POP WORKSHOP – Vol. 1 (Grammofonverket, 1973) / Songs of the Pterodactyl (Grammofonverket, 1974) / WLODEK GULGOWSKI – Soundcheck (Polydor, 1976)

A super group of sorts including Jan Schaffer, Wlodek Gulgowski, Ola Brunkert, Stefan Brolund, and on ”Songs of the Pterodactyl” drummer Tony Williams of Miles Davis and Lifetime fame. Just by reading those names you should get a clear idea of what the music's like, funky fusion permeated by technical talent. Which it is. 

POP WORKSHOP  – Vol. 1 (Grammofonverket, 1973)

Instrumental 

International relevance: ***

”Vol. 1” is a heavier and proggier album than expected though with some riveting guitar work from Schaffer. The powerful ”Perforated Mind” should appeal to Zappa heads while Magma fans ought to be delighted by ”Equinox”, but ”Vol. 1” is a solid affair way too good to be held hostage by the fusion crowd!

POP WORKSOP – Songs of the Pterodactyl (Grammofonverket, 1974)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

”Songs of the Pterodactyl” is good too, almost great but lacks some of the debut's freshness, as if they tried to consciously repeat the quirky angularity of their first album. Everything is in the right place with thorough compositions by Gulgowski and his Polish countryman Zbigniew Namysłowski, but it doesn't thrill quite as much as ”Vol. 1”. Still a fine effort though, with fantastic cover art by Swedish horror painter Hans Arnold.

 WLODEK GULGOWSKI – Soundcheck (Polydor, 1976)

International relevance: ***

Instrumental

Wlodek Gulgowski had two albums of his own out in the 70's, although the first one he made was co-credited to Rory Vincent, ”Dream World”, so ”Soundcheck” is technically his first to count as a solo album. Unfortunately it's a very disappointing album coming after the two he did with Pop Workshop. It's full of slick fusion, very polished and not dissimilar to some of the weaker funky library albums that have gained collectors' interest in recent year.

Both Pop Workshop albums cry out for a reissue but ”Soundcheck” is definitely one to pass on.

Vol 1 full album playlist
Songs of the Pterodactyl full album playlist
Soundcheck full album

GÁBOR SZABÓ – The Swedish albums

Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian born American guitarist whose best known albums are ”Bacchanal”, ”Dreams” both from 1968, and unfortunately also unbelievably cheesy ”Jazz Raga” from 1967. If you want to hear stunningly bad sitar playing, please choose ”Jazz Raga”, one of legendary jazz label Impulse's greatest brainslips. ”Bacchanal” and ”Dreams” however are two lovely examples of pop jazz with psychedelic tinges. Two albums of quality cool kitsch.

 

Small World (Four Leaf Clover, 1972)

Instrumental

International relevance: **

Recorded in two days in August 1972 in Stockholm, this is the first Szabó album to feature Swedish musicians, this time Schaffer and Nils-Erik Svensson of Svenska Löd AB!, Stefan Brolund, Sture Nordin, and Berndt Egerbladh. It's one of Szabó's best 70s albums, very close to his 60s work, with his characteristic guitar sound set to a groove-laiden background. Szabó recorded the Oriental sounding ”Mizrab” several times, but this version is the best of them all, with a great, funky ensemble performance. (A mizrab is the special kind of plectrum you put on your index finger when you play sitar.) ”Small World” is an often overlooked album which deserves more attention. Several different cover variations exist.

 

Belsta River (Four Leaf Clover, 1979)

Instrumental

International relevance: **

Another two-day session in Sweden, this time in January 1978 (but not released until the following year). Only Schaffer is left from ”Small World”, with Wlodek Gulgowski, Malando Gassama, Peter Sundell (from De Gladas Kapell), and Finnish/Swedish Pekka Pohjola joining him. Nowhere near as good as ”Small World”, this is muzak fusion, decorative but dull. The Latin affected ”24 Carat” has some life in it, but it's still not very good. (The album was also released in Japan as ”24 Carat”.)

”Belsta River” was to be one of Szabó's last albums. He died in 1982 while visiting his birth town Budapest only 45 years old from liver and kidney failure caused by drug abuse.

Small World full album playlist
Belsta River full album playlist

BENGT-ARNE WALLIN – Wallin/Wallin (Dux, 1971)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Bengt-Arne Wallin was noted jazz musician and composer (he died in 2015) with a special love for Swedish folk music, and played with everybody from hugely popular easy listening icon Lill Lindfors to Polish jazz maverick Tomasz Stańko. His 1971 effort ”Wallin/Wallin” is centered around old Swedish chorales and psalms with words by poet and lyricist Johan Olov Wallin. The selected psalms make for a song cycle of sorts that straddles the lines between prog, fusion, third stream jazz, and progressive big band. Such an ambitious venture surely demands skill to pull through, and Wallin indeed managed to drum up a plethora of seasoned and in-demand players. Names such as the two Jans, Schaffer and Bandel are – needless to say – featured, as are Okay Temiz, Ola Brunkert, Stefan Brolund to name but a few. For the vocals, Wallin approached Ann-Kristin Hedmark and Tommy Körberg, Körberg then a member of newly formed genre-defying battleship Solar Plexus.

The ambition level is dazzling, but the ideas and efforts often get in the way of the music itself. Everyone involved do their best and you can hear they're pretty thrilled by the whole project, but in the end, the music gets too unwieldy and sometimes a bit too cerebrally sluggish to take off. It's interesting as a period piece, but the album's sheer abundance is too fatiguing for an unadulterated listening pleasure. Simply put, a little too eager for its own good.

Att bedja (Gud han skälv oss bjöd)
Så går en dag än från vår tid

CURT JALMO – Ängel med krossade höfter (Sonet, 1972)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

 

An outsider classic thanks to Curt Jalmo's laughably overpretentious lyrics including embarrasing tributes to Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin (recited to music by Johann Sebastian Bach). The title, meaning ”angel with crushed hips”, should give an idea of Jalmo's poetry. 

The music itself is decent albeit unspectacular singer/songwriter stuff with some folk touches à la Contact, and sometimes with a bit of groove. Major label Sonet drummed up a set of often used session musicians such as Stefan Brolund (Hörselmat, Pop Workshop), Jukka Tolonen, folk fiddler Ole Hjort, and Lasse Wellander (Nature) to mention the most renowned. All in all a passable album if you can stand the pompous lyrics, or simply don't understand Jalmo's incommodious verbal leakage: non-Swedes certainly has an advantage here. The album's reputation has also grown with time and is now considered a cult album.

Jalmo also published ”Nattsand” in 1970, a collection of poetry which I haven't read, and quite frankly, I don't really wish to either. He was lead singer in 60's band Lay Abouts who released one single in 1967, the forgettable ”So Long Fanny”.

Full album playlist

PÄR LINDBLOM – I grönsakslandet (RCA Victor, 1973)

 

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance:**

Pär Lindblom has had many ways of earning his living. He started out in music in the early 70s, releasing his first album ”I grönsakslandet” on major label RCA Victor appealingly produced by his old schoolmate Tomas Ledin, made his second album two years later, appeared on Mora Träsk's debut album, turned to acting with Fria Proteatern and Musikteatergruppen Oktober, became a household face after appearing in a lottery TV commercial before becoming an author and illustrator of children's books in the late 90s. He also did a temporary music comeback with two CD singles in the mid 90s.

All songs on ”I grönsakslandet” are originals, and probably thanks to Ledin's involvement, he managed to get a line-up of seasoned studio musicians to back him up. Which means the usual suspects Jan Schaffer, Björn J:son Lindh, Stefan Brolund and Ola Brunkert. Lindholm himself isn't quite up to their level. His songs are OK enough, a bit of singer/songerwriter with some flashes of folk, but his vocals have an everyday feel to them. His voice is a wee bit like Bernt Staf's, but less piercingly nasal. 

But the ordinariness is also the contradictory charm of the album: It's like talking to someone about the weather and the rising cost of living and even though nothing is really said, it's quite pleasant, and then you step on the bus and go home with your grocery bag and you think, ”that was a nice fella”. And this was an unspectacular, nice nice album.

Grönsakslandet
Siw färg-tv

LEE SCHIPPER – Phunky Physicist (CAM, 1975)

Instrumental
International relevance: **

Now here are some peculiar turn of events! Lee Schipper was an American physicist specializing in energy efficency research and considered something of a pioneer on climate issues. He was also a vibraphonist and recorded an album in 1973 with Swedish musicians Stefan Brolund, Ola Brunkert, Christer Eklund, and thick-as-thieves couple Schaffer & J:son, plus Americans Art Lande on piano and Ted Curson on trumpet, and produced by Swedish big band leader Lasse Samuelsson. The album, appropriately entitled ”Phunky Physicist” was originally only released on Italian library music label CAM in 1975 before eventually getting a Swedish reissue on Four Leaf Clover two years later with new title ”Jazz Meeting 1”. Later yet it appeared as a digital release expanded with two bonus tracks, one with the eyebrow raising title ”LSD Takes A Holiday”.

I'm not a fan of the vibraphone; it's too close in sound to steel pans and there's something about it that makes me restless. A personal thing for sure, but even without the vibraphone, the album isn't too thrilling. It's all very competent but also very dutiful, going through the motions without much excitement. It leans towards fusion jazz but without becoming a fully fledged fusion album of the most formulaic kind. The track ”Still Life” moves in a silent way (if you get the drift) and is one of the best ones on the album. Apart from that, it's Jan Schaffer who gets to shine the most here, going crazy in opening number ”Phunky Physicist” and ”Harvest Machine” (also found on Schaffer's debut LP in a tamer version). ”LSD Takes A Holiday” is unfortunately not as strange as the title might lead you to believe.

So the album has some OK moments, but the somewhat odd story behind it is much more interesting than the album itself.

Full album playlist with bonus tracks

LOLLO ASPLUND – Eldsjäl (MNW, 1981)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Lars Olof ”Lollo” Asplund is a rather overlooked figure now although he was a versatile, well-known character back in the day. He debuted to a wider audience already on a TV show in the early 70s, worked with a choir on one of his albums, wrote music for a movie in the 90's, performed regularly to and with children and released an album of children's music in the 80's. He wrote about music for a local newspaper and hosted several literary nights in his native town Linköping. He even scored something of a radio hit with ”Råckenråll till frukost” from his debut album ”Eldsjäl” recorded in 1980 and released the following year.

Despite being issued by MNW, ”Eldsjäl” sounds more like a Metronome album, like something by Ola Magnell. Asplund's slightly warbly voice and the occassional Latin American influence also make me think of Jan Hammarlund in places. The album has a well-rounded production courtesy of Thomas Almqvist, and a cast of musicians well acquainted to studio work including Stefan Brolund (Monica Törnell, Bernt Staf, Björn J:son Lindh, millions more), Malte Sjöstrand (Solen Skiner, Robert Broberg, Rolf Wikström and others) Ale Möller, Turid and of course Thomas Almqvist himself. The songs are well-written and there's nothing really wrong with it, not hard to listen to but essentially unengaging..

Full album playlist

GÖSTA LINDERHOLM – In kommer Gösta (Metronome, 1973) / Göstas skiva (Metronome, 1975)

Anyone familiar with Gösta Linderholm (and that includes just about every Swede of a certain age or inclination) surely wonders if I've lost it completely by including him here. He's something of a laughing stock found in every charity shop bin across the nation. I doubt many people take him seriously, and he actually has himself to blame after the dreadful mega hit ”Rulla in en boll och låt den rulla”, a 1978 faux cajun song that plagued the airwaves here for an eternity. And me, I never once thought he'd be something I'd offer any progg blog space. Until I took a closer look at his first two albums, that is.

In kommer Gösta (Metronome, 1973)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

After an early career with trad jazz band Sveriges Jazzband (best known for their 1970 song ”Brittas restaurang”), Gösta Linderholm made his solo debut with an album taking its title from a Philemon Arthur & The Dung song. He immediately established himself as a happy-go-lucky troubadour with a warbly voice. But, hang on – is that tablas in opening track, the droning ”Herr Fantasi”? It is indeed, played by Jan Bandel. And there's Björn J:son Lindh in his best ”Ramadan” mode. ”Påtalåten”? Yes, an Ola Magnell cover recorded the same year as Magnell's own 45 version. And that bassist Stefan Brolund, wasn't he in Pop Workshop and later EGBA and Oriental Wind? He was.

”In kommer Gösta” isn't a great album and rather typical Metronome label singer/songwriter fare along the lines of the aforementioned Ola Magnell and, for better or for worse, Marie Bergman.
But it nevertheless shows that there was a wee bit more to Gösta Linderholm than he gets cred for. 

Göstas skiva (Metronome, 1975)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Not surprisingly, both Magnell and Bergman pop up on Linderholm's second album along with Thommie Fransson and, again, Björn J:son Lindh. The style is similar to the debut but with a few better songs and slightly darker shades, as on ”I natten” and the Magnell/Linderholm co-composition ”Kom liv”. I remember "Herr Fantasi” from my radio listening childhood days, so I have a certain nostalgic relation to that particular track. But the best track here is the album's most unexpected inclusion.

Guitarist Finn Sjöberg appears prominently on the album and that might explain Kvartetten Som Sprängde cover ”Gånglåt från Valhallavägen”. Originally an instrumental track but here with added Linderholm lyrics, and I can promise there's nothing else in his ouvre to prepare you for this. It's a bleak, actually apocalyptic depiction of a winter's day in Stockholm, soaked in alienation, internal turmoil and impending chaos. Junkies are dying in the streets and a hysterical Lady Luck screams out in agony. This track is truly a lost progg gem hidden in plain sight.

Linderholm made many albums after these two, some of them with credible musicians helping him out such as Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård on ”Blå ballader & gröna demoner” from 1977. Some of them even have a half OK track or two, but there's really no point in getting into them in detail. A thumb rule is that the later it gets, the more Linderholm lived up to his own caricature.

In kommer Gösta full album playlist
Göstas skiva full album playlist

ROBERT BROBERG – Tolv sånger på amerikanska (RKOB, 1978)

English vocals

International relevance: ***

Ranked #17 on the blog's Top 25 list

Robert Broberg left Sweden for the States after ”Vem är det som bromsar & vem är det som skjuter på”. He began planning for ”The Rise amd the Fall of the Plastic Messiah”, an ambitious stage show meant to include movies, stills, theatre, masks and music. As far as I can discern, only the music was finished, and released on Broberg's private RKOB label. Recorded with noted session musicians Stefan Brolund (bass), Jan Tolf (guitar) and Claes Wang (drums) in the legendary Studio Decibel, the album still has a 'homemade' aura to it, as if it was recorded in a small living room.

The lyrics emphasize the music's claustrophobic feel (that always reminds me of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band's 'tree' album). All of them deal with the superficial modern society where humans are first reduced to consumers and then a disposable commodity with no second hand value. In the end, ”Tolv sånger på amerikanska” (”twelve songs in American”), is a deeply existential record, taking Broberg's self-doubt to a higher universal level (or a deeper one, depending how you look at it). It's an album of generalized anxiety; an unease that has become an integrated part of an uncertain being. I'm convinced that Broberg's bipolar disorder is the foundation of this album (he spent some time in a psychiatric hospital during his U.S. years), and that the American socety's fixation with the glamourous surface further provoked the self-detachment that was evident already on Broberg's previous albums. The album cover captures this perfectly: A naked human being against an empty but over-saturated background.

There's something scary about the album; once you actually hear it and not just listen to it. It's like staring into the darkness knowing it stares back at you from a constantly elusive, dissolving place you didn't even know existed in the first place.

So maybe it's not that surprising that ”Tolv sånger på amerikanska” was one of Broberg's most neglected albums for such a long time. The album doesn't fit in with the simplified image the casual listener has of him as a funny chap delivering word plays to hummable tunes. This album doesn't really fit in anywhere and that's one of it's true strengths. It's a one of a kind album that doesn't blind you with flashes to your face, but creeps up on you until it has you all wrapped up in its emotionally and mentally tangled web.

And ”Song to a Plastic Messiah” is one of the greatest songs ever released on a Swedish 70's album. Actually on any Swedish album ever.

Full album playlist

ELISABET HERMODSSON – Vad gör vi med sommaren, kamrater? (Proprius, 1973) / Disa Nilssons visor (Caprice, 1975) / Vakna med en sommarsjäl (Caprice, 1979)

Gothenburg born multitalent Elisabet Hermodsson was a rare ange bird on the scene. An author, journalist, painter, songwriter, singer, with an education in rhythmics, she was involved in the 70's feminist movement but the three albums she made during the decade was of a more reflective personal kind without exhausting in-your-face politics. She appeared in the stage performance ”Röster i ett mänskligt landskap” along with Lena Granhagen, released on album by Proprius in 1971.

Vad gör vi med sommaren, kamrater? (Proprius, 1973)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: **

Hermodsson's first solo album showcases her style at its best, with an abundance of hushed songs, with delicate arrangements underlining the inherent melancholy. Recorded with Arne Domnérus, Georg Riedel and Rune Gustafsson to mention but three of the musicians, ”Vad gör vi med sommaren, kamrater?” has mild jazz strokes without ever becoming a jazz album. It's hard to pinpoint Hermodsson's style; she's too original to easily fit in with any defined genre. There's a particular kind of Swedish music called 'visa' (plural: 'visor'), somewhere between singer/songwriter and French chansons, and that would be the most appropriate classification for Elisabeth Hermodsson. Whichever way, ”Vad gör vi med sommaren, kamrater?” is a dimly lit and ultimately touching album.

Disa Nilsons visor (Caprice, 1975)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Swapping the small back-up unit on her debut with a larger ensemble of new musicians diminished the emotional impact of Hermodsson's songs. The songs are still poetic and the arrangements are carefully crafted but lack the element of surprise that helped making ”Vad gör vi med sommaren, kamrater?” a captivating album.

 

Vakna med en sommarsjäl (Caprice, 1979)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Despite being subtitled ”Disa Nilsons visor II”, ”Vakna med en sommarsjäl” is different to the first volume of the two centered around the fictious Disa Nilson character. The album again utilizes a new set of musicians, this time including the likes of Jan Schaffer, Björn J:son Lindh, Stefan Brolund and wind player Sven Berger. Also featured is classical string quartet Freskkvartetten. The mood is closer to ”Vad gör vi med sommaren, kamrater?”, often sombre and dusky, although not on par with the special intimacy of her debut. 

Both ”Disa Nilson” volumes were combined to one CD, unfortunately with the tracks from the two albums jumbled up to a new track sequence.

Elisabet Hermodsson spent most of her time living in Uppsala and her summer house on Fårö (a place familiar to director Ingmar Bergman fans). She died in 2017 at the age of 89.

Vad gör vi med sommaren, kamrater full album playlist

Disa Nilsons visor

Promenad till Hångers källa 

Jag vill va' diagonal 

Apollos visa 

Samtal på heden 

Vara ingenting 

Människans frigörelse 

Vackre Apollo 

Sång i dryckesnatt 

Sommargästens visa 

Dikt vid havet 

Vakna med en sommarsjäl

Natt på heden 

Signelse-visa 

Nakendans i Valleviken 

Bara för sommarens skull 

Vandring i ett gotländskt änge 

Om försjunkenhet i naturen

Vakna först i sommartid

Naturens sorg 

HAWKEY FRANZÉN – Complete albums 1969-1981

Hawkey Franzén was a member of Lea Riders Group who made a couple of 45's in the 60's, including the rousing ”Dom kallar oss mods” which became an international garage psych classic when included on the third volume of the groundbreaking compilation series ”Pebbles”. He performed in the Swedish version of ”Hair” at Scalateatern in Stockholm in 1968, and joined Jason's Fleece for their one-off album in 1970. He released several singles with various line-ups and appeared on albums by Björn J:son Lindh, Lena Granhagen and Fred Åkerström; translated lyrics and wrote songs for Monica Törnell, Tommy Körberg, Anita Lindblom, Sylvia Vrethammar... The list of domestic stars he's worked with is virtually endless. His solo album discography is far more comprehensible. Between 1969 and 1981 he released a mere four regular LP's, plus two children's albums.

Visa från Djupvik (Mercury, 1969)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

Hawkey Franzén spent a month in jail for draft dodging and there he met Björn J:son Lindh who was behind bars for the same reason. Together they began working on songs dealing with life in prison. The collaboration spawned Franzén's first solo album ”Visa från Djupvik”, with Djupvik being the name of correctional institution where they were interned. Tracks such as ”Tillbaka från skogen” and ”Vakuum” bear a slight Pugh Rogefeldt resemblance, and there's a disctint jazz influence on ”Somnar” and ”En dag”, but the best tracks are ”Tack ska ni ha!”, ”Fångvård” and the brass laced ”Tyst”. Fans of Lea Riders Group might find ”Visa från Djupvik” disappointing but it's a very fine album in its own right.

Visa från gungor och sand (MNW, 1971)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

”Visa från gungor och sand” – subtitled ”Visa från världens största park” – is a children's album of sorts, a bit like Jojje Wadenius' ”Goda' goda'”, but it's as much an album about children as it's for children. ”Varför då” is a good song, ”Gungor och sand” shows a minor David Crosby influence, and the instrumental jam based ”Två pappor” that ends the album is OK too, but the children singing back up vocals on several of the tracks are a bit distracting. And the lyrics just don't have the urgency of those on ”Visa från Djupvik”.

Visa från och till (Mercury, 1971)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

A move back to major label Mercury after the short stint with MNW for ”Visa från gungor och sand”. ”Visa från och till” has a somewhat more detailed production including moog and strings, but it falls a bit short songwise. Franzén occasionally comes off like a Cornelis Vreeswijk (very famous Dutch born Swedish singer/songwriter) wannabe on a couple of tracks and a sleepy eyed Mikael Ramel on others. But it has a couple of interesting moments. ”Jag ger mig” has a driving groove; the short Bela Bartók composition ”Ungersk polsterdans” wouldn't have been out of place on a Samla Mammas Manna album, and the two versions of ”Sorgmarsch” are odd and intriguing exercises in unusual rhythms. The best track of them all is however ”Sorgekranser” that further explores 'chopped off' time signatures. To sum it up: ”Visa från och till” is uneven but with worthwhile highlights.

Visa av och med (Viking, 1972)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

Hawkey Franzén's last proper album for 33 years, and a good one at that. It's largely a contemporary band singer/songwriter album (very atypical to the Viking label) but the performances are solid and Franzén sounds more inspired on this album than he did on ”Visa från och till”. The most progressive track ”Visst kan man bli fast” is splendid with Björn J:son Lindh in excellent (semi-free jazz) flute shape.

”Visa från Djupvik” often gets most of the praise but it might actually be that ”Visa av och med” is my personal favourite Hawkey Franzén album.
 

Skivan om Bubblan som fick nya föräldrar (Proprius, 1973)

Swedish vocals, spoken word

International relevance: *

This children's album isn't really a Hawkey Franzén album but it features him as the story's main character Bubblan's two daddies. The musical parts are performed by Jan Bandel, Jan Schaffer and Stefan Brolund (Hörselmat, Pop Workshop) with jazz musicians Bengt Hallberg, Egil Johansen, Staffan Sjöholm and Rune Gustafsson completing the line-up. The music was written by Leif Strand and is mellow but quirky – sometimes even spaced out. Hardly an everyday spin but peculiarly appealing even during the spoken bits (although they admittedly won't do much to non-Swedes). The plot's written by actor, author and translator Catherine Berg.

Smulvisor & bitlåtar (Sonet, 1981)

with Ulla Wiklund

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

An album made with Ulla Wiklund who voice acted Bubblan on the previous album. Franzén produced the album, sang on half of the tracks, and provided guitars and sound effects. Other performers include Jan Bandel, Greg FitzPatrick, Ale Möller and Göran Lagerberg. The Oriental sounding ”Gamla trappan” features tablas, bouzouki and flute and is the only interesting track on an uninteresting album.

Visa från Djupvik full album playlist
Visa från gungor och sand full album playlist
Visa från och till full album playlist
Sagan om bubblan som fick nya föräldrar full album
Smulvisor & bitlåtar full album playlist

LEIF STRANDS KAMMARKÖR – Complete albums 1969-1982

What's a chamber choir doing here? you might ask. A relevant question for sure, but this isn't just any chamber choir. This lot is far more progressively minded than a whole lot of your standard proggers and the five albums they recorded from the end of the 60s up to the beginning of the 80s have some of the most explorative music of the era.

Leif Strand founded the choir in 1965 while still a student at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm which he attended from 1960 to 1970. He acquainted several prominent performers on the jazz field such as renowned pianist Jan Johansson, bassist Georg Riedel and clarinetist/saxophonist Arne Domnérus as well as future progg illuminaries Jan Schaffer and Björn J:son Lindh. These friendships proved crucial to Strand as his recording career took on by the turn of the decade.

En skiva med Leif Strands kammarkör (Proprius, 1969)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

The title may be unassuming (=”an album by Leif Strand's chamber choir”) but the music is anything but. Promininently featured are the previously mentioned Riedel and Domnérus along with pianist Bengt Hallberg, conga player Rupert Clementine and Lennart Åberg on soprano sax. Composition credits are split between Riedel and Strand with ”Blowing In The Wind” being the Dylan song in an expansive arrangement signed Jan Johansson (who tragically passed away in a car accident the year before this was recorded). It's not that the jazz elements are just tucked onto the classically styled choral arrangements – the exchange is dynamic and works as a truly cohesive unit that's indeed forward thinking and open-minded. Trad jazzer Arne Domnérus particularly surprises coming out as a true modernist.

This is deeply musical and extensively creative music cut from the same cloth as Carl-Axel and Monica Dominique of Solar Plexus, and it's rather surprising they're not involved on any of these Leif Strand records. They would have been a perfect match.

En skiva till med Leif Strands kammarkör (Proprius, 1970)
Swedish vocals, other languages
International relevance: *

The second album has an equally mundane title (=”another album by Leif Strand's chamber choir”) but a tweaked line-up. The Riedel/Domnérus/Hallberg troyka is intact but augmented by tenorist and flautist Claes Rosendahl, guitarist Rune Gustafsson, and noted Norweigan born drummer and percussionist Egil Johansen. The instrumental assets are unfortunately not sufficiently utilized with the emphasis being on the vocals. Too much to the fore and much too operatic bordering on sprechgesang, they make ”En skiva till” the weakest Strand album for me.The high point is probably 8 minute opener ”Gospel”, a chaotic piece of modernist dissonance and intimidating drama.

Sorgen och glädjen (Proprius, 1971)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

The albums here aren't particularly rare (or sought-after), but this is one of the most common. It probably sold better and is a lot more easy-going than the previous album. With many of the songs being traditional material and folk chorals, it's rich with melancholy textures reminiscent of the always popular work of Jan Johansson. Which is not to say it's smoothed out – some parts are certainly moving in weird territories. ”Världens frälsare, kom här” even touches on Oriental scales. It's also the album up to then that most successfully merges the choir and the jazz section. A good entry point for the novice.

Allt under himmelens fäste (Proprius, 1974)
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: **

Released three years after ”Sorgen och glädjen” (=”the sorrow and the joy”), ”Allt under himmelsens fäste” (=”everything below the firmament of heaven”) follows along the lines of its predecessor but has a stronger emphasis on jazz, occasionally even veering towards post-bop. The traditional “Bergkirstis polska” (arranged by Jan Johansson) almost goes off the deep end entirely!

Visa singer/troubadour Göran Fristorp is a new addition here; the album was released the same year as Fristorp's own album “En luffare är jag” that featured the choir. I'm not too keen on his voice, it's a bit too precious, and his contributions spoil the flow a bit. Still, this is the where to go if you want more after “Sorgen och glädjen”.

 

Missa Pro Pace: En fredsmässa (Europafilm, 1982)
English vocals, other languages
International relevance: ***

A seven year recording hiatus was interrupted in 1981 by a collaborative live album on the dreaded A Disc label, with the Chamber Choir's first proper album in ages appearing the following year. A lot had changed since “Allt under himmelens fäste”. Stahlwarts Riedel, Hallberg et al were gone, substituted by the likes of J:son Lindh, Schaffer, Stefan Brolund and Jan Bandel. The personnel change obviously updated the sound and style, and “Missa Pro Pace” (“a peace mass”) is the most overtly proggish album in this lot. Some sections almost sounds like a light version of French band Magma! It's also the first album to utilize other effects than the natural reverb of the recording location. It's the first Chamber Choir album that sounds produced. “Credo” for instance has space echo flute whereas Schaffer's reverb-laiden guitar in “Agnus Dei” isn't that far removed from Terje Rypdal. Most surprising feature though is the electric sitar and tablas in “Gloria” – I didn't see that one coming!

Once you've gotten used to this being a very different album from what you've come to expect, it's actually rather good. Thinking of it, this might be the best first choice to a lot of people coming from progg even if it's not quite in line with Leif Strand's 'original' chamber choir. Then again, it's as free-spirited as any of their work, and that is after all the most striking and important trait of this decidedly imaginative and largely captivating choir.

En skiva full album playlist
En skiva till full album playlist 
Sorgen och glädjen full album playlist
Allt under himmelens fäste full album playlist
Missa Pro Pace: En fredsmässa

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