Lars Gunnar Lars Gunnar Bodin

Quite a rare set from this important Swedish player - one recorded in Sweden by Metronome, but issued here in the US on the short-lived East-West imprint of Atlantic. The tracks all feature Gullin on baritone sax - in a variety of settings that range through quartet, quintet, sextet, octet, and big band. As always, Lars pulls far more out of the instrument than any of his contemporaries could hope to - and the backing he gets from Swedish modernists like Arne Domnerus, Rune Ofwerman, Bert Dahlander, and Sven Ake Persson really help keep things moving along at a strong pace.

Lars Vogt (1970-2022) early recordings collected here provide a document of an artist who always remained authentic, both to himself and to music. Lars Vogt never sought absolute truth, but truthfulness instead meant all the more to him. The man and the artist were always very close, never currying favour and never detached from the world. He was, instead, open and natural. / "It's incredibly gratifying when you notice that you can perhaps light a little spark, a little flame for music in people, and when music helps you to find the path to your own soul."

Few eighteenth-century composers earned a personal fortune solely by writing music; Joseph Bodin de Boismortier did, and could claim to be the first Frenchman to sell his talents on the open market. By 1700, the spread of music printing and publishing in Europe, allied to the growth of amateur music-making, made substantial sales of new music possible, and Boismortier seized every opportunity for meeting the popular demand for tuneful, technically simple pieces for a wide variety of vocal and instrumental combinations. Within a year of arriving in Paris in 1723, his first publications were on sale, and by 1747 had been followed by 102 works.

Tomas Bodin is best known for being the keyboardist for Swedish progressive rock favourites The Flower Kings. In addition to that role, he is also an extremely competent composer and skilful instrumentalist as he ably displays with the release of his fourth solo album "I AM". Having released solely instrumental albums in the past, he surprises fans this time out with a brilliant prog rock opera. Together with fellow band mates Jonas Reingold on bass, and new Flower Kings drummer Marcus Liliequist, Bodin enlisted the help of guitarist Jocke JJ Marsh of the Glenn Hughes Band and vocalists Anders Jansson, Pernilla Bodin, and Helene Schönning.

Tomas Bodin's regular job is to play the keyboards for The Flower Kings but as usual some of these musicians and especially if they are a member of The Flower Kings have too many ideas and one musical life doesn't satisfy them any longer. They need to have a solo project. And seemingly Tomas Bodin also has a lot of good ideas left over. But the music on his solo albums is quite different, it's a mix between Jazzrock/Fusion and Retro Prog, all instrumental. And of course the whole sound is keyboard dominated.

Lars Gullin - Lars Gullin Swings (1956) {2013 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series 24bit Remaster WPCR-27282}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 241 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 109 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1956, 2013 East West / Warner Japan / WEA / Rhino | WPCR-27282 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Saxophone

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. This is a good introduction to the remarkable Lars Gullin, a masterful baritone sax player, writer, arranger, and a key figure in Sweden's jazz scene. Lars Gullin Swings (East-West, 1958) feature Swedish baritone master Lars Gullin improvising with an all-star cast of jazz compatriots. Whether he is performing in a quartet, quintet, sextet, octet or big band setting, the Mulligan-influenced Gullin wails throughout. Gullin’s tone on the “big horn” is light and agile; his solos flow with a wealth of unending invention. These albums are extremely rare and if you were lucky enough to find them, would carry a very hefty price tag on the collector's market.

Concerto Copenhagen, the Danish National Baroque Orchestra, has developed into one of Scandinavia’s leading Baroque orchestras. The orchestra now turns to Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous Orchestral Suites. Although extensive research has been conducted for many years, it is not known when the suites were composed. Today everything indicates that the suites were written much earlier than is assumed and then merely had to be adapted to Bach’s new Leipzig circumstances. It is therefore not unusual for them to be performed – as on this recording – without timpani and trumpets. Although the especially popular third suite is a ceremonious, sumptuous work, the material contributed by the wind instruments is hardly of considerable significance. The suite enjoys a top ranking on the charts of Bach’s most attractive and best-loved works.