Before jets and a proliferation of festivals made European appearances by American jazz musicians commonplace, it was not unusual for a trans-Atlantic tour to be preceded by six months of publicity. But such was not the case in November 1950, when Charlie Parker's arrival in Sweden literally took some fans by surprise. The trip was made on such short notice that booking negotiations virtually continued until his day of departure from the States. Rumors of impending visits from Parker had circulated from time to time, but so exciting was the prospect that one dared not believe them. Given the scarecity of live jazz in Europe at that time, and the fact that Charlie Parker, the Messiah of modern jazz, was already achieving legendary status, it was preordained that this visit would be a particularly memorable one. We hope this live album proves to be as exciting to listeners now as it was to the approximately one thousand people who crowded into the dance hall of Folkets Park in Halsingborg and the seventy-five who were lucky enough to attend the session that followed all those years ago.

If there is one figure in jazz who remains similarly inexplicable, it is Charlie Parker. Charlie Parker has contributed so much to the syntax and grammar of jazz that no contemporary jazz musician exists today who is not influenced in some way by Bird’s jargon, either directly, or in echoes. Of course, every language has to be able to change with the times, otherwise it could not describe the atmosphere, the reality of the present. This mutability and the will to change is what makes Charlie Parker's dialect so special.

"I've been listening to Hans's music for more than 25 years in many contexts, and I have noticed how he has grown and matured as an artist. And how he's always thinking "we" instead of "I". So, all things considered, here's a tribute that everybody involved should be proud of. I'm sure that Charlie Parker would have smiled approvingly. Yes, Bird lives!" (Thorbjørn Sjøgren) Hans Backenroth discovered jazz at the end of his teens, which led him to play double bass influenced by, among others, Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Scott LaFaro and NHØP. In 1986 Hans moved to Stockholm to study at the music department at Birkagarden college, followed by three years at the Royal Academy of Music, where he graduated in 1989 in both jazz and classical bass, arranging and improvisational education. During the final year Hans became a member of Fredrik Norén Band, with tours in Sweden, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Baltics, and soon he began to appear at Stockholm's jazz venues like Fasching and Stampen and at many jazz clubs around Sweden. He appears on this album alongside Klas Lindquist, Erik Soderlind, and Karl-Henrik Ousback.