Trumpet player Peter Asplund has helped spread contemporary Swedish jazz to a global audience. Photo: www.peterasplund.com

Legends like Monica Zetterlund and Lars Gullin, as well as modern artists such as Esbjörn Svensson and Peter Asplund have established an excellent reputation for Swedish jazz around the world.

Pianist Esbjörn Svensson said: “People are looking at Sweden and Scandinavia as something very exciting, something very different.” Sadly, Sweden recently lost one of its most acclaimed jazz musicians, when Svensson died in a diving accident.

“They’re talking about a different sound that we're creating up here,” said Svensson. As the foremost ambassador of Swedish jazz, Svensson was well aware of how highly regarded jazz from Sweden was perceived.

A unique Swedish sound

Jazz found a unique home in Sweden by fusing Scandinavian folk melodies with American improvisational styles and, in doing so, developed an original approach to music. Peter Asplund, one of Sweden’s most renowned trumpeters, says that the Swedish soul and temperament makes for a good combination with the improvisational style of American jazz.

“Music is free, so you can do whatever you like with it,” he says. Perhaps it’s because Swedish artists don’t stick to any strict interpretation of jazz that the so-called “Swedish sound” was able to develop.

Celebrating jazz

There is no better place to experience the soul of Swedish jazz than at the annual Stockholm Jazz Festival, which celebrates its 25th anniversary between July 16 and 19, 2008. Throughout the years, artists from all over the world and tens of thousands of music fans have come to the tiny island of Skeppsholmen, in the center of Stockholm, to celebrate jazz.

In Gothenburg, jazz enthusiasts flock to club Neftertiti where both local performers and international stars take the stage. Photo: Private

Bosse Persson, managing director of Stockholm Jazz Festival, says that the concept is to have a few top names from Sweden and abroad, as well as new artists who might get their big break at the festival. “Swedish jazz holds a very high class,” he says. 

The headliners at this year’s festival include popular, international artists such as Van Morrison, Tower of Power and Joan Armatrading, as well as Swedish artists like Bobo Stenson and Rigmor Gustafsson.

The Swedish jazz scene continues to thrive throughout the year as well. At clubs like Fasching in Stockholm and Nefertiti in Gothenburg, audiences can hear local artists and occasionally some big names almost any night of the week. There are also festivals for traditional, New Orleans-style jazz like the annual Umeå Jazz Festival.

A rich musical tradition

Swedish jazz has its roots in a long and rich musical tradition that began already in the 1930s. That is when jazz from the United States came to Sweden and established itself in the country’s dance halls.

Bengt Säve-Söderbergh, president of the Swedish Jazz Federation, says that along with Paris and Copenhagen, Stockholm was a hub for European jazz.

Many American artists like Stan Getz, James Moody and Quincy Jones came and stayed for longer periods to play at clubs like Gyllene Cirkeln (the golden circle) in Stockholm. Jazz standards like “Dear Old Stockholm” and “The Midnight Sun Never Sets” are the result of that transatlantic collaboration.

Jazz vocalist Rigmor Gustafsson will appear at this year's Stockholm Jazz Festival. Her latest CD, Alone with you, contains all new original songs. Photo: Jörg Grosse Gelderman/www.rigmorgustafsson.com

Jazz was at its height in Sweden during the 1950s and 1960s, but even after that period Sweden turned out many talented and highly respected musicians. Artists such as Jan Johansson and Bengt-Arne Wallin became well-known for their combination of Scandinavian folk music and improvisational jazz — a style that eventually became known as the “Swedish sound.”

Svensson sorely missed

Swedish artists continue to compose jazz music with a unique character. Esbjörn Svensson, Nils Landgren and Jonas Knutson have all recorded modern improvisational interpretations of Swedish folk music.

Säve-Söderbergh says that, in terms of the number of very good musicians, there is a golden age going on right now in Swedish jazz. With the passing of Esbjörn Svensson, however, Swedish jazz will certainly will miss one of its brightest and most talented musicians.

David Francisco

David Francisco is an American freelance writer and music fanatic living in Stockholm. Had it paid more, he would happily spend his days serenading travelers in the subway stations with his acoustic guitar. Fortunately for his wife and for the ears of Stockholm's commuters, it doesn’t.

The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.

Classification: A257EN