Rena Rama

Rena Rama came to be one of the most important groups in Swedish jazz during the 1970s and 1980s. Lennart Åberg (saxophone), Bobo Stenson (piano), Palle Danielsson (bass), and Bengt Berger (percussion) had all performed with Swedish and foreign top musicians.

Bengt Berger had among other things been to India and been influenced by its multitude of musical styles. Lennart Åberg had played with Red Mitchell, Jan Johansson, and the Radio Jazz Group, Bobo Stenson had worked with Stan Getz and Börje Fredriksson, and Palle Danielsson had accompanied Bill Evans while still a teenager, later collaborating with Eje Thelin, Steve Kuhn, and Keith Jarrett.

Rena Rama wrote their first compositions themselves, but were also known for botanizing among “exotic” musical styles, not least Indian and African—a form of early “world music.” The quartet also occasionally had Don Cherry (who was living in Sweden at the time) as guest artist. On “Inside-Outside” from 1979 the drummer was Leroy Lowe.

The group still looks towards other cultures, but has found a calmer “breathing,” with changes of atmosphere that supply excitement and beauty. Rena Rama’s experiments are timeless, but the CD “Rena Rama” also gives insight into a very important and developmental period in Swedish jazz.