Fantastic Swedish spiritual/funk/avant-garde album from 1975. A quartet consisting of Jan Forslund on alto, soprano, flute and alto flute, Ove Johansson on tenor, soprano and flute, Kjell Thorbjörnsson on double bass and Anders Söderling on drums. This is high-octane jazz coming from our little country. All cats are on it and their improvisational skills are impressive. Haven’t delved into the Swedish jazz treasure fully yet. It’s been mostly Lars Gullin, Rolf Ericson, Bernt Rosengren and some contemporary cats through the years. This group I hadn’t listened to before and I’m blown away. Top notch stuff which you definitely should check out.
The first side consist of one long tune which starts off spiritual and then moves into a funky beat which goes on for a long while with some lovely solos, after which it changes to some flute-focused stuff, with the ride cymbal very prominently pingy, and then it calms down into a double flute portion. The tempo then picks up and at the end it all culminates in an avant statement. There is ample space to improvise on this number, with several instruments covered. Great stuff.
The second side is more in the avant vein with two tunes featured. Really dig this side. Especially the drum and bass approach. The whole band really thrives when pushing the envelope a bit. Wonderful solo work throughout. The horn players sound brilliant. Dig the very end of the last tune with it’s spiritual passage.
This is a great choice for anyone who wants to explore Swedish jazz.
