vocals

International relevance: ***

The album that most of all epitomizes Don Cherry's 'organic music' theories. It's intriguing and annoying, messy and flourishing, intense and flaccid all at once. There are field recordings and studio takes, focused performances and half-baked ideas in a raffle of sound and it's sometimes hard to make sense of it. That is the album's weakness but also its strength, and what you think of it probably very much depends on your current mood. I personally would have preferred the double album slimmed down to a single disc, keeping side 2 and 3 (despite Cherry's vocals) and perhaps keep the rather captivating ”North Brazilian Ceremonial Hymn” as an opening track. It would have narrowed the scope of the organic music idiom and by that missed the point, but it would have made a more cohesive album.

A nice list of performers though: Tommy Koverhult, Christer Bothén, dynamic duo Temiz & Falay, and – most importantly – Bengt Berger. Engineered by Göran Freese, the summer house owner who initiated the majestic 1968 recordings.

 

Organic Music Theatre: Festival de Jazz de Chateauvallon 1972 

 (Blank Forms Editions, 2021, rec. 1972)

released as Don Cherry's New Researches featuring Nana Vasconcelos
Instrumental, English vocals, other languages, wordless vocals
International relevance: ***

The organic music brought to the stage for the very first time. With Christer Bothén and various tag along friends from Sweden plus Brazilian percussionist and berimbau player Nana Vasconcelos performing as Don Cherry's New Researches in the Southern France. Much more focused than ”Organic Music Society” although Cherry's vocals are still a major snag.

 

Eternal Now (Sonet, 1974)

Instrumental, other languages

International relevance: ***

With the organic music concept being worked on for a couple of years, the essence of it had finally crystallized on 1974's ”Eternal Now”. A mellow and spiritually gripping album that stands head and shoulders above any previous attempts in the style. Maybe because not every Tom, Dick and Harry creaks and clangs and babble their way into the music – with a personnel of only five including Cherry himself, they can move in the same direction without any distraction from unnecessary outsiders. Especially as they're such a tight unit to begin with, with Cherry, Berger, Bothén and Rosengren at the core with Agneta Arnström only adding Tibetan bells to one track and ngoni (a West African string instrument) to another. ”Eternal Now” (a beautiful title!) oozes with midnight magic, it's like incense for the ears and enlightenment for the soul. Without a doubt one of Cherry's best 70s albums and one of Moki's best album cover works to boot.

 

Modern Art (Mellotronen, 2014; rec. 1977)

Instrumental, other languages

International relevance: ***

A live recording from The Museum Of Modern Art in Stockholm in early 1977. Per Tjernberg from Archimedes Badkar finally makes an appearance on a Don Cherry album – it seems just so appropriate. More unexpectedly, so does Jojje Wadenius who sounds a bit lost to begin with when on electric guitar but blends in better once he switches to the acoustic. (He returns to the electric towards the end and seem a bit more comfortable then.) It's a set heavy on Indian influences so it's surprising not seeing Bengt Berger here. I think he might have been a great staibilizer, because although the performance is rather pleasant, it's a bit trying and uncertain.

However, like I said earlier, Berger's and Cherry's collaboration continued later with Cherry being a vital part of the excellent Bitter Funeral Beer Band. A collaboration that extended beyond the time frame of the Swedish Progg Blog.

There are of course numerous of other Cherry albums without any Swedish connections, some of them less good but some of them among the best jazz music ever put to disc. Don Cherry was a true master, and as a Swede I feel honoured that he chose to live here for so long and also produce some of the finest music of his career while doing so. He was not only a real visionary, he was also a true genius.

Movement Incorporated no links found
Brotherhood Suite full album
Live In Stockholm full album playlsit 
The Summer House Sessions full album playlist       
Eternal Rhythm full album playlist   
Live Ankara full album  
Music For A Turkish Theatre full album playlist (Bandcamp)
Orient / Blue Lake full album playlist
Organic Music Society full album playlist  
Organic Music Theatre full album playlist (Bandcamp) 
Eternal Now full album
Modern Art full album playlist     

There's also an hour-long Don Cherry documentary called "Det är inte min musik" (="it's not my music") made  by Swedish Televison in 1978 that gives some further insight into his life in Sweden. You can watch it here. 

CANTALUCHA – Sånger till Kuba (Mistlur, 1979)

 

Swedish vocals, other languages
International relevance: -

What an incredibly tepid album. The title means ”songs for Cuba” and I suppose the album was made in support of Fidel's country but the performances are so debile it's more like an insult than a tribute. All of it sounds like tourist shop muzak, entirely devoid of any passion Cuban music may have. The vocals are so ninnyish I almost feel sorry for them. Cantalucha sound like a bunch of daycare teachers on soporifics. Needless to say, there's not one real Cuban among them. Had there been, they'd surely have stopped this hogwash from ever happening.

Full album playlist

COMMUNICATION – Communication (Grammofonverket, 1974)

 Instrumental, English vocals, wordless vocals
International relevance: *

Featured in the also-rans list in Tobias Peterson's Swedish progg encyclopedia, but really too un-progg to conveniently fit here. Bassist Red Mitchell is at the helm of this constellation, and he rarely went for very adventurous sounds. Communication briefly touches on soul jazz in ”Cirrus” and give a nod to Coltrane in ”Pamukkale”, but apart from that, this is mainly standard jazz. Well executed but not very interesting.

The album was reissued on CD in 2015 as a Red Mitchell album with a new cover art.

Full album playlist (Spotify)

MIKE CASTLE – Kaliyuga Express (Sonet, 1970)

English vocals
International relevance: *

Chicago born guitarist Mike Castle spent time in Sweden and teamed up with Peps Persson and his then backing band Blues Quality for one album 1970, seemingly the only one Castle ever did. An all-blues effort with the exception of Gordon Lightfoot's ”Early Morning Rain”. Only ”Stockholm Blues” and ”Eagle Blues” are Castle originals, the rest is rather pedestrian cover choices such as ”Sweet Home Chicago”, ”Death Letter Blues” and ”Walkin' Blues” (although the latter is only a digital bonus track). Castle is an adequate but unexceptional acoustic guitarist and an uninspiring singer with a voice better suited for American folk styles than blues. Therefore he sounds best on the Lightfoot track and Mississippi John Hurt's ”Casey Jones” than the gruffer songs of Son House or Robert Johnson. He's learned the moves but fails to infuse much personality into them. Blues Quality appears on two tracks, Peps on six.

Kaliyuga Express full album playlist

ANDERS CARINGER – Valfrid (Wisa, 1975) / Cellstoff (Wisa, 1977) / Du nya du fria (Wisa, 1981)

Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: **

A rather extensive curriculum vitae he has, that Anders Caringer: author, music and drama teacher, educationalist, crossword maker, pastor and prison chaplain, not to mention having been a musician since the early 60's when playing with various bands unknown to most. And then, releasing a mere three albums between 1975 and 1981 before returning as a recording artist in the mid 00's with another two albums (one being a three-CD box set). He's still active.

He made his album debut in 1975 with ”Valfrid”, credited to Anders Caringer and Bland Andra (meaning 'and others'). It's one of those albums that sounds unexceptional at first but appear a bit skewed when you listen closer, like some Christian 70's albums can be - the songs aren't simplemindedly linear and have quite a few unexpected harmonic turns. The style is basically singer/songwriter folk with religious and political concerns, but none of it too much in your face. The sound is predominantly acoustic with congas and harmony vocals, but you can spot an electric wah-wah guitar here and there. ”Verklighet” even has a full band and an off-kilter rhythm that falls somewhere between undeveloped reggae, semi-gospel and misunderstood funk ending up like nothing of it. Perhaps the track that best captures the underground feel that permeates the entire album. The real standout track however is ”Glädje”, an oddly lilting number with a softly soaring melody that expands and contracts, following its own path to a hypnotic jazz waltz rhythm. Definitely one hidden gem of a track!

”Cellstoff” followed in 1977 and has a very different sound provided a number of musicians including studio bassist Backa Hans Eriksson and the guitar work of Tomas Ernvik on a little less than half of the LP. Ernvik is particularly evident on ”Degdag” where his bizarre chords and chopped-up guitar fills perfectly emphasize the ominous mood of the track. Another successful track is opening cut ”Identitet” that features a quirky, jazzy piano solo that seems chase the restless beat down the road and out of town. ”Cellstoff” isn't as consistent as ”Valfrid”, but these two tracks are unusual enough to demand a listen.

1981's ”Du nya du fria” has a long list of credits but it's the sparsest sounding disc in this lot. The sound is skeletal but despite a small ensemble of wind instruments here and there. The bare bones production pushes Caringer's voice and religious/social/philosophical reflections to the fore. The songs have fewer peculiar twists this time, and while most songs are well written enough they're generally more ordinary than on Caringer's previous outings. The best track is also the most subdued one; ”Simons sång” is a heartfelt but somehow brooding song to a newborn child.

I think Anders Caringer is one of the more interesting Swedish Christian singer/songwriters I've come across. Not all here is great, but there are indeed more than worthwhile moments, even flashes of brilliance. You could easily put together a very good, LP length compilation of the best moments from these three albums. With the current upsurge of interest in the Swedish Christian music scene of especially the 70's, I think the time is ripe for a general Caringer (re)discovery.

Valfrid full album playlist
Cellstoff full album playlist
Du nya du fria full album playlist

COSMIC OVERDOSE – Dada Koko (Silence, 1980) / 4668 (Silence, 1981)

 
Swedish vocals
IRG **

Where to draw the line? What is progg and what is not? I prefer to use the 'benefit of doubt' principle here on the blog, and gladly let through albums that some people sometimes deem controversially un-progg. But an ambition of mine as your humble blog owner is to widen the idea of progg, to trace influences and entwine threads in order to see patterns and relations even in unexpected places as long as they appear within the time frame of the Swedish Progg Blog. This is not as much an apology as it's a declaration of objectives. That said, I was long undecided if Cosmic Overdose belong here but was convinced by some blog followers to let them in. Those people reminded me of the benefit-of-doubt principle.

After all, Cosmic Overdose sure had some progg credentials working for them. Two of the members used to be in Älgarnas Trädgård and Anna Själv Tredje, Dan Söderqvist and Ingemar Ljungström respectively with Ljungström performing as Karl Gasleben, sometimes Terminalkapten Gasleben.(Söderqvist was also in Ragnarök.) Originally inspired by David Bowie's ”Heroes” and Wire's game-changing debut ”Pink Flag” in 1977, they came together as Cosmic Overdose the following year. Their name was chosen ironically but had an equal krautrock and synth punk ring to it. That's telling enough.

Upon seeing Sheffield's haunting industrial band Cabaret Voltaire and maverick Fad Gadget live in London in 1979, the Cosmics expanded their line-up to a trio, adding Kjell ”Regnmakaren” Karlgren on drums. Already affiliated with Silence Records (home of both Älgarnas Trädgård and Anna Själv Tredje), the label released their debut single ”Observation galen” in 1979. Backed with ”Isolatorer”, it wasn't an entirely convincing start. The 'A' side especially is a revved up number, more akin to fellow Gothenburgians and post punk outfit Kai Martin & Stick! – it even took use of a saxophone on the verge of a nervous breakdown similar to what Gomer Explensch did in Kai Martin's band – than the future style of Cosmic Overdose. Peter Bryngelsson from Ragnarök also joined in with his easily detected guitar playing.

It wasn't until their first full-length 1980 album ”Dada Koko” that Cosmic Overdose found the style in which they truly excelled. Tempos were slower, synths and drum machines dominated the sound that could easily be dubbed coldwave with a more modern, after-the-fact term. Added to the chilly electronics was the sometimes space rock-floating sometimes chunky and punkish guitar; the mix of contemporary synthetic sounds and the humanly fleshy guitar created an unnerving ambiguity. Never as uninhibited as say Métal Urbain or serial killer neurotic as Suicide, Cosmic Overdose carved out a niche of their own in the all too small synth punk genre, constantly permeated by their kosmische progg past in Älgarnas Trädgård and Anna Själv Tredje.

”Dada Koko” is a fullblown masterpiece. You'd be hard pressed to find a bad track among the eleven that constitute the album. If there is one, it would be closing track ”Råttan”, but preceeded by tracks such as the uneasy ”Investera”, the jittery ”Moderna dadaister”, the menacing (and slightly Tubeway Army-inflected) ”Vit yta” and the threatening ”Turs”, they had already won.

Following a great seven-inch released later the same year, the English language ”To Night”/”Dead”, the album follow-up to ”Dada Koko” was released in 1981, with Regnmakaren substituted by Jimmy Cyklon (real name Thomas Andersson). ”4668” is a tighter sounding album, but it has some tracks that come off as a bit underdeveloped and not as distinct as the selections on ”Dada Koko”, It still has a lot going for it though. ”En av dom” has a few vocal parts that remind me of French Wagnerians Magma (!). The icy ”Oktoberfragment” ought to get your skin crawling. But the real blast here is album opener ”Bomber”, a stone-cold Cosmic Overdose classic that would have stood up well for itself even on the just about impeccable ”Dada Koko”.

Cosmic Overdose attracted international interest and amazingly enough, even the States were keen on them. (Remember, they were no ABBA or Blue Swede, and for a band as small as Cosmic Overdose to make waves there was no mean feat.) An American 'best of' with the lyrics translated to English and the chosen tracks remixed was planned but ultimately shelved. Instead, a cassette-only album named ”Final KoKo” was released on Gothenburg label Xenophone International, consisting of the recordings intended for the stateside market. The U.K. too wanted to lay their hands on the band, but the Brits insisted on a name change. A personnel change later, they settled for Twice A Man as their new name. As such, they embarked on a second career that lasts to this very day, including numerous releases in various formats. But with the name change, the original dark magic of Cosmic Overdose was lost.

In 2016, the Cosmics were given the box set treatment when Progress Productions released ”Total Koko”, a 3CD set including both their original albums in full plus a bonus CD featuring the 45 exclusives as well as several previously unreleased recordings.

So, is it progg or not progg? It really doesn't matter, because regardless of what label you want to slap on the music, Cosmic Overdose's small ouvre stands out as something very, very special. The only word you really need for it is 'essential'.

"Dada Koko" full album playlist
"4668" full album playlist
"Final Koko" full album playlist
"Observation galen" single playlist
"To Night" single playlist

JERUSALEM – Complete albums 1978-1981

Swedish vocals
International relevance: */**

Jerusalem was the most popular Christian rock band Sweden had to offer at the time, reaching listeners far outside the religious circuits, even playing to foreign audiences. Founded near Gothenburg, they had a lot of the straight-ahead, dry sound typical to the late 70s bands of the area. Jerusalem was mainly a mainstream band but earned their popularity from their touches of hard rock and boogie rock. Their first album (sometimes referred to as ”Volym 1”) was released in 1978 and is an undigstinguished effort that fails to make much of an impression, with lacklustre sound and mediocre writing.

”Volym 2” is slightly heavier, slightly better produced, and slightly better. The most interesting tracks (without being that interesting) are ”Getsemane” and the extended ”Introduktion” which both features some progg characteristics.

Third album ”Krigsman” is probably the best one here overall, and also the most progressive one thanks to the title track with passionate vocals from Jerusalem main man Ulf Christiansson, ”Moderne man” which is the top track in this collection, and the 12 minute epic ”Sodom”.

This might give you the idea that Jerusalem are at least occasionally worthwhile, but I can't say they are. Most of the time they're mediocre and dull. Even duller is Ulf Christiansson's solo album ”I mina drömmar” released as Uffe in 1982, a painfully boring collection of radio friendly dross that shows hardly any of Jerusalem's heavier side which after all is their strongest point.

Jerusalem full album playlist
Volym 2 full album playlist
Krigsman full album playlist
I mina drömmar full album playlist

COMBO 8 – Vibrationer (LIM, 1976)

Instrumental
International relevance: **

It took Combo 8 four years and a massively trimmed down line-up (from twenty people down to six) before their sole album ”Vibrationer” was released on musicians run LIM (Levande Improviserad Musik) label in 1976. As a sextet, they still made a lot of sound. Their jazz rock/funk fusion is messy and hyperventilating, with too much going on at the same time, as if the the members wouldn't let anyone else into the spotlight. Tight yes, but overworked. Band founder and drummer Torbjörn Johansson, guitarist Björn Hallberg and bass player Ulf Mårtensson are particularly annoying. 

Regatta II
Vibrationer
Funk Five

CHARLIE & ESDOR – Charlie & Esdor (Mellotronen, 2005; recorded 1970-1972)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

Collectors' favourites Charlie & Esdor's 1970 album never saw the light of the day and the master tapes are long lost, so this Mellotronen compilation is the closest we'll ever get a proper Charlie & Esdor album. It gathers all surviving studio tracks from the semi-Norweigan duo, adding a couple of live tracks from the 1970-72 period (and an ugly album cover – was that really the best picture they could find?)

Charlie & Esdor appeared at both Gärdet festivals, and the legendary double album ”Festen på Gärdet” features ”Dagen är över” (oddly enough not included on the Mellotronen CD). A studio recording of the song also appeared on their lone 1970 MNW 45 with ”Då klagar mina grannar” on the 'A' side. The 7” was produced by Bo Anders Larsson, and he put out two Charlie & Esdor outtakes as a 45 under his own Scorpion moniker, ”It's All Over Now” with vocals overdubbed, and ”Fuck the Cops” on the 'B' side, retitled to the less controversial ”Wolves Mouth Song”. With a bit of simplification, you could say that Charlie & Esdor's attempted album was reduced to four track 33 rpm EP ”Grönt är skönt” in 1972, again through MNW. 

”Grönt är skönt” and the Scorpion single are much heavier than Charlie & Esdor were in a live setting, as proven by the officially released live tracks and circulating bootleg tapes. I think Bo Anders Larsson did a good thing adding a more powerful band backing to some of the songs, thus freshening up Charlie & Esdor's mellow hippy-dippy vibe a fair bit. It would have been great hearing what the intended album would have been like in its entirety.

The Mellotronen release is a typical archival release and while it certainly has its good moments, it's an uneven album. But it's all we're left with (except for a few inferior live tapes) unless the full album master tapes suddenly appear mysteriously out of the blue. But it's doubtful that will ever happen.

Charlie Franzén and Esdor Jensen also appeared as back-up singers on Envoys 45 ”Almarna åt folket” and were briefly in Blueset.

Full album playlist

CONTACT – Complete albums 1969-1972

One of the most popular of all progg acts, known for their successful song ”Hon kom över mon” which ironically enough wasn't released as a single 'A' side, but on the flipside of to ”Jag är lite lessen ikväll” from 1970.

The seeds to Contact were sown in the early 60's when Ted Ström and some friends formed Ruperts in Lidingö outside of Stockholm. As Ström later attended art school Konstfack, he met drummer Leif Reinholds and they started cover band Hårbandet which became the first rock combo to perform at the Konstfack parties where jazz had been the preferred music up until then. They changed their name to Yellow & Blues (playing in a John Mayall influenced style) and Grand Canyon (backing a young and then still unknown Peps Persson, and The Scaffold featuring Paul McCartney's brother Mike McGear) before settling for Contact in 1968. Their line-up changed a few times during their original 70's period.

A Fairy Tale / Convul'sions (7”, MNW, 1969)

International relevance: ***

English vocals

Contact's first release was this much likeable 45 on MNW. They hadn't yet developed the folk rock sound they're known for, but ”A Fairy Tale” does have a faint folk touch to it. The real knockout however is the 'B' side. ”Convul'sions” is a hard and primitive track reminiscent of Scorpion (with Contact collaborator Bo Anders Larsson) and the heavier side of The Troggs, with a persistent caveman beat and featuring an unexpected saxophone solo courtesy of Björn Holmsten. Bassist Thomas Larsson was replaced by Lorne de Wolfe after this release. 

Nobody Wants to Be Sixteen (MNW, 1970)

International relevance: ***

English vocals

Produced by American svengali Kim Fowley, Contact's album debut was intended for an international launch that never happened. It's clearly the work of a band looking for an identity, restlessly searching among 60's pop, psychedelia and folk pop – probably due to Fowley's well documented flair for interferring with the artists's material. (”He changed basically every one of our songs and arrangements,” Ted Ström reveals when asked about the collaboration.) Thus, it's unfair to compare it to Contact's later albums as it sounds like a completely different band (or rather Kim Fowley), but it's actually my favourite album bearing Contact's name. The songs are really good, with Ted Ström's ”Wounds”, Fowley's ”How Was Your Summer”, and ”Conquest of a Red Rose” by the band's other songwriter Ted Steerling on top. (An observation: Steerling's ”Visions of Apple” almost sounds like a Big Star ballad before Big Star even existed.) I like the trying and sort of underproduced feel of the entire album. It's a delightful but underappreciated little record, which was brought out of its relative obscurity when reissued on Record Store Day vinyl in 2016 – including the rare pre-album 45 as a separate bonus 7”.

The ”Sixteen” sessions also produced an entire Kim Fowley album with Contact backing him up, released by MNW in 1970, entitled ”The Day the Earth Stood Still”. The sound is similar but Fowley's album is more in his typical exploitation rock style.

Hon kom över mon (MNW, 1971)

International relevance: ***

Swedish vocals

There's a bit of chronological confusion as regards the Contact discography. The 45 ”Jag är lite ledsen ikväll” was actually recorded three months before ”Nobody Wants to Be Sixteen”, with the famous ”Hon kom över mon” on the flipside, a year before the album of the same name was released. Recorded with traditional folk group Skäggmanslaget, ”Hon kom över mon” instigated the latter day notion of Contact as an out and out folk rock outfit. Which they weren't and which becomes evident once you listen to an entire album by them. ”Hon kom över mon” was indeed written to emulate a traditional song, and there are other tracks on the album with a folk ambience, but some of the selections are much closer to rock, such as ”Fisken”, ”Nattens drottning”, ”Vargarnas natt” (that almost sounds like a Nynningen track). 

The album is a bit uneven and it would have been nice to have had the fine ”Jag är lite ledsen ikväll” instead of, for example, ”Samma vindar, samma dofter” which despite being a classic Contact song would have fitted Blå Tåget a lot better with its fake jazz touch provided by violin and clarinet. But make no mistake, this is a good album that was awarded with a Swedish Grammy for best group effort of the year, in competition with NJA-gruppen and Fläsket Brinner.

Utmarker (Polydor, 1972)

International relevance: ***

Swedish vocals

Contact left MNW and signed with Polydor for what came to be the band's last album, something that caused an outrage within the music movement, not unlike what happened to Turid when she left MNW to join Metronome. Ted Ström remembers:

- I tell you, it caused one heck of an outcry. For instance, we were put on trial before a 'public court' with people from Silence and some others too... 'Public court' was irony. Silence might have been out fishing for us when we left MNW. But the meeting was probably more about some obscure principles...

”Utmarker” kicks off with one of the greatest progg tracks ever, ”Fyrvaktarns dotter”, again in a folk inspired vein but even better than the famous ”Hon kom över mon”. The track was also released as a single with the brilliant non-album track ”Fly mig en sommar” on the 'B' side. With a major label budget to back them up, they made a bigger sounding album without losing their integrity. ”Utmarker” is a better album overall than ”Hon kom över mon”, with more distinctive songwriting from Ström, Steerling and de Wolfe alike.

Compilation ”Samma vindar, samma dofter” is a 'best of' CD that picks most of the best tracks from Contact's last two albums, adding ”Jag är lite lessen ikväll” and ”Fly mig en sommar”, unfortunately not in chronological order. It also features a 2004 track by the reformed Contact. They have reunited several times over the years, and is performing again in 2018 with a line-up including two of Ted Ström's sons. A couple of 1970/71 Contact radio recordings can be heard in ”Progglådan”.

After Contact, Ted Ström went on to play with Norrbottens Järn before embarking on a solo career. He's also a highly skilled watercolour painter. Lorne de Wolfe formed Vargen that later developed into successful band Hansson de Wolfe United.

Special thanks to Ted Ström.

Nobody Wants to Be Sixteen full album playlist

Hon kom över mon full album playlist

Utmarker full album playlist

"Fly mig en sommar"

CRUT – Världspremiär! (Sjöbo Påpp, 1980)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

This band from the Småland region has one entry in Tobias Petterson's ”Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music”, their 1979 debut single. Their album ”Världspremiär!” followed the next year on the tiny Sjöbo Påpp label, and is a fairly straight rock effort with traces of hard rock. It's progg appeal is low though, at best a bit on the Motvind side (which isn't very good to begin with) on tracks like ”Puben Lyckan” and the boogie rocking ”Ursäkta Billy”. The guitar work on instrumental closing track ”Grande Finale” might appeal to a few but the album in general is forgettable.

Full album playlist

CEMENT – Utmaningen (private release, 1977)

International relevance: ***

Swedish vocals

Ranked #6 on the blog's Top 25 list

The major part of this review was written before the album was reissued to great acclaim. Although some of it turned dated following the re-release, I've decided to keep it the way it was originally written as it sheds some light on the discovery of the album, adding information on the reissue to the end.

 

Everybody loves a good mystery, and mysteries rarely come any better, or more frustrating for that matter, than this.

For me, it all started that day when I was browsing Youtube for Swedish progg rarities. Most of the time, it's the well known stuff that gets repeated outings. People who remember their youth in the 70's share their favourite symph rock och leftwing rememberances from their youth, with sound pictures to boot. It's all very nice, and every once in a while you can add some tidbits of information from folks who experienced it first hand. But it's rare that something entirely unknown surfaces among the numerous Youtube channels. That day, when I was digging through crates of wellknown material, it suddenly happened.

Someone had uploaded a whole album's worth of material by a band called Slite Cement (pronounced slee-teh), The most amazing thing was that not only one or two tracks by this mysterious outfit were good. They were all mindblowlingly fantastic! One track after the other revealed a band that was better than November or Life, or any of your favourite heavy Swedish 70's band you care to mention. How on earth could a band such as this has remained completely unknown almost four decades? I immediately went on a research path.

Only to throw myself into a labyrinth of dead ends.

I began thinking that maybe this was a hoax. The vocals were great. The guitars soared like monsters. The sound quality was top-notch. Everything was in its perfect place. Could this be recent day put-on by some jokers with a need to fabrciate a myth and a ”rarity”?

The name of one of the band members was T. Harlevi. With Harlevi being a less than common name in Sweden, I began googling for the guy, without knowing his first name. I figured Slite Cement came from Gotland, Sweden's biggest island, since Slite is a small city on Gotland. Tracks lead to Visby, the main city of Gotland, and one Thomas Harlevi, now drummer in a band called Lampljussymfonikerna. Could it be I was on my way debunking the mystery) I got hold of an email adress to one of the other members in Lampljussymfonikerna. I wrote him, and waited for a reply. And waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing happened. Obviously, it was just another dead end.

 

 

 I kept googling, and in the mean time, I played Slite Cement to various people. All of them were surprised by the amazing quality of the music. Some of them are progg diehards themselves, but none of them had heard the name of the group, let alone the group itself.

Months go by, and all of a sudden, a short rather recent article comes my way, published in a local paper. I learnt that Slite Cement was quite popular locally, and that they had briefly reformed at one time. Could this be a breakthrough? I did another hunt for members on Facebook. I emailed one Anders Åström, but it seems that my message went unread. Given the information I found regarding Lampskensorkstern, Thomas Harlevi was ill, so I didn't want to bother him with his past, not knowing how he was doing.

I tried another Facebook-search for ”Slite Cement”, and since my last hunt for the truth, a Facebook group had been established, dedicated to the band; ”Cement (Slite)”! Despite the slightly anomalous

name for this Facebook group, it was obvious I had finally come to the right place. The group is administrated by Robin Johansson, the grandson of Cement member Björn Johansson, who sadly passed on years ago.

However, Robin couldn't help me with more specific details, but I learnt that ”Utmaningen” was recorded at local radio station Radio Gotland. Robin encouraged me to in fact email Thomas Harlevi, and I had a brief reply from him, telling me that he and bassist Stig Hjellström were the ones who released the recordings as a cassette tape. Then, our contact abruptly ended. According to an article published in the late 70's, also posted in the Facebook group, the original plan actually was releasing ”Utmaningen” on vinyl. Much later, they made CD-R copies of the recordings (possibly only to friends). No traces of a proper vinyl release, though. I haven't been able to confirm how many copies were made of the original release, but given that Slite Cement was a local act, not too many may have been made. Perhaps Hjellström and Harlevi made all the copies at home?

The Facebook page isn't that rich with information on the band, but reading an old paper clipping published in the Facebook group, the band came to life in 1973. The same article mentions 1977, the date of the recordings, as the band's high point, but they also say that the tracks recorded are ”tight, but rather uneven”. (I couldn't disagree more!) Members mentioned are Thomas Harlevi, drums; Stig Hjellström, bas; Tomas Jönsson, congas, and Björn Jansson vocals and guitar. The articles also says that Jansson could have used some better vocal technique, and they also slag him for writing lyrics that are too universal. Furthermore, the article do acknowledge Jansson's guitar playing, but adds that his solos are too long. Anyone who listens to the album can prove the writer wrong on all accounts.

Instrumentally, ”Utmaningen” is a tour de force, every bit as excellent as any of the better known heavy rock album from the Swedish 70's. Jansson is, at that, a better singer than many of his peers, with a powerful yet not overwrought delivery. As far as the songs go, there's not one single weak track in this collection. Had ”Utmaningen” been released as an LP in 1977, it would have fetched four digit sums today, counting in euros and dollars. This album is a true masterpiece!

In September 2017, German label Shadoks graced "Utmaningen" with its first ever vinyl edition (400 copies). The reissue comes in a heavy duty sleeve with new cover art shown below, and is pressed in thick vinyl. The reissue is very well done, and most important true to the sound of the original 1977 recording. It also comes with an insert with pics of the band and mewly written liner notes by Tobias Petterson, author of progg bible "The Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music". Petterson sheds some biographical light on the band, tracing their origins back to 1973 when the fledgling band (with a different line-up) rehearsed in an abandoned girls' school in Visby, ”capital” of the Gotland island. It wasn't until 1975 that the band took it a higher level of seriousity, with singer and lead guitarist Björn Jonsson began showing his extraordinary songwriting skills, coming up with songs that easily outdid the cover songs they started out with. They played several gigs locally, including one in support of Samla Mammas Manna. ”Utmaningen” was recorded and mixed over a weekend, with tapes of the sessions sent to mainland record companies. Failing to secure a proper label deal, the band issued the MC themselves in an edition of 100 copies. The self-produced tape was sold in grocery stores and gas stations, and cost 600 SEK to make, a hefty sum back in the day. While the recordings were made in 1977, the cassette wasn't released until 1980. When creative force Jonsson decided to leave, Cement disbanded soon after.

Special thanks to drummer Thomas Harlevi for providing photos of the original tape!

Full album playlist