Rare And Obscure Argo Recordings (XXX)

 Axel Ivar Rune Öfwerman was born on Christmas Eve in 1933 in a small village outside Stockholm called Vingaker. He started taking piano lessons at the age of six but lost interest after a couple of years. A few years later, he heard some boogie-woogie records and again became interested in the piano. During his college years in Stockholm he organized a band which soon became very popular. After his school years, Rune decided to become a professional musician.

Played with nearly all the modern jazz musicians in Scandinavia amongst them Rolf Ericson (1952), Carl-Henrik Norin (1954), Hacke Bjørksten (1956), Ove Lind (1957) and Lars Gullin. Became co-owner of the Gazell Record Company and supervised most of the sessions held for this label. 

As a pianist, he lists the late Nat "King" Cole and Clarence "Pinetop" Smith among his strongest influences.

Rune Öfwerman

Cool • Piano With Voices

Altough jazz has been appreciated and played in Europe almost as long as it has in America, it continually amazes one to discover another kindred talent from there. In the northern European or Scandinavian section, musicians of superior worth have been on the modern jazz scene almost from the very beginning. Till now, Bengt Hallberg and Rheinhold Svensson have been the outstanding Nordic pianists. With the emergence of Rune Öfwerman, the field now enlarges. 

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All in all, just from listening to these few offerings by Rune Öfwerman, it seems as though American pianists now have a new talent with which to contend. So also do the pop composers, for Rune's bossa novas are very beautiful, and his "Bobsled" and "M-83" are unusual and interesting. Yes, talented and versatile Rune Öfwerman should be highly successful in the music business, for, as the title of this album indicates, he is very "COOL"! *Joe Segal (liner notes)*

A strange one for Argo, and certainly not in keeping with their usual soul jazz roster of recordings — but also a cool moody session recorded in Scandinavia, and which features the icy piano of Rune Öfwerman, backed by a chorus of voices, for a floating dreamy sound that slightly hints at the Singers Unlimited, and other European vocal groups from the 60s. Titles include "Mellow Cool", "Bossa Nova Sueca", "Ortego Bossa Nova", and "M-83".  *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Whatcha Gonna Do

(Nat "King" Cole)

2 - Amen

(Donald Byrd)

3 - Bobsled

(Rune Öfwerman)

4 - Gospel Walk

(Rune Öfwerman)

5 - Mellow Cool

(Åke Hallgren)

6 - Helen's Theme

(George Riedel)

Side 2

7 - Bossa Nova Sueca

(Rune Öfwerman)

8 - M-83

(Rune Öfwerman)

9 - The Man From Potter's Crossing

(Jimmy Woode)

10 - Ortego Bossa Nova

(Rune Öfwerman)

11 - King's Men

(Rune Öfwerman)

#1 to #6:

Rune Öfwerman (piano), Erik Moseholm (bass), Nils-Bertil Dahlander (drums),

Allan Botschinsky (trumpet #2),  Rolf Billberg (alto sax #2),

unidentified vocal choir directed by Gunnar Lunden-Welden.

Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 17, 1961

#7, #8, #10:

Rune Öfwerman (piano), Sture Nordin (bass), Egil Johansen (drums),

Rune Gustafsson (guitar #7),  Bjarne Nerem (latin rhythm #7).

Recored in Stockholm, Sweden, November 21, 1961

#9, #11:

Rune Öfwerman (piano), Jimmy Woode (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded at Europa Film AB, Stockholm, Sweden, February 15, 1961

Benny Golson - Stockholm Sojourn

The International Jazz Orchestra

Under The Direction Of Benny Golson

Stockholm Sojourn

In recent years Benny Golson has been known — aside from his excellent tenor playing — for his small group writing. It should not be forgotten that he first attracted attention as an arranger through his work for Dizzy Gillespie's big band. The years since then have seen a constant accretion of his skills. In this album, a return to a big band format (23 men in all), we can see, or rather hear, how much his talent has grown. 

It is an album of tightly-woven textures. He uses an instrumentation of four trumpets, three trombones, four French horns, flutes, clarinets, alto flutes, oboes, English horns, a bass clarinet, a baritone saxophone, bass and drums. The voicings are often unusual. "A lot of times", he said, "I wanted a blanket effect-like a crazy quilt".

Listening to the tape, he added, "You'll notice I had the bass recorded a little heavy. That's because there's no piano, and the two rhythm have 21 men sitting on top of them". Fortunately, the bassist is Roman Dylag, the young Pole whose work was gaining repute even before he slipped out under the Iron Curtain and took up residence in Sweden.

Sweden has proved a haven for many jazzmen, including some Americans. One of these is the brilliant trumpeter Benny Bailey, who plays lead and a number of the solos in this recording. The majority of the musicians, however, are Swedish, residents of Stockholm, where this LP was recorded.

Though Benny Golson is one of the most gifted of the younger composers to come out of jazz, his writing exceeds the scope of what current cant considers to be jazz, which has become too often a term of narrowing, of cramping, of littleness. It is to be hoped that the context in which he writes can continue to grow broader apace with his talent. *Gene Lees, February 1965 (liner notes)* 

Although the International Jazz Orchestra (which was arranged and conducted by Benny Golson) recorded their parts for this album on July 14, 1964, some of the soloists were dubbed in later that year. Golson, who does not play at all on this set, seemed inspired by the large instrumentation — a full orchestra with trumpets, trombones, French horns, several English horns doubling on oboes, five reeds, up to six additional flutes and a pianoless rhythm section — and his charts (six of his originals and three standards) are both inventive and full of subtle surprises. Among the many highlights are Golson's reworkings of "Are You Real", "Waltz for Debby" and "I Remember Clifford". This underrated set is recommended. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

01 - Stockholm Sojourn

02 - Tryst

03 - Are You Real

04 - Goodbye

Side 2

05 - Waltz For Debby

06 - My Foolish Heart

07 - A Swedish Villa

08 - I Remembered Clifford

(All compositions by Benny Golson)

[Note: On the 1997 CD edition, a bonus track is added ("The Call") that does not appear on the original LP]

The International Jazz Orchestra:

Benny Bailey, Bengt-Arne Wallin, Bosso Broberg, Bertil Lövgren, Maffy Falay (trumpets); Åke Persson, Georg Vernon, Jörgen Johansson, Eje Thelin, Grachan Moncur III (trombones); Bengt Olsson, Carl Nyström, Elis Kårvall, William Foch (French horns); Rune Ericksson (euphonium); Alf Nilsson, Ingvar Holst, Lars Skoglund, Erik Björkhager (English horns, oboes); Bengt Christiansson, Nils Wahrby, Börje Marelius, Yngve Sandström, Gösta Ströberg, Ulf Bergström (flutes); Arne Domnérus (clarinet, alto sax); Cecil Payne (baritone sax); Rune Falk (clarinet baritone sax); Torsten Wennberg, Claes Rosendahl (clarinet, saxes); Bjarne Nerem (tenr sax); Rune Falk (baritone sax, clarinet); Jan Johansson (piano); Roman Dylag (bass); Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 1964.

Arranged and conducted by Benny Golson with solos by Benny Bailey, Cecil Payne, Grachan Moncur III, Bengt-Arne Wallin, Eje Thelin, Rune Falk, Bo Broberg and Roman Dylong.

[The parts of Grachan Moncur III and Cecil Payne were dubbed in New York during autumn 1964. Same was done with the solo parts of Persson, Thelin, Domnérus and Nerem who were dubbed in on August 1964 in Stockholm].

Gösta Theselius And All Stars - Swedish Jazz

Gösta Theselius born in Stockholm, June 9, 1922. Started musical studies on piano at the age of seventeen, played with a military orchestra, taking up clarinet and tenor saxophone. In 1940, started making orchestrations for dance bands and continued playing sax and clarinet until August, 1955. He is now considered Sweden’s foremost jazz arranger and composer, and has seven motion picture scores to his credit. His favorite composers are Stravinsky and Ravel. *Liner notes*

By remaining neutral during WWII, the Swedes avoided a Nazi occupation and were able to listen to the changes in American jazz. Consequently while their European counterparts were mired in Dixieland in the postwar period, the Swedes were into west coast cool jazz. If I didn't know who the players were, I'd have thought this was a California session. For example, they even manage to capture the Four Brothers sound on Michel LeGrand's "Cool and Cosy." Recorded in Stockholm in 1956, the session features players who went on to be Swedish Jazz Masters such as Arne Domnérus (alto sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax), Åke Persson (trombone), George Riedel (bass), Egil Johanssen and Bengt Hallber, piano. Its a fine album worth multiple listenings!!! *Sadie Softshoe (amazon.com)*

Really wonderful work from the postwar side of the Swedish scene — modern jazz from leader Gösta Theselius, recording here with one hell of a great group! Theselius may not be that well known on these shores, but the record features key work from players who are — including Bengt-Arne Wallin on trumpet, Lars Gullin on baritone sax, Arne Domnérus on alto and clarinet, Bengt Hallberg on piano, and Åke Persson on trombone — all the sorts of players who made the Swedish scene one of the most exciting non-American jazz spots in the 50s! Theselius plays a bit of piano, handled arrangements, and also contributed a number of tunes — but the soloists really get the most sparkle in the set, and although the tracks are shortish, they all manage to really do a lot with the space — in ways that are similar to some of the west coast Americans who inspired them at the time. Titles include "Brewin", "Cool And Cosy", "The Swingin Thirds", "Strollin", "Just Like That", "Bugs", "Havana Horn", and "Chips".  *dustygroove.com*

Side 1

01 - Kreta

(Gösta Theselius)

02 - Laugh Or Cry

(Stanley Applebaum)

03 - Chips

(Frank Engelen)

04 - Havana Horn

(Gösta Theselius)

05 - Brewin'

(Gösta Theselius)

06 - Sabbath Blues

(Arne Domnérus)

Side 2

07 - Just Like That

(Ted Sommer)

08 - Just Lonely

(Gösta Theselius)

09 - Bugs

(Lars Gullin)

10 - Strollin'

(Billy Mure)

11 - The Swingin' Thirds

(Walter Yost)

12 - Cool And Cosy

(Michel Legrand)

Gösta Theselius (piano, arranger, conductor); Bengt-Arne Wallin (trumpet); Bjarne Nerem (tenor sax); Rolf Blomquist (tenor sax, flute); Arne Domnérus (alto sax, clarinet); Lars Gullin, Lennart Jansson (baritone saxes); Åke Persson (trombone); Bengt Hallberg (piano); Georg Riedel (bass); Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, April 27 and 28, 1956.

Arne Domnérus And His Group - Swedish Modern Jazz

One of the wonders of the postwar jazz world has been the sudden rise to dominance in European jazz of Sweden, a country which could scarcely have been found on the jazz map before 1946. The first suggestion that Americans had of Sweden’s jazz potential occurred in the late Forties when the Swedish clarinetist Stan Hasselgard came to this country. Here, it seemed, was the first clarinetist who could challenge Benny Goodman’s long rule as top man on that instrument. So good was Hasselgard, in fact, that Goodman hired him and the young Swedish jazzman suddenly found himself in the unique position of being the only other clarinetist that Goodman has ever featured.

Hasselgard’s career was nipped in the bud when he died in a tragic auto accident, but even in the few brief months that Americans heard him, his presence served to turn attention to Sweden as a jazz source. And there proved to be jazz aplenty there. 

Not just jazz in general, either, but a rather special kind of jazz that the Swedes have since made uniquely their own. It is based on the Swing Era of jazz, the first jazz period of which the Swedes were strongly aware. From Swing, the Swedes moved readily to Bop and the later refinements of Bop. No other country is quite so oriented toward modern jazz as is Sweden. 

But it is apparently not in the Swedish nature to abandon anything that is good simply because something new and attractive has come along. So they have clung to swing even while they embraced bop and, in consequence, most Swedish jazz has a swingingly modern quality that is found only occasionally elsewhere. 

When the jazz world’s attention was directed toward Sweden by Hasselgard’s talent, one of the first major figures it encountered was Arne Domnérus who has maintained his position throughout the Fifties as one of thetop three jazzmen in a country brimming with able jazz musicians.

Domnérus began playing alto saxophone when he was a teenager (he was born in Stockholm in 1924) and one of his earliest experiences was in a young amateur band which included Rolf Ericson, a trumpeter who has played with Woody Herman and Charlie Barnet; Simon Brehm, who became a pioneer Swedish bass star; and pianist Gösta Theselius (who arranged the two full band selections in this collection). By the time he was seventeen, Domnérus was leading a band in a restaurant in a small town in Lapland, possibly the most frigid apprenticeship that any potential jazz star has undergone. For the next ten years he was heard in various Swedish bands playing both alto and clarinet.

In these selections, Domnérus is heard on alto saxophone in all but three instances he plays clarinet. In his early days, when the alto was his only instrument, his style was patterned on the smooth, sweeping flow of Benny Carter. Later he fell strongly under the influence of Charlie Parker but now, as these performances show (the first side was made in 1957, the second in 1956), he has evolved an extremely effective fusion of Parker and Carter which is thoroughly in the vein of the general swing-cum-modern feeling of Swedish jazz as a whole. *Liner notes*

Side 1 

1 - Topsy Theme

(Gunnar Svensson)

2 - Relax

(Arne Domnérus)

3 - Frenesi

(A. Dominguez)

4 - For Dave

(Domnérus, Svensson)

5 - Lady Be Good

(George Gershwin)

6 - Round About Midnight

(Monk, Williams, Hanighen)

Side 2

7 - Blue Moon

(Rodgers, Hart)

8 - I Got Rhythm

(George Gershwin)

9 - Don't You Know I Care

(Duke Ellington)

10 - Gone With The Wind

(Allie Wrubel)

11 - Take The ''A'' Train

(Billy Strayhorn)

12 - Creole Love Call

(Duke Ellington)

#1 to #10:

Arne Domnérus (alto sax, clarinet [#2, #5]), Gunnar Svensson (piano), Georg Riedel (bass), Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, March 14, 1956 (#7, #8, #9, #10); March 10 (#1, #2) and March 19 (#3,#4, #5, #6), 1957.

#11, #12:

Bengt-Arne Wallin (trumpet), Arne Domnérus (alto sax, clarinet [#12]), Rolf Blomquist (tenor sax), Lennart Jansson (baritone sax), Gunnar Svensson (piano), Georg Riedel (bass), Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, January 27, 1956.