Nils Lindberg - Brass Galore (Bluebell, 1981)

This post is by Dan

Nils Lindberg (p); Sven Larsson (btb, tba); Torgny Nilsson (tb); Jan Allan (tr); Allan Botschinsky (tr, flhn); Markku Johansson (tr, flhn); Mads Vinding (b); Rune Carlsson (d)

Recorded May 19, 1981

Born in 1933 in Sweden, Nils Lindberg remains an icon in Swedish jazz history. Beginning in 1960, he assembled a group of all-star musicians to make Sax Appeal, a session that included the legendary Lars Gullin on baritone. Soon after, he came to the attention of the U.S. audience with the excellent Trisection (Capitol Records, 1962). Both of these early albums revealed his talent for arranging horns in ways that never seemed unusual but also in ways that you never heard before. Lindberg pursued the arranging for saxophones with his Saxes Galore series of albums: Saxes Galore (1979), Melody in Blue (1993), and Third Saxes Galore (2000). These are all wonderful albums, as Swedish fans may already know. 

1981's Brass Galore serves as a test to see if Lindberg's talents for arranging succeed with brass as well as reeds. If anything, the shift in timbres is more impressive due to his ability to harmonize multiple horns while softening their "brassiness." Each tune on Brass Galore takes a different approach, from the bluesy "Almost the Blues," to the jubilation of "Fanfares," to the lovely elegy, "For Absent Friends," which closes the album and gives Lindberg some rare solo space on piano. The featured trumpet soloists on all tracks are Jan Allan and Allan Botschinsky, who trade solos on "Daydreaming," revisited from the Trisection album and one of Brass Galore's highlights. 

Swedish jazz has generally avoided copying American jazz, relying instead upon Sweden's native folk melodies for inspiration. Sweden is also noted for its collection of jazz orchestras, each with its own leaders and composers, situated in different cities throughout the country. As a result, there is much Swedish jazz tradition to discover and enjoy. Nils Lindberg's catalog is a great resource for jazz lovers to explore.