Swedish jazz has since the 50s had a unique sound. The fire of American, mixed with the melancholy of Swedish folk music, evolved into a genre of its own. The great baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin composed music in this way with ingredients from jazz, Swedish folk music and the classical repertoire. This record emphasizes these elements and gives new life, not only to his music, but also to Swedish jazz. A child prodigy on the accordion Lars Gullin became a professional musician first as a pianist in 1947. He planned on a classical career until in 1949 he filled the baritone chair in Seymour Osterwalls ban. In 1954 he won the best newcomer award in DownBeat magazine. Over the next two decades, he would go on to work with some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz, including Archie Shepp, and Chet Baker. He died in 1976.
Saxophonist and playwright Archie Shepp (b. May 24, 1937 in Fort Lauderdale. FL) then 26 years old visited Copenhagen in the fall of 1963 as a member of the famed New York Contemporary Five.
Though Shepp at that time was the passionate practitioner of Free jazz, this recording in which he shared the bandstand with Sweden’s legendary baritone sax Gullin is something quite different from what one normally expects from Shepp in the 60s. It is Shepp playing straight jazz with audible enjoyment showing off his broad range of expression.
