Several years ago, I had to temporarily shift a sizable chunk of JazzWax into draft mode for tech reasons. While the shift was easy to do, it was a little more difficult bringing back the posts back to live status. In fact, I'm still at it. My first order of business was restoring all of the JazzWax interviews, since those are the most in demand. But one interview that escaped me while making the switch was my chat with legendary Swedish composer, arranger and pianist Nils Lindberg. I only realized my oversight after guitarist John Scofield emailed last week looking for it. [Photo above of Nils Lindberg]
So today I'm going to tell you again about one of the finest jazz albums of the early '60s—an album that is likely unfamiliar to you but will surely become one of your favorites. The album is Nils Lindberg's Trisection .
Sweden has a long jazz history and remains one of the oldest and most prolific jazz centers outside of the U.S. The country's relationship with jazz dates back to 1913, when its first jazz recordings were made in Stockholm—four years before our own in 1917. The song recorded there was Alexander's Ragtime Band, by the Pinets Orchestra.
Over the years, Sweden has been a major stop for touring American jazz musicians. Among the first to record in Stockholm was Louis Armstrong, with his Hot Harlem Band, during a concert in October 1933. Benny Carter was in Stockholm next in 1936, Kenny Clarke in 1938 and Duke Ellington in 1939. Bebop made its way to Sweden in 1947 with Chubby Jackson, and Dizzy Gillespie was there in 1948. James Moody recorded there with his Swedish Crowns in 1949, a session that included I'm in the Mood for Love. Quincy Jones also spent time in Sweden in the '50s.
Many Swedish jazz musicians, including baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin and pianist Jan Lundgren, are revered today by American fans who know their work. One of the finest is Nils Lindberg, who studied classical composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and is known as a composer of jazz and classical, including a style that combines jazz, Swedish folk music and classical music. [Photo above of Nils Lindberg]
His first jazz album was Sax Appeal (1960), backed by his Swedish Modern Jazz Group. His music and arranging owes a great deal to Woody Herman's reed-centric band of the late 1940s. Nils's band on the album featured Rolf Billberg (as) Harry Backlund and Allan Lundstrom (ts) Lars Gullin (bar) Nils Lindberg (p) Sture Nordin (b) and Conny Svensson (d). It's a superb swinging recording with gorgeous sax writing and piano playing by Nils.
In December 1962, Nils recorded another magnificent album called Trisection. The session included American expatriate trumpeter Idrees Sulieman. What makes this 1963 release so special is its Birth of the Cool feel and Gil Evans influences, spearheaded by beautiful, gentle reeds. The band includes Sulieman and Jan Allan (tp) Sven-Olof Walldoff (b-tp) Eje Thelin (tb) Olle Holmqvist (tu) Rolf Billberg (as) Bertil Lofdahl and Harry Backlund (ts) Erik Nilsson (bar) Nils Lindberg (p) Sture Nordin (b) and Sture Kallin (d).
Rather than continue to rave about Trisection, here's the album's first movement, Trisection I...
Quite something, isn't it? Here is my brief interview with Nils in 2013:
JazzWax: What was your major influence when writing and arranging Sax Appeal?
Nils Lindberg: The songs I wrote for Sax Appeal were inspired by the feeling in Swedish folk tunes. For example, the tune Curbits was built on the chords of just such a song. My arrangements, however, were inspired by Woody Herman´s recording of Four Brothers. I liked the records made by Herman´s Second Herd very much.
JW: Did you listen to jazz radio in Sweden when you were young?
NL: Oh, yes. I first heard American jazz after 1945 when the American Forces Radio started broadcasting from Germany. Many Swedish jazz musicians also listened to the network. During World War II, no U.S. jazz records had reached Sweden, so when the war was over we were very grateful and excited to listen on the radio and buy and listen to American jazz records.
JW: Which American records and arrangers most influenced you leading up to Trisection?
NL: Gil Evans and his [Birth of the Cool] recordings with Miles Davis.
JW: Where did you write the music for Trisection?
NL: After working very hard as a pianist in dance bands in Stockholm, I went up north in 1961 to Dalarna, Sweden, where my parents’ home is located and where I was brought up. Dalarna has a beautiful landscape and a strong folklore tradition. I composed the music there during the summer of that year.
JW: Did you have a strong sense of what you wanted to write?
NL: I had no vision whatsoever of what Trisection should be or sound like. I just wrote this suite as I felt it. Of course, the traditional fiddlers in Dalarna and my interest in jazz were strong inspirations. [Pictured above: Dalarna, Sweden]
JW: Given your exceptional command of jazz orchestration, why did you not travel to the U.S. to work, the way musicians like Lalo Schifrin and Michel Legrand did, in the movies and TV?
NL: I had a family and three sons, so I had to work here in Sweden. I also had no opportunity to go to the U.S. No one asked. Through vocalist Alice Babs, Duke Ellington had listened to my music and asked me to write for his band. He also recorded my Far Away Star with Alice Babs. [Pictured above: Dalarna, Sweden]
JW: Duke Ellington toured Scandinavia quite a bit.
NL: During Duke's Scandinavian tour in 1973, I played piano in all concerts with his band. After the tour he asked me to work with him in the U.S., but he died some months after his offer, so who knows what might have happened. Since then, I have played many concerts in the U.S., mainly at colleges and universities.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Sax Appeal and Trisection combined on one CD here.
Other Lindberg albums to check out are Third Saxes Galore here, and Saxes Galore and Brass Galore here. You'll also find these at Spotify.
JazzWax clip: Here's Curbits from Nils Lindberg's Sax Appeal...
And here's Day-Dreaming from Trisection...
A special thanks to Todd Selbert.
