"Lockrop" ("Call")
Jan Lundgren, piano/ Georg Riedel, bass
Gemini Records
Recorded at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, Norway, September 17-18, 2005
Jazz musicians from the Scandinavian countries have turned to their
musical heritage on many occasions during the last half century (and
probably earlier), giving themselves fresh inspiration and new
platforms for their imaginative writing and instrumental
improvisation….
In 1963 the Megafon record company commissioned pianist Jan
Johansson and bass player Georg Riedel to produce an album of music
which made use of Swedish folk themes skilfully blended with jazz
idioms. The result was the LP “Jazz På Svenska”, one of the
best-selling albums in both Sweden and Norway….The latest addition to
the jazz/folk music library is the enclosed compact disc which has
something of a cosmopolitan flavour.
Jan Lundgren was born and brought up in Sweden, Georg Riedel is
Czechoslovakian by birth while the recording itself was carried out in
a Norwegian studio. A combination of these three facts has resulted in
music of great beauty and lasting charm…..The principals represent two
generations; Riedel is 32 years older than Lundgren but the close
empathy of the two men´s playing skills throughout the disc sweeps
aside any thought of age differences…..Georg´s partner on this CD has
had an equally impressive career….At the age of 16 Lundgren tried to
form his own group and also played piano in a big band formed from
music students in Ronneby. He also worked in a hotel bar two or three
times a week and it was there that he had to learn many numbers from
The Great American Song Book in order to satisfy requests. On leaving
school he went to the Malmö College of Music and graduated in 1991. He
taught jazz piano at the college and started to record with the
Blekinge Big Band led by Olle Lind. Famous jazz musicians including
Arne Domnerus and guitarist Rune Gustafson were sometimes the featured
guests. His introduction to Arne was to have a lasting significance…..
In 1994 he was leading his own trio when he was given the chance to
choose a visiting soloist to play at a concert in Malmö. He picked Herb
Geller (then resident in Hamburg). The concert was a complete success
leading to a ten day tour of Sweden by the same quartet and a recording
session done originally simply as a souvenir for the musicians. On a
trip to California Herb took along a cassette copy of the tape for his
friend producer Dick Bank, who was so impressed he made arrangements
for the music to be issued by the Spanish Fresh Sound label as
“Stockholm Get-Together!” It was a turning point in Lundgren´s
career…..
It will be seen there are few, if any, musicians better qualified to
approach the present project than Georg and Jan. The unique atmosphere
of Scandinavian music runs like an unbroken thread throughout the
enclosed compact disc even during the four spontaneous free
improvisations…..This duet recording by two of jazz´s finest musicians
is a tribute to all concerned including Jan Erik Kongshaug and Peer
Espen Ursfjord who ensure the perfect balance and clarity of the
finished recording.
