Nordic Jazz

Jere Laukkanen, Senior Lecturer in Composing and Arranging

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki Finland
@ Conservatorio Superior de Música de Navarra, Pamplona,
15 November, 2017
Introduction
Jere Laukkanen
§ MMus (Sibelius Academy, Jazz Department, Finland)
§ Composer, arranger, conductor, bass
§ ca. 150 commissioned arrangements for Big Bands and
other large ensembles
§ Compositions for the European Jazz Orchestra, Jere
Laukkanen Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and UMO Jazz
Orchestra, ao.
§ Chair of the Music Writing and Production major at the
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences;
Senior Lecturer
§ Currently writing a doctoral dissertation on jazz rhythm.

15 November, 2017 Jere Laukkanen: Nordic Jazz 2

The Nordic Tone in Jazz
"In fact, it is Scandinavian musicians who now
seem to be at the forefront of the global jazz
explosion. How then, has the process of
transculturation of jazz in Scandinavia occurred in
practice to produce this quite distinct glocal
dialect?"

– Stuart Nicholson
in his 2005 book Is Jazz Dead? (Or has it moved to a new address), p. 197

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But First… What Is Jazz?
1. A musical tradition rooted in performing
conventions that were introduced and
developed early in the 20th century by African
Americans;
2. A set of attitudes and assumptions brought to
music-making, chief among them the notion of
performance as a fluid creative process
involving improvisation; and
3. A style characterized by syncopation, melodic
and harmonic elements derived from the blues,
cyclical formal structures and a supple rhythmic
approach to phrasing known as swing.
(Grove Music Online)

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The Characteristics of Jazz
§ Rhythm and time
§ patterns, cycles, key rhythms and syncopation
§ backbeat, polyrhythm and polymeter
§ Swing, ‘metronomic sense’
§ Personal voice and sound
§ Improvisation
§ also ornamentation, interpretation
§ Harmony
§ increased level of dissonance
§ tonal, modal or 12-tone

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The Characteristics of Jazz (2)
§ Interaction and interplay
§ Melody
§ heterophony, polyphony
§ dissonance, chromaticism
§ blue notes, intonation, bends, shouts
§ Form
§ cyclic, symmetric
§ ‘Vehicles’
§ the Blues, and standard song forms
§ through-composed structures

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The Characteristics of Jazz (3)
§ Listen to Charles Mingus’s "Better Git It In Your
Soul":
§ Can you hear and recognize any of these
characteristics?
§ Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um (rec. May 5 & 12,
1959, New York City)

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The Nordic Expressiveness
The sound is very important, the space in the
music is very important, the transparency is
important, the dynamic is important – not how
clever you can play your instrument, how fast you
can play or how impressive you could be – but how
expressive you are.

Arild Andersen, as quoted in Nicholson, p. 198

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Nordic Jazz – the Beginnings
 The Nordic Countries
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Before World War II: Early Jazz & Swing
§ Novelty and imitation…
§ Dick de Pauw Royal Dance Band: "Somebody and Me"
ca. 1930
§ The Original Dixieland Jazz Band in England
1919, records released in Scandinavia
§ From 1921, several British jazz & dance bands in
Sweden, e.g.
§ Sam Wooding & his band in 1927 & 1929; Louis
Armstrong 1933, Coleman Hawkins 1934, Duke
Ellington 1939
§ 1 st Jazz Magazine: Orkester Journalen 1933–

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After WW II: New Influences
§ Visitors in Sweden
§ Don Redman and his orchestra 1946 (w/ Don Byas)
§ Dizzy Gillespie and his orchestra 1948
§ James Moody 1949 (recorded "Moody's Mood for
Love" for Metronome)
§ 1949: Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman,
Coleman Hawkings & Charlie Parker
§ Americans in Denmark
§ Kenny Clarke (dr), Kenny Drew (pno)
§ Dexter Gordon, Ben Webster, Stan Getz (t.sax)
§ Thad Jones (tp, comp), Oscar Pettiford (b)
§ Ella Fitzgerald (voc) ao.

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The New Expression Arises
§ The Scandinavians dive deep in the cool pool
§ Lars Gullin (b.sax, SWE, 1928–76) was the first
European to win a jazz poll in the U.S.A. (Downbeat
magazine's "New Star" category in 1954
§ Lars Gullin Quartet: "Danny's Dream" (1954)
§ The first fusions of jazz and traditional folk music
emerge in the 1950s.
§ Stan Getz (t.sax, USA, 1927–91) with Bengt Hallberg
(pno, SWE, 1932–2013): "Ack Värmeland du sköna"
(1951)
Ø Later to be known as "Dear Old Stockholm" (recorded by
e.g. Miles Davis)

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The Swedes Explore the Folk Song
§ Jan Johansson's (pno, 1931–68) album 8 Bitar
Johansson (1961) marked a turning point:
§ Johansson: "De salde sina hemman (Emigrantvisa)"
§ other albums: Jazz på Svenska, Nordic
Impressions
§ Johansson also toured and recorded with Stan
Getz and wrote a lot of film music
§ Bengt-Arne Wallin (tpt): Old Folklore in Swedish
Modern (1962)
§ Other major Swedish musicians of the '50–60s:
§ Nils Lindberg (pno/comp.), Arne Domnérus (a.sax/cl)
§ Åke Persson (tbn), Rolf Ericson (tpt)

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Nordic Jazz – Growing up
New Influences and Languages
§ American composer George Russell (1923–
2009) moves to Sweden in 1964
§ Album The Essence of George Russell (1966)
introduced Palle Mikkelborg (tpt, DK) and Jan
Garbarek (sax), Arild Andersen (b) & Jon
Christensen (dr, NO)
§ George Russell: "Now and Then"
§ Don Cherry moves to Sweden in the late 1960s,
influences ao.
§ Palle Danielsson (b)
§ Bobo Stenson (p) Anders Widmark (p)

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ECM – Edition of Contemporary Music
§ German label releasing new European jazz and
contemporary music (est. 1969); artists include:
§ John Abercrombie, Keith Jarrett, Ralph Towner, Chick
Corea, Paul Bley, Gary Burton & Pat Metheny
§ Terje Rypdal (el.g, NO, 1947–): "Darkness Falls" from
the album Odyssey (1975)
§ Keith Jarrett's (1945–) "Belonging" quartet with
Jan Garbarek (sax, NO 1947–), Palle Danielsson (b,
SWE 1946–), Jon Christensen (d, NO 1943–)
§ "Spiral Dance" from the album Belonging (1974)
§ Other Nordics at ECM include:
§ Edward Vesala (d, FI), Juhani Aaltonen (sax, FI), Bobo
Stenson (p, SWE), Arild Andersen (b, NO)

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Nordic Jazz – Coming of Age
The Sound of the Fjords
§ Jan Garbarek's ECM recordings set the scene
§ "Send Word" from Legend of the Seven Dreams (1988)
§ with Rainer Brüninghaus (p), Eberhard Weber (b) & Naná
Vasconcelos (perc)
§ Arild Andersen's (1945–) Masqualero:
§ "Sort Of" from Bande à part (1983)
§ with Jon Balke (p), Jon Christensen (d), Nils Petter
Molvær (tp), Tore Brundborg (sax)
§ Other names worth remembering
§ Sidsel Endresen & Silje Nergaard (voc)
§ Arve Henkriksen & Hayden Powell (tp)
§ Tord Gustavsen, Einar Iversen, Bugge Wesseltoft (p)
§ Paal Nilssen-Love, Audun Kleive, Svein Christiansen (d)

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Swedish Schnapps
§ Lars Danielsson (b, vlc 1958–)
§ "Far North" from the album Far North (1994)
§ with Bobo Stenson (p, SWE 1944–), David Liebman (sax,
USA) & Jon Christensen (d, NO)
§ E.S.T. – Esbjörn Svensson (p, 1964–2008), Dan
Berglund (b, 1963–) and Magnus Öström (dr,
1965–)
§ "Dolores in a Shoestand" from Tuesday Wonderland
(2006)
§ Other names worth remembering
§ Nils Landgren (tbn), Ulf Wakenius (g)
§ Magnus Lindgren (sax, fl, cl), Jonas Kulhammar (sax)
§ Palle Danielsson, Anders Jormin, Jonas Hellborg (b)

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Denmark and Iceland
§ Being under American influence for different
reasons, Denmark and Iceland mainly stayed
true to the Black Atlantic rhythm
§ However, some Danish artists explored the
Nordic Tone:
§ Palle Mikkelborg (tpt, 1941–)
§ "Joy" from The Voice of Silence with the Danish Radio
Jazz Orchestra (2001)
§ And –
§ Marilyn Mazur (perc, 1955–)
§ Niels Lan Doky (p, 1963–)
§ Stefan Pasborg (d)

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Finnish to Finish
§ In Finland, the Sibelian landscapes crash into
expressionism
§ Edward Vesala (dr, 1945–99): "Third Moon" from the
album Lumi (1986)
§ And while retaining the spaciousness of the
Northern spirit, it experiments with modern
grooves
§ Verneri Pohjola (tp, 1977–): "Colossus" from Aurora
(2009)
§ Other names worth remembering:
§ Juhani Aaltonen, Kari Heinilä, Mikko Innanen (sax)
§ Jarmo Savolainen, Alexi Tuomarila (p)
§ Jarmo Saari, Raoul Björkenheim (g)

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Sources
Zwerin, Mike: "Jazz in Europe: The Real World Music … or the Full Circle" in B. Kirchner (ed.).
2000. The Oxford Companion To Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. P. 534–547
Shipton, Alyn. 2001. A New History of Jazz. London: Continuum.
Nicholson, Stuart. 2005. Is Jazz Dead? (Or has it moved to a new address). New York: Routledge.
ECM Records website: www.ecmrecords.com
THANK YOU!
§ www.metropolia.fi/en/
§ www.facebook.com/MetropoliaAMK
§ name.surname@metropolia.fi