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. 

MWENDO DAWA – Basic Line (Sonet, 1979) / Free Lines (Dragon, 1981)

 

Basic Line (Sonet, 1979) 

Instrumental
International relevance: **

The first of many albums from these Gothenburg jazzers who carved out a fusion jazz niche of their own with Susanna Lindeborg's mini moog. However, it hadn't yet found its natural place in the music this early on, and it sounds a bit like it was added when the others had done their parts, like an afterthought. Mwendo Dawa was to a fair degree tenor saxophonist Ove Johansson's band, but it was Lindeborg's keyboards that gave them their special character. ”Basic Line” sounds as if they're still searching for their unique sound, like they still are getting to know each other musically. It took some time still before they got there. Recorded in 1978.

 

Free Lines (Dragon, 1981)

Instrumental, wordless vocals

International relevance: **

Two years and a couple of albums later, Mwendo Dawa had lost guitarist Ulf Wakenius which proved beneficial. ”Free Lines” is a much tighter work signified by a greater collective self-assurance. Ove Johansson plays with great ease here occasionally touching on free jazz, but the most striking leap forward comes from drummer David Sundby who's very powerful on ”Free Lines” giving the music a the much needed push that the debut lacked. Even the album's more lyrical moments are tenser and denser. And while Susanna Lindeborg may not have a leading role here, her keyboards slip much more smoothly into the music. 

from "Basic Line":
Important Level
Basic Line

from "Free Lines"
Maria

BENGT SÄNDH & FINN ZETTERHOLM – Complete albums 1969-1977

 Hemtjörda visor (Sonet, 1969) with Finn Zetterholm
OBS. täxten (Sonet, 1969) with Finn Zetterholm
Världens minnsta LP (YTF, 1971, 33 rpm 7") with Finn Zetterholm
Folklår – våra allra fulaste visor (YTF, 1977) with Finn Zetterholm
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

Bengt Sändh is a troubadour with a life story much more interesting than his music. He grew up in orphanages and foster homes where he was sexually assaulted by the carers before eventually moving to his grandfather. He went to nine different schools in three years, and was repeteadly held in custody and reformatories. He ran away from one of them, as did he from military service for which he spent a month in open prison. He reputedly stole 46 cars in ten days and had forty different jobs in the course of a few years, including pall bearer, locksmith and mannequin maker. His recording debut came in 1965 with an album together with fellow troubadours Stefan Atterhall and Finn Zetterholm. Zetterholm came to be Sändh's most frequent collaborator over the years, both being controversial figures with a taste for songs and subjects on and over the edge of the commonly morally acceptable. (He also released a couple of albums with two other troubadours, Rune Andersson and Jeja Sundström, plus two solo albums up to 1981 but they're not included here.) 

Rudeness and drinking were two regular characteristics. Always at odds with society and its norms as a person and a performer, his albums were honestly meant manifestations of his denial of acceptability rooted in a disappointment with social rules. But in the end, they're all about shock value. Once the effect wears off which it immediately does, they just sound pueril and empty to an outsider. And with the music being bad too it's absolutely nothing to waste your time on.

After leaving the music scene, Sändh became a snuff producer (not as in snuff movies, but as in tobacco).

Hemtjörda visor full album playlist
OBS. täxten full album playlist
Världens minnsta LP full 7"
Folklår full album playlist

BENGT-ARNE WALLIN – Varmluft (Sonet, 1972)

Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: **

Bengt-Arne Wallin is surrounded by an interesting lot of performers on ”Varmluft”. Apart from the internationally renowned swing and bebop trumpeter Clark Terry, there's a number of domestic dignitaries here including Marie Selander, Lennart Åberg (of Rena Rama), Georg Riedel, Sabu Martinez, Anthony Reebop Kwaku Bah and Maffy Falay. And as always, Janne Schaffer. The music could be called progressive big band, but that doesn't quite say much about its variety. There are low-key, moody moments, funky sections, folksy moments – there's a little bit of everything working together as a kaleidoscopic whole. Wallin sometimes wanted too much at once which is the problem with for instance ”Wallin/Wallin”, but ”Varmluft” is a bit better sorted out. Not everything here is successful, but some of it is. And I do appreciate his approach even when it doesn't work out completely. He was a visionary and it's always heartwarming delving into a visionary's work.

The cover art is made by Lasse Åberg.

No links found 

JOJJE WADENIUS – Puss puss sant sant (Sonet, 1978)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

”Goda' goda'” is one of the GREAT Swedish childrens' records of all time, a fantastic LP chock full of brilliant songs and Jojje Wadenius and his Made In Sweden pals at their very best. The lyrics were written by children's author Barbro Lindgren, and she did the same for ”Puss puss sant sant”, recorded almost ten years after ”Goda' goda'” as a kind of sequel. But times were different and so were the musicians, and the childlike joy that permeated the original album wasn't to be repeated in 1978. The band tracks sound like an ordinary day at work, very studio musicians-like, and Wadenius himself often sounds as if he just goes through the motions vocally. Some songs are fine though, with the best one being the beautiful and ironically enough instrumental ”Vintervisa” which is close to what John Renbourn Group did on their albums from roughly the same time, complete with tablas. But compared to the album ”Puss puss sant sant” was styled after, this is a real disappointment.

Full album playlist

MIA SANDBERG – Hälften av din kudde (Sonet, 1982)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Second album from this confessional singer/songwriter, following two years after her debut ”...från mig”. Lyrically following along the same lines of slightly self-pitying diary poetry, but musically it's more ethereal with fretless bass and an airy production touching on new age. Put it all together and you have a truly terrible album with a embarrassing title meaning ”half of your pillow”. Avoid at all costs.

Features Janne Schaffer and Björn J:son Lindh, with liner notes by Swedish Academy member and author Lars Forsell.

Full album playlist

SALIH BAYSAL – The Myth (Sonet, 1978)

Instrumental, other languages
International relevance: **

Imagine a Sevda album where the spotlight is almost exclusively on their deft violin player Salih Baysal and you'd get ”The Myth”. It's a solo album of his to all intents and purposes, but with Maffy Falay and Okay Temiz appearing on various drums and percussion, it's still something of a lost Sevda album, or at least a Sevda stripped to the basics. Especially the second side where Temiz really have a go at it on the drums.

But the focus is really on Baysal's violin and, on several tracks, his throaty, experienced voice. The material is all Turkish folk tunes, collected and arranged by Falay. If you enjoy the Turkish melodics, you'll probably love both sides of the disc equally. If not, the B side is still worthy of many spins as it's always such a rousing pleasure hearing the multifaceted rhythms of Okay Temiz. A little gem from the outskirts of progg!

Full album

OKAY TEMIZ TRIO – Turkish Folk Jazz (Sonet, 1975) / ORIENTAL WIND – Zikir (Sun, 1979) ORIENTAL WIND – Live In Bremen (JARO, 1982) / OKAY TEMIZ'S ORIENTAL WIND – Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1982 (Caz Plak, 2022)

Okay Temiz's albums are sprinkled all over this blog, but this post fills in the gaps in his discography up to 1982. It's a rather voluminous body of work, and if you count the albums with him only as a sideman, it becomes unfathomable. But I always take a closer look on an album with his name on it. His name is a stamp of approval. If he's there, it can't be all that bad.

OKAY TEMIZ TRIO – Turkish Folk Jazz (Sonet, 1975)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

What could possibly go wrong with a title like that? Nothing, and nothing does either. It's recorded as a trio with Swedish jazz legend Björn Alke on bass and Temiz's fellow countryman Saffet Gündeger on clarinet (plus multiple arrangements signed Maffy Falay although he doesn't appear on the album in person). Temiz's Turkish roots have an even stronger emphasis here than on several of his other albums, and the melodies and harmonies get to fly high and free within the smaller trio format. It also means there's more room for Temiz's drumming, and he's really going for it here. He plays in all directions at once, wide and deep, high and low, and right at you. Truly musical drumming, and Gündeger finds his way around the drummer's thunderous tumble. He blows his instrument so hard as if his life depended on it, making wild runs like the clarinet's Coltrane. Even Björn Alke, anything but a bass bungler, gets overshadowed by the Turkish typhoon of sound. It's as if he knows he better stay out of the way and keep the pulse going elaborately but without trying to show off. A one hundred percent stunning album.

ORIENTAL WIND – Zikir (Sun, 1979)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

The release history of ”Zikir” is a bit complicated and I'm not going to get all tangled up in trying to explain which release is which and what songs are on which edition, as the CD reissue on Ada Müzik sets everything straight in terms of songs included. The picture above shows the album cover used for most early European releases.

This is a very different beast to ”Turkish Folk Jazz”. With more musicians involved, the arrangements are more rigid. There are still room for improvisation of course, but there's nothing here that can match the fury of ”Turkish Folk Jazz”. There's also something about the sound that breathes jazz fusion air, a sort of smoothness that I think is too much out of place for this music. I can just imagine what a smaller band and a more sympathetic production would have done to the outcome. Still there are entertaining moments, such as the wacky ”Kabak Tatlısı” which sounds as if they played a jew's harp through a wah-wah and then added drunken ducks on top of it. But as a whole, ”Zikir” stands as one of the weaker Temiz efforts.

ORIENTAL WIND – Live In Bremen (JARO, 1982)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

This 1981 recording from the Packhaus Theater in Bremen opens with ”Batum”, a throwback to Temiz's Sevda days although Lelle Kullgrens electric guitar gives it a very different vibe. I don't like his playing at all. But to be honest, I don't think Oriental Wind had a good evening back then in late October 1981. The music sounds strained (very unusual for a Temiz album!) and tense in a bad way. It's almost as if there was something worrying them, as is they had something else on their mind and tried to make up for the missing spark with force. Some moments here are better than others, but I miss the natural flow and telepathy between the musicians most of the time. And flow and telepathy are crucial for this music to work.

OKAY TEMIZ'S ORIENTAL WIND – Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 1982 (Caz Plak, 2022)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Ah, now we're talking! Forty minutes of top range Turk jazz action! Still guitar in the mix, but Lelle Kullgren is out and Stefan Osterberg is in and he's much more responsive to the moment, firing off some almost Terje Rypdal-like salvos that hit exactly where they should, But everybody's on the same page here, effortlessly striving in the same direction, thinking with one unified mind. This Montreux show, left in the vaults for a baffling forty years, is the exact opposite of the stifled Bremen date. It's all about the collective efforts, but every musician needs to be mentioned by name as they all play on their absolut top. Lennart Åberg moves like a panther in his death defying guerilla sax solos. Palle Danielsson is freaking insane on the bass, playing stuff that I thought was humanly impossible. He's almost like an orchestra in itself! Bobo Stenson's piano and keyboards might seem a bit tame in comparison, but although he fires away some dazzling keyboard runs, his main role is being the glue that keeps it all together, filling out whatever musical spaces need to be filled The ensemble play is out of this world, it's more than telepathy – they're tight as siamese quintuplets. No need to hold it back: Of every album I've written about here – and we're talking thousands of albums – this album is among the very, very, very best.

Turkish Folk Jazz full album
Zikir full album playlist (CD version)
Live In Bremen full album playlist
Live At Montreux full album playlist (Bandcamp)

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

TOMMY KÖRBERG – Sjunger Birger Sjöberg (Sonet, 1974) / TOMMY KÖRBERG & STEFAN NILSSON – Blixtlås (Sonet, 1979)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: */**

Tommy Körberg is a huge star even internationally thanks to his appearance in the ”Chess” musical. He's an incredibly versatile performer and a massively gifted singer, but he can also be massively boring and his vocal precision can make him sound cold. Most of his solo works are way outside of progg; his relevance to this blog mainly extends to his recordings with Solar Plexus and Made In Sweden. ”Tommy Körberg sjunger Birger Sjöberg” fits despite not really being progg as it's really a Solar Plexus album in disguise, featuring the entire band minus Jojje Wadenius. The songs are musical adaptions of Swedish turn of the century poet Birger Sjöberg, As expected with the people involved, it's a well performed affair. It's very polished, so polished it's lifeless. There's little or nothing of Solar Plexus's usual frivolous approach to musical genres, and the general feel is that of restrainment and control. The three tracks that rise slightly above the inherent dullness are ”Släpp fångarne loss”, ”Samtal om universum” and ”Bleka dödens minut”. They have vague strains of a suppressed unease if you listen closely – very closely – but still lack the spirit the album is in such great need of.

Tommy Körberg returned to Swedish poetry as a source for inspiration five years later, but his approach was vastly different on "Blixtlås" (subtitled "Svensk 70-talspoesi", 'Swedish 70's poetry'). Featured are  longtime Körberg cohort Stefan Nilsson (Kornet, De Gladas Kapell, Hörselmat) and other people from mainly the jazz and fusion legions (plus a harmonica cameo from Mats Ronander). It has a sound I don't like, but the music and arrangements are still more vivid than on the Birger Sjöberg album. But ”Blixtlås” wasn't made as a companion piece, and taken as a singular work, it simply sounds lika a cold, cerebreal and clinical fusion jazz workout.

Sjunger Birger Sjöberg full album playlist
Blixtlås full album playlist

BERNDT EGERBLADH - Nybyggarland (Sonet, 1973) / Kristallen den fina (CBS, 1975) / African Suite (Sonet, 1976)

Swedes of certain generations probably remember Bernt Egerbladh hosting a couple of TV series in the 70's and 80's, in which he interviewed other people and remembered his own past. Perhaps it would surprise those that Egerbladh makes an appearance here on this blog.

He was a noted jazz pianist long before the TV series with a discography going back to the early 60's. His debut on record came in 1962 with ”Fanfar!”, an album split with Lasse Lystedt Quintet. Egerbladh favoured a lyrical tone in the Jan Johansson tradition, but he also harboured pronounced modernist leanings early on, as demonstrated on the 1965 title track from ”Schizo”, his first album of his own. His solo output is surprisingly slim, but he was a beloved session musicians, playing on records by and/or writing music for Doris, Gimmicks, Heta Linjen, Ann-Kristin Hedmark, Rune Andersson, James Hollingworth, and Lill Lindfors. Some of these names may not mean much to a non-Swede, but they present a wide span of musical styles and interests. One of his best known tracks is ”You Never Come Closer” on Doris's sole album, a magnificent slice of uneasy fringe psychedelia. Considering his variety as songwriter as well as performer, this progg blog feature may not be that surprising at all. Egerbladh – who died in 2004 – was a curious explorer happy to take part in projects way outside the jazz world that fostered him.

Nybyggarland (Sonet, 1973)
Instrumental
International relevance: **

With all the tracks adapted from folk tunes of Northern Sweden, it's easy to see ”Nybyggarland” as a modernization of sorts of Jan Johansson's massively successful ”Jazz på svenska” released almost ten years earlier. But ”Nybyggarland” has a wider sound palette with Ulf Andersson (EGBA, Feta Heta Linjen) and Ahmadu Jarr on congas. The album starts out cunningly straight, but by the third track ”Vaggvisa från Norrbotten”, things are getting slightly strange. A foreboding organ creeps into one channel, a cembalo sounding instrument searches tinkling for a home in the other. About halfway in, the piano goes off into unpredicted terrain, as if it breaks free from the melodic centre and breaks up into modal streams. 

The melody of the title track is more like a suggestion of what to come, and soon gives way for a bass riff that establishes a strange moving rhythm building up to a mysterious, almost Arbete & Fritid-like bounce. The albums really goes off the rails with the next track ”Ja, kom då!” where Ulf Andersson's flute leads the way into a gurgling, pulsating and flat out trippy haze deepened by Egerbladh's druggy organ competing with his almost Mwandishi-styled electric piano. The album sort of withdraws a bit after that, but it has one surprise left, ”Hjortronmyren”, with a simple and persistent horn riff fleshing out Ahmadu Jarr's conga beat.

There's nothing bad on this album, but had the entire disc been like those three tracks I've singled out, this would have been a full-on masterpiece. Now, it's a good, maybe even great, album with some truly out-of-the-ordinary moments.

Kristallen den fina (CBS, 1975)
Instrumental
International relevance: **

”Kristallen den fina” works as a sister volume to ”Nybyggarland” insofar it's built around Swedish traditional tunes; only two tracks are original compositions but they retain a very folky feel and thus slip seamlessly into the program. The title track will be familiar to some readers as both Harvester and Made In Sweden used the melodic theme to their own ends. This version features what may sound like Jojje Wadenius singing along with his guitar in his typical fashion, but the guitarists here are Jan Schaffer and Jan Tolf (Egba, Häxmjölk). ”Barkbrödlåten” in turn is one of the high points on Kebnekaise's second album, and it's a stand-out also in this collection, largely because of Schaffer's really freaky guitar work. (Or is it Tolf messing about? Hard to tell, but it sounds more like something Schaffer would do.) It's also the track in this collection most likely to appeal to the average progg listener. Apart from that track, this album isn't as bonkers as the best stuff on ”Nybyggarland”, but it's a highly enjoyable album with very fine solo and ensemble playing. The folk material is strong and typically melancholic, and well suited for the careful jazz treatment represented here.

African Suite (Sonet, 1976)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Anyone expecting more of that bittersweet wistfulness of the two previous albums will be sorely disappointed with ”African Suite”. As the title say, this time Egerbladh looked to Africa for inspiration. It's a far more rousing experience than any of the preceding albums, and it's also the one overall closest to progg if you by progg mean Archimedes Badkar, Bitter Funeral Beer Band and Spjärnsvallet. (Christer Bothén's 1983 ”Trancedance” album with Bolon Bata also leaps to mind.) This demanded a larger ensemble, so Egerbladh drummed up an all-star line-up including several progg celebrities such as Ahmadu Jarr (again), Stefan Brolund (Egba, Oriental Wind, Pop Workshop), Lennart Åberg (Rena Rama, Häxmjölk, Bengt-Arne Wallin), and Malando Gassama (Ablution/Baltik, Häxmjölk). ”African Suite” is, for some reason, more cohesive than the other two in this trio of albums, which isn't to say it's at all samey -- on the contrary, it's a varied collection of tracks. The two I like the most are also the two most jubilant ones, ”Welcome To The Gambia” and ”Fire Dance”. Well, maybe I should mention the forceful ”Worksong” too, with its compelling beat constantly pushing forward relentlessly. But there really aren't any weak moments here. It helps though if you already like the African leanings of the abovementioned bands. If you do, this will be a nice discovery if you haven't heard it already.

Nybyggarland full album playlist
Kristallen den fina full album playlist 
African Suite full album playlist

DIDDLERS – Is Good For You (Sonet, 1969)

English vocals, Swedish vocals, other languages
International relevance: *

An early incarnation of folk band Låt & Trall, and more interesting from a historical point of view than a musical one. Musicwise it's straight-laced folk music with a very strong Irish bent. This may be 1969, but these days you can go to any local fake 'Oyrish' pub and hear exactly the same thing you hear on this album, complete with a mock accent put on for 'authenticity'. It works best when the always genuine Marie Selander takes the lead, as on the best cut ”Go To Sea Once More”.

Selander is one of the participants who later got an artistically rewarding career. Add to that Urban Yman who went on to Blå Tåget and the various Träd, Gräs & Stenar incarnations. The ever present master musician Kjell Westling was also a member of Diddlers, as were Pyret Lindström and Slim Lidén who both joined Freedom Singers a few years later (along with Selander).

By the way, shouldn't it be "ARE" instead of "IS" in the title?

Full album playlist

DYANI, TEMIZ, FEZA – Music For Xaba, Vol. 1 (Sonet, 1973) / Music For Xaba, Vol. 2 (Sonet, 1980) / Rejoice (Cadillac, 1988) (all recorded in 1972)

Instrumental, English vocals, other languages
International relevance: ***

Turkish born drummer Okay Temiz is a true legend to me, partly for his involvement with the amazing Maffy Falay-led Sevda, and partly for his own ensemble Oriental Wind which like Sevda took the Turkish musical traditions into jazzy territories with great grandeur. But he also collaborated with other musicians as these three albums prove.

The twin volumes of ”Music For Xaba” were recorded one evening in November 1972 at Theatre 9 in Stockholm, with South African pianist/bassist Johnny Dyani as leader. Mongezi Feza was also of South African descendance, and a trumpet player who made his mark on Swedish music with Bernt Rosengren among others.

I'm not too fond of the ”Xaba” releases. The trio uses a lot of force to drive the music forward but it's as if there's something keeping the musicians apart despite the best of intentions. The best moments occur on the second volume, in Feza composition ”Mad High” and Dyani's ”Witchdoctor's Son”. I've heard these albums a fair bit over the years, but they still don't make real sense to me.

”Rejoice” is recorded less than two weeks before ”Music For Xaba” at The Modern Museum of Art in Stockholm (and not released until 1988). The sound is a tad lesser here but it's a superior date, with the three musicians connecting much better, creating a flow and an intensity lacking from the other releases. ”Mad High” makes another appearance here, as do ”Makaya Makaya Makaya”, and even though the former was a high point on ”Xaba”, this one tops it.

”Rejoice” demonstrates what this trio was capable of, ”Music For Xaba” that these guys also had lesser nights.

Music For Xaba Vol. 1 full album playlist
Music For Xaba Vol. 2 full album playlist
Rejoice full album

MIA SANDBERG – ...från mig (Sonet, 1980)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Mia Sandberg entered the scene at the waning end of progg, heading towards the future but still with traces of earlier times. As an artist, she's rather forgotten today, but she released three albums and several singles in the early 80s. She has infrequently reappeared as a musician a few times after that, although her main occupation these days is as a therapist and an occassional author.

”Från mig” was her debut album, released in 1980 to largely positive reviews. It includes her most successful track ”Svart eller vit” which opens the album. Sandberg sings her confessional songs in a slightly husky voice, and she's a decent enough songwriter. Too bad then that the album passes rather unnoticed. The main problem is that major label Sonet obviously didn't want to lose money on their then new signing, giving it an overly anxious production. The music kind of evaporizes before you have a chance to notice it's even there. (Sonet hired Flemming Ostermann of Danish band Savage Rose to handle the knobs which makes the sound even more puzzling as Savage Rose hardly were known for a cowardly sound.)

Still, if you're looking for a more toned-down Stina Nordström, a more dressed-up Barbro Hörberg or perhaps even a more glamourous Turid, this might appeal to you. But if you pass on it, you won't miss a lot.

Full album playlist

GRUS I DOJJAN – Slarvigt men säkert (Sonet, 1974) / Högt spel (Sonet, 1975)

Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *

Third and fourth album by Grus I Dojjan, previously featured on the blog with their debut album. These albums are simply more of the same: cheerful mix of old-timey Western folk traditions including Great Britiain, America and Sweden, performed in a devil-may-care fashion. ”Slarvigt men säkert” translates to ”sloppy but surely” which is the best description of Grus I Dojjan you'll ever see. ”Högt spel” is a little more professional sounding which in a way contradicts Grus I Dojjan's homegrown nimbus. If you're one of the two last people (there can't be any more than that left) who still absolutely love this style, you'll love these albums too. 

Slarvigt men säkert full album
Högt spel full album playlist

SKÄGGMANSLAGET – Kniviga låtar tillägnade länsman i Delsbo (Sonet, 1973)

 
Instrumental
International relevance: **

It's hard for a progg fan not cross paths with Skäggmanslaget as they were one of the most popular traditional folk outfits in the 70s whose popularity was only elevated by their collaboration with Contact on most notably ”Hon kom över mon” which remains a celebrated progg chestnut to this very day. Contact, of course, also appeared on Skäggmanslaget's debut album ”Pjål, gnäll och ämmel” to great effect on the track ”Gråtlåten”.

”Kniviga låtar tillägnade länsman i Delsbo” is their third album and it's a straight-up folk effort with no rock music involved. Unless you count their fiery playing that is that was rock'n'roll enough compared to many other traditional fiddle constellations of the time. The album consists of fifteen tracks from their native Hälsingland, an area in the southern part of Northern Sweden known for its rich musical history. Skäggmanslaget is smack dab in the middle of tradition, and born and raised straight into it, they are as credible as they are engaging. The liner notes declare ”it sounds genuine, and fun it is, and rocks it does”, and that description is as good anything I could come up with to describe the album. Having an interest in Swedish folk fiddling of course helps, but the Skäggmanlaget's contagious enthusiasm should be obvious to anyone. This is one pretty great album in its field.

Full album playlist

THOMAS MUNCK – Parachute Man (Sonet, 1978)

English vocals

International relevance: - 

 

This is a massive turd, served on a mouldy plate. It doesn't actually belong here, wasn't it for ”Give Me Your Hand” and to some degree ”Got My Soul All Open” for their studio musician fringe progg shadings. ”Give Me Your Hand” isn't good but still the obvious standout track in this dubious collection, with its time signature changes and proggish guitar sound. ”Parachute Man” is mainly a pop album with some funk moves typical of its time. The pseudo funk is unfortunately so stiff and sexless that they make fucking Level 42 look like James Brown at his hard working sweatiest. Björn J:son Lindh appears on some tracks, as does Lasse Wellander on one. Have mercy on their souls.

In 1978, the same year that saw the release of this provocatively disgusting clunker, Thomas Munck – a singer as terrible as he is a songwriter – appeared in the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest with ”Nå't som gör dig glad”, meaning ”something that makes you happy”. The voting jury was less than happy though, with each jury member rewarding the song with the lowest possible points. But that's more than I give ”Parachute Man”.

(Please note that I never once called the album "Parashite Man" in this review.)

Full album playlist

SCALA-TEATERNS ENSEMBLE - Hår (Sonet, 1968)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

Originally an off-Broadway production in 1967, musical "Hair" eventually became a Broadway blockbuster, spawning multiple domestic versions in numerous countries of the free world. The Swedish staging was performed at the Scala theatre in Stockholm 1968, the very same year it moved to the proper Broadway stages (thus being the very first musical to make that particular move).

Appallingly subtitled "American Hippie-Yippie Love-In Musical", the musical backing was provided by Baby Grandmothers in their later Mecki Mark Men incarnation, although the album was technically credited to Scala-Teaterns Ensemble. The inclusion of Kenny Håkansson, Mecki Bodemark et al is the only thing to make this release historically interesting, but it has to be said that it's impossible to tell the identity of the band just by listening to the LP. While they conjure up some appropriate groove when needed, any fairly talented group of musicians could have achieved the same thing. The focus is on the singers, but the male and female vocals are maddening, with the female vocals being especially grating. After all, it is a musical, and musicals are an inherently grating abuse of music, like a watered-down version of the operetta which is a watered-down version of the opera which is annoying to begin with.

Those expecting anything along the lines of Baby Grandmothers' "Somebody Keeps Calling My Name" or the Jimi Hendrix impersonations of Mecki Mark Men are up for a major disappointment. "Hår" is just another provincial below average take on a silly musical parodying starry-eyed hippies. Which too was annoying to begin with...

The album was also released by Sonet in collaboration with shampoo and conditioner manufacturer Sunsilk (what else!) with a different sleeve (see below), also in 1968.

Full album playlist

MADS VINDING GROUP - Danish Design (Sonet, 1974)

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

 

It's albums like this that makes me question my vocation. Why do I do this? How far am I willing to go with this blog? Is it really just a karmic punishment for mistakingly killing a squirrel in a previous life by sitting on it thinking it was a small cushion? Am I a bad person? Is it only right that I suffer?

For a long time, I've put off writing about "Danish Design". Yeah, you've already figured out why. It's Danish. The title already says so.

Or so I tried to convince myself, ignoring the cold, hard facts. And they are as follows: The album is recorded in Sweden. It's produced by a Swede, Rune Öfwerman. Engineered by another Swede, Lasse Gustavsson. All musicians except Mads Vinding himself are Swedish (he's, you know, Danish). Sabu Martinez, percussion. Ola Brunkert, drums. Jan Schaffer, guitar. Keyboards, they're played by Kjell Öhman -- very Swedish. Released by Sonet Records? Ah yes, a Swedish label.

You see where this is going, don't you?

I can run, but I can't hide. It's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it. Tough shit it had to be me.

[insert inappropriate word referring to sexual intercourse]

Let's put it this way: This album is so boring, so relentlessly tedious that I consider playing Coste Apetrea's "Nyspolat" seven times in a row while breathing inside a very small plastic bag.

This is fusion at its worst. Soulless. Impotent. Clinical. There's more life in a lab grown bacterial culture than on this album.

I hate the album cover too.

Full album playlist