"Collaboration"
Pete Jolly – Jan Lundgren Quartet
Pete Jolly, piano/ Jan Lundgren, piano/ Chuck Berghofer, bass/
Joe La Barbera, drums
Fresh Sound Records
Recorded at Entourage Studios, Hollywood, September 6-7, 2001
Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren concentrates on melding the bebop
tradition and the great American Songbook with the music of his
homeland. “Such a fundamental part of my love for jazz is based on
American players that it´s very hard to ignore, “ he says. “Still, when
I´m talking about developing the Swedish side of myself, I want to mix
these things. The Swedish are very calm people, but there´s a lot of
temperament beneath that might not show immediately. You know, ´Don´t
wake the bear.` I´m a typical Swedish guy.”
A typical Swede, perhaps, but by no means a typical jazz player,
Lundgren has defined his musical interest on thirteen albums as a
leader. He has appeared on more than forty CDs as a sideman with the
likes of Herb Geller, Bill Perkins, Arne Domnérus and Conte Candoli.
…..Lundgren heard Oscar Peterson for the first time at fourteen,
played in a band within a year of that experience and faced the
decision at fifteen whether to become a jazz pianist or a professional
tennis player. In 1978 Lundgren´s power and skill on the court won a
national competition and the prize of intensive study with Björn Borg,
Sweden´s winner of five straight Wimbledon championships. Tennis
ultimately lost – point, set, match – to the examples of Peterson, Bud
Powell, Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner. At thirty-six, Lundgren´s
creativity and flexibility bring raves from musicians and critics who
rarely rave.
…..When tenor saxophonist Bill Perkins was planning his 1995 tribute
to Lester Young, Perk Plays Prez, he and producer Dick Bank looked for
someone who understood the essence of the pianists on Young´s classic
recordings. They chose Lundgren, whom more than fifty Swedish critics
voted musician of the year in 1994. Perkins says that Lundgren
“captured the spirit of Count Basie and Teddy Wilson superbly, without
doing a slavish imitation. That would indicate to me a musician who has
done a lot of listening and absorbing. Nevertheless, Jan is a
thoroughly modern pianist, with an unerring grasp of harmony, rhythm
and dynamics.”
