Something to Be Shared
Av Andreas Ulanowsky

In 2003, Rolf Österholm, who works for Konserthuset, attended a gig with jazz legend Jon Faddis. There was a moment of great excitement because that which he, and all of us attending that engagement at Ronnie’s Room, experienced cannot be described but rather shared. That was when he leaned over towards John Nugent and suggested that there be a similar concert with a jam session. John Nugent agreed. This was a great idea for the Blue House Jazz series. John Nugent is the artistic director for the Stockholm Jazz Festival and resides in Canada.

The other thing that the series needed was a jazz orchestra. This had been somewhat of a concept that people worked on since the inception of the revival of the Jazz Festival in 1998. Eventually, Rolf Österholm contacted Magnus Lindgren, a great saxophone player, arranger and composer, to discuss this. He agreed to take the assignment of getting a big band together. But he asked that Peter Asplund help lead and conduct the band. The music that was to be played also was in discussion. For a time, it had been unfamiliar music that was hardly known. But, since this year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Count Basie, it seemed more fitting to have his music be in focus for the first concert.

The result of this collaboration came to be a great blending of improvisation in a jam session that was led by Johan Hörlén and featured John Nugent on the tenor saxophone. The group played some well-known jazz standards as well as an original composition by John Nugent. It’s a pleasure to see these fine musicians do what they do best, just pick a tune and jam away. This is the ultimate jazz level. This is when a jazz musician really shows his talents. You felt that you could share the musicians’ feeling. There’s nothing compared to it, really.

The Blue House Jazz Orchestra offered us a listen to some of Count Basie’s music, including some of Neal Hefti’s arrangements. Rather than attempt to do their own arrangements, the conductor duo, Peter Asplund and Magnus Lindgren, have chosen to be as close to the original arrangements of the music as possible. Yet, we still get nice solos by the members of the orchestra. This is one of the better concerts I’ve been to. Many of Sweden’s best jazz musicians took part in this band. Among the tunes played were Lil Darlin, Splanky, One O’clock Jump and Lester Jumps in.

Among the performers for this band were Anders Wiborg, Karin Hammar, Rune Gustafsson, Karl Olandersson, Martin Höper and Fredrik Norén. Special guest for the evening was John Nugent.

This concert was very well produced and offers mainstream jazz listeners a chance to enjoy good big band music at its best. It’s no secret that Swedish jazz bands willingly play music by Count Basie. His music has an appeal that reaches large audiences. Choosing Basie’s music for the premier concert was a wise choice. We were able to enjoy a wide rage of musical talents play a variety of styles in the course of one evening, which is a great joy for the jazz lover.

For those who missed the opportunity to listen to this band, there will be a new performance on June 17th as well as on November 22nd at Konserthuset.

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