Swedish Jazz History Vol. 4

The scene is the years between 1940 and 1942, a grim period of world history. Even though Sweden was not belligerent, the whole of its political and social life was affected by the ravages of war: rationing, call-ups, lack of contact with other countries. Sweden, the expression went, was “in a state of preparedness”.

Entertainment was also affected, and not always unfavourably: during the early war years, at least, a number of feature films and gramophone records were produced in Sweden, until shortage of material led to cutbacks. The need for amusements, like dance hall music and jazz, was perhaps greater than ever, and because we were self-sufficient in this, as in other fields, many young newcomers now had a chance of stepping into the limelight.

This is all reflected by the music and the illustrations in the accompanying booklet, in which we can trace the continuing development and maturation of swing in Sweden, in spite of its isolation. In the booklet, Alice Babs, the supreme youth idol of the period, recalls how, at the age of 16, she achieved her real breakthrough in the film “Swing it Magistern” in 1940. The contents of the booklet also include an interview with Sven Stiberg, who was our first jazz soloist on the electric guitar and one of the most sought-after musicians at the time.

In addition to these internationally eminent artists, we hear typical recordings by orchestras directed, for example, by: Thore Ehrling, Seymour Österwall, Charles Redland, Åke Fagerlund, Sam Samson, Emil Irwing, Thore Jederby, Hasse Kahn, Erik Frank and the legendary Swedish Hot Quintet. The many additional numbers on this cd include Owe Kjell’s legendary junior big band with new soloist profiles like Rolf Ericson and Arne Domnérus, restored from a badly worn, almost unplayable “acetate-disc” recording from a radio broadcast in 1941.

English summary