Lars Gullin

In the mid-1980s, the Swedish Dragon label came out with five LPs of music featuring the great Swedish baritonist Lars Gullin. The second volume, which has the earliest recordings in the batch, consists of performances that were either previously unreleased or quite obscure at the time. Gullin is heard in quartets and quintets, sometimes as a sideman, including a few very rare appearances on alto which, although worthy, show why he mostly stuck to baritone. The cool-toned bop, reminiscent but not derivative of Gerry Mulligan, should be of great interest to 1950s jazz collectors.

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.

This work is the third volume of a collection dedicated to the figure of the Arranger, in this case to the Swedish saxophonist and clarinetist Fredrik Carlquist, resident in Catalonia for several years and with whom I have had the pleasure of recording on several of his CDs. This album is also a tribute to the Swedish musician Lars Gullin, one of my favorite baritone saxophonists who has influenced my playing, as have Serge Chaloff, Scott Robinson, Pepper Adams, Gerry Mulligan, Cecil Payne and a long list of great jazz musicians who dedicated their lives to this beautiful instrument.

Lars Gullin - Baritone Sax (1956) {2013 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series 24bit Remaster WPCR-27181}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 241 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 93 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 190 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1956, 2013 Atlantic / Warner Japan / WEA / Rhino | WPCR-27181 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Saxophone

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. An amazing American release from this legendary baritone saxophonist – one of a few Swedish sessions that Lars issued here in the US at the time! The album's a perfect introduction to Gullin's groundbreaking work – that blend of soul, swing, and modernism that easily made him one of the best talents on his instrument in the postwar years – an overseas player to rival gians like Pepper Adams or Serge Chaloff here in the US!

Building on the success of his 2021 solo debut Dio C’è (“wildly ambitious” — AllMusic) and his co-led 2018 effort with pianist Jason Yeager All at Onceness, alto saxophonist Randal Despommier returns with A Midsummer Odyssey, a captivating duo session with guitarist extraordinaire Ben Monder. The central focus is the highly accessible yet always enigmatic music of Swedish baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin (1928-1976). Alternately boppish, cool, bluesy, folkish and chamber-like, Gullin’s pieces afford the Despommier/Monder duo endless opportunities for fresh reinvention. “The goal of this project,” writes Despommier in the liner notes, “was to tap into the spirit of Gullin’s music and present it in a new way. I’m grateful to Ben Monder for joining me on this journey. He helped me hear Gullin’s music differently and added a richness and depth I did not think possible.”

Wade Legge Trio - Wade Legge Trio (2016) {Fresh Sound FSR-CD 894 rec 1953-55}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 370 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 186 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 212 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1953-55, 2016 Vogue / Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD 894
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano

The Fresh Sound label is one of the major reissue record companies, also releasing new music on their Fresh Sound New Talent subsidiary. Fresh Sound, under the direction of the tireless Jordi Pujol, has repackaged and reissued a great deal of very valuable jazz from the 1950s and early 1960s. In addition to the major names, some of their most intriguing sets focus on obscure figures from jazz history whose music has been out-of-print for decades.