Unscientific Americans

I really need to shape up. I realized I haven't blogged since February 2009. Shame on me! So here's something that I wrote for the oldest still running jazz journal in the world, Orkesterjournalen.

Close to fifteen years ago I was at a musicology conference in London, where jazz scholar Barry Kernfeld spoke about the canon formation in jazz. I was familiar with the concept, but he managed to exemplify the inherent problems of canon formation and the writing of history in a simple way - too simple, from my point of view today.

Kernfeld began by listing a number of jazz names that he had carefully sorted according to the principle "most relevant to jazz." Guess who? That's right: Armstrong, Ellington, Parker, Davis, Coltrane. Somewhat surprisingly, he mentioned Ornette Coleman among this exclusive elite.

Not a week goes without my thinking about the jazz canon. There are reasons to do so, for the ways in which jazz history is written plays a crucial part for musicians, music students, listeners, agents and promoters. We listen to what influential people recommend, how jazz was born, how the music evolved and which musicians you must be familiar with.

Looking at the origins of most books, about documentary films and magazines, one realizes immediately that the American influence is very strong. It is therefore important for non-American jazz listeners to pay attention to how out of hand things can get if you blindly follow the U.S. instructions. Let me point out three examples.

For years, books on jazz history have been an important source of canon formation in jazz, which is normal. Historical overviews within jazz literature is used in music education worldwide, but most of course literature that is used is written by Americans and deals almost exclusively with American jazz. Anyone reading this knows of course that jazz history is dominated by musicians resident in the U.S. Nevertheless, there are significant jazz musicians from other countries who have been at least as groundbreaking, creative, original and interesting as the American musicians. Particularly in contemporary jazz. From the late 1900s even more so. You would have a hard time knowing that if your knowledge of jazz was based solely on books by Gary Giddins, Stanley Crouch, Frank Tirro or Scott DeVeaux. Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli are the first non-European musicians mentioned, then you will find almost nothing but Americans. This is not what jazz history looks or sounds like. Especially not for those of us who live in Europe. Not even the main American players like Bill Frisell, Cassandra Wilson and John Zorn are generally mentioned more than in passing. That's definitely not a true picture of what jazz is today.

For many, the magazine Down Beat is the main paper source of jazz information (in Sweden, we have Orkesterjournalen, the longest running jazz publication in the world). Down Beat are obviously very fond of American jazz, especially mainstream jazz. One could also say that the magazine is directly protectionist. In the May 2006 issue, for the first time in the magazine's 72-year history, a European jazz group was featured on the cover. That band was Swedish jazz trio EST. The odd European jazz artist or rock band had occupied that prestigious space previously, but not a jazz group from Europe. Editor Jason Koransky attempted to calm his American readers by writing "Jazz is alive and well here in the States, and our primary focus will always remain on the music scene here." But suppose that it is not in the U.S. where jazz is really happening nowadays?

Last and worst: Ken Burns abusive jazz documentary series from 2001. On the upside, the series consisted of well-compiled film footage with great music from major jazz names. From the United States, in the mainstream, as approved by Wynton Marsalis and his posse of jazz conservatives. For example, the series provides us with an almost embarrassing glorification of Armstrong, Ellington and Charlie Parker, whose excellent music deserves more insightful comments. The miserable disposition speaks volumes. The series was detailed until it gets to the end of the 1950's, nine episodes in and one to go. This section was to cover four decades of jazz history. It did not. Anyone who did not know anything about jazz and wanted to learn something from this series would think that Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Pat Metheny were not important jazz musicians, since they were either mentioned very briefly or not at all. This is almost to be regarded as jazz's equivalent of the German propaganda from the late 30's and early 40's. It is definitely not what jazz history looks like.

I would like to see more critical perspectives on American jazz and the jazz canon at large, and more books about jazz from a wider perspective. From a geographical, musical, gender and style perspective. A good, solid balanced read on a unique style of music. Certainly, writers such as Joachim-Ernst Berendt, Alyn Shipton and Jan Bruer & Lars Westin has made efforts in this area, but there is plenty of room for more authors with interesting angles. Can someone also make a documentary about jazz in a similar way, our world would become a better, more dynamic and interesting music environment.

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"Unscientific Americans" is a track from the underrated Power Tools album by Bill Frisell, Melvin Gibbs and Ronald Shannon Jackson. It's fierce. I remember being almost shocked when I first heard it, but couldn't stop myself from playing it over and over again. I am sure my neighbours appreciated the music.

So What

I have decided to go back to blogging again. Once more. Another attempt. So what if I have attempted this before, I will try it again. Sure, I am very active on Facebook, but this is another forum, so let's see what happens!

Since my last post, the music world has suffered a couple of tough losses, mainly Lars Hollmer, Freddie Hubbard, John Martyn and Richard Wright. I have only met one of the gentlemen - Lars Hollmer - but felt a sense of loss for each and every one of these fine musicians when they moved on. The loss of Lars Hollmer upset me more than I thought if would, probably because I met the man and he turned out to be a nice guy. Luckily, his music lives on. Let's celebrate that!



Here's a clip of Lars Hollmer playing Inte Quanta


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So What is, obviously, the modal Miles Davis classic from the Kind of Blue album which incidentally celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is a great album which everyone should own and listen to frequently. A personal anecdote about this track: I played this tune in a band I played with years ago. As I hadn't heard the track at the time, one of the other guys in the band showed me how to play the theme. Or so I thought. Later, when I bought the album and heard the track, I found out that he had got the notes wrong. Way wrong. There you go, I am sure there's a lesson to be learnt from that experience in some way. Let me know how if you find out.

Nobody's Fault But Mine

Oh dear, oh dear. I haven't blogged for ages now. Since my last blog, Joe Zawinul and Esbjörn Svensson have died, I have celebrated a birthday, I have had a fantastic time in Gouveia (again) and so many nice and not so nice things have happened. It's all water under the bridge now, but I will try harder to blog on a more regular basis, I promise, this time I will try.

What's up now? Copenhagen jazz festival starts on Friday, hooray! A really strong line up this year with Ornette Coleman, David Murray, Wayne Shorter, Dave Liebman, Ravi Coltrane and Joe Lovano all fighting for sax space. One of my favourite singers, Cassandra Wilson will also be there. I heard her at her visit to this festival the last time she was here and it was a really stong performance. I wasn't too crazy about her Thunderbird album though. She's got a new album out now, so I suppose I should check that out very soon. Also performing is the extraordinary thereminist Pamelia Kurstin who is in cahoots with singer/guitarist Maria Laurette Friis. They're playing on the same night as Paul Bley, also essential listening, but can I make it? That's what I will have to see. So much to do...

Later this month, I am heading to the Loreley cliff with IB. The Night of the Prog is calling, and we are responding.

At this point, there is loads of administrative work that is in Limbo at my jazz office. Unfortunately, I can't do much about it at this point. Not because I am on holiday - which I am supposed to be - but because the powers that be haven't said the magic words.

The situation at the university is much better, but I still get at least one annoying mail each week about seemingly meaningless paper work that needs to be done.

But the future looks bright enough at this point. Now if I can just keep blogging...

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Many artists have recorded Nobody's Fault But Mine, but I was blown away by Beth Rowley's take on this song of grief and self-blame. With a dynamic voice that belies her tender age and strong interpretive skills, I was floored. I must get Rowley's debut album Little Dreamer (released earlier this year) and so should you!

What I did on My Vacation

- I was on parental leave with Otto, the whizz kid
- I went to Portugal to work with IB Expo at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival, to visit my dear friends Luis, Catia, Fred and Inez with my loved ones Annika & Otto. I also happened to hear Robert Fripp, California Guitar Trio, Magma and Christian Saggese's moving solo recital in the church of Gouveia (now called the church of Saggese). I also monitored the round table discussion on composition vs. improvisation
- I turned 40
- I had a garden party for my 40th birthday
- I booked interesting acts - and some not so interesting - for the Jazz i Malmø autumn season. Favourites are Chris Potter, Bob Brozman, Zawinul Syndicate and Sonore.
- I heard Jan Garbarek in Malmø, a booking I initiated
- I have met and heard one of my all time heroes at my own venue: Allan Holdsworth at Jeriko. A packed house loved what they heard. A very special day for me.
- I worked hard with the Bologna process, which is supposed to start on September 1 at Lund University. A long, hard and boring road.
- I attended the final performance of the sold out Panta Rei performance at Halmstad's 700 anniversary
- I booked acts for IB Expo 07: Christian, Luca, IB, Pamelia Kurstin and Mike Keneally. A great line up!
- I have started recording guitar overdubs for Fred Lessing's forthcoming album.
- I have worked hard in our garden

Now I am back in action and hope to blog more frequently. Sorry for the lazy behaviour.

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What I did on My Vacation is a compilation album by the brilliant band Gillan, formed by Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan in the late 70's. Perhaps my favourite Purple offspring. I've got the album on vinyl, I'm not sure if it's available on CD or download. Get some of the original albums instead: The Gillan Album, Mr. Universe and Glory Road. Excellent stuff!

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NP: an artificial waterfall at Clarion Hotel Royal Christiania in Oslo. Makes you desperate for the bathroom.

Clap hands

My 11-month son Otto is a keen percussionist. Last week, he discovered the fine art of hand clapping. He tends to work on his timing while changing nappies and sometimes while listening to music. Hardly metronomic, he compensates for this with rich washes of enthusiasm. That goes a long way, at least if you are a proud father.

Very interesting developments on the IB side of things. Stressful Panta Rei compositions sound good despite enourmous pressure on Mats and people not doing what they were supposed to do. The Threepenny Opera sessions will recommence in early April followed by the IB Expo appearance at Gouveia on April 21.

Speaking of IB Expo, planning for IB Expo 07 is proceeding and I am currently working on the line-up. Once more, it will be an unforgettable evening, I can assure you.

I was saddened to hear about a musician friend who seems to have writer's cramp and also a rough financial patch. If I only were Bill Gates, or at least Ingvar Kamprad...

At Jazz i Malmö, I am trying to get the bookings done for three summer dates and the autumn season. Unexpectedly, I ran into some problems that can affect the booking in a serious way. The bottom line of this was that someone I thought was on my side turned out to look after his own interests exclusively, which turned him and his club over to the other side (ie the representative of the artists' side). Luckily, offers come in heaps. Unfortunately, the money doesn't.

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"Clap Hands", from Tom Waits' Rain Dogs is an intriguing tune. Take away the vocals, and you have an almost ambient background with a very nice and basic percussion based texture. Add Waits' stream-of-consciousness-nursery-rhyme-lyrics and you have sometheing truly unique. Add to that Marc Ribot's dirty guitar licks and Michael Blair's well-suited percussion playing. The man himself is one of a kind. And "Clap Hands" is a really good tune.

Too Hot to Händel

Or rather, "Too Hot to Handle". Since my teens, I have enjoyed UFO's take on melodic hard rock with clever guitar playing (and lyrics I rarely could relate to). The other day, the opportunity presented itself to go listen to the band at KB in Malmö.

With the ever-present (at least physically) vocalist Phil Mogg, most-of-the-time-UFO-basist Pete Way and frequent keyboardist/guitarist Paul Raymond in the ranks, this is close enough to the classic line-up of the Michael Schenker years, at least as close as I am likely to come to hearing this line-up. These three spaceship veterans were joined by drummer Simon Wright, stepping in for the ankle injured original UFO drummer Andy Parker, and lead guitarist Vinnie Moore.

Should you be unfamiliar with Mr. Moore, he can be described as one of the better and more interesting shredders of the neo-classical era. If you're into that kind of thing, you can do a lot worse than cupping an earful of his Mind's Eye album.

So, the million kronor question was: how does this neo-classical italian-american guy compare to Herr Schenker? The ten kronor question was: in what condition would Mogg and Way be in? One thing at a time and first things first.


Vinne Moore is a technical player, a fast player and a Red Bull drinker. But he can't blend blues phrases with classically influences patterns the way Michael Schenker did - and still does. Moore is - technically speaking - a superior guitarist to Schenker (a guitarist who only uses three fingers on his left hand), but he is not as inventive, not as compositionally strong and not as dynamic as the Flying V axeman. Moore's rhythm chops also left something to be desired. In other words, I rate Schenker higher. For evidence, listen to Moore soloing on "Rock Bottom", "Love to Love" or "Shoot Shoot" and get your old vinyls out (CDs will do nicely, as will downloads). Compare and you will see what I am talking about.


I am sure Vinnie Moore is less volatile than Michael Schenker, and I am certain that the american is much easier to work with. Still: give me the wah-wah drenched three-fingered arpeggios of Schenker anyday.

The state of Mogg and Way? Let's just say remind ourselves of the name of Pete Way's old band: Waysted. They were. Having said that, Phil Mogg sang surprisingly well even though he was completely blotto. I wonder if Pete Way has sold off his trusty Gibson basses? In Malmö he played an Epiphone, which is of course a much cheaper instrument. I found it striking that a musician can play professionally for more than thirty years and still have piss-poor technique on his instrument. Very punky, but also very poor musicianship.

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"Too Hot to Handle" is, of course one of the most well-known songs by UFO. It's taken from the excellent Lights Out album released in 1977. Hardly one of my favourite UFO tunes, but it's an OK rock 'n' roll stomper. Probably best heard on the live Strangers in the Night album.

What Now?

I am currently on parental leave with Otto, ten months young today. I still take care of the bookings at Jazz in Malmo (but all via e-mail), still lecture on one course at the university and still work with IB.

Things are not looking good at the university. For some reason, only a small number of students are interested in studying musicology. I find this strange, since I have only ever met one person who has claimed to be uninterested in music. And since money apparently makes the (university) go 'round, we have been downsized to a skeleton crew. So far, I am still on board.

On the other hand, the IB side of things look really good. First of all, a visit with IB Expo to the brilliant festival in Gouveia, Portugal in April. One interesting project called Panta Rei which is part of Halmstad's 700 anniversary; the very exciting prospect of IB reworking Brecht & Weill's Threepenny Opera; and two highly rewarding meetings with a couple of fine musicians: guitarist/composer Erik Wollo and thereminist extraordinaire Pamelia Kurstin. There will be some fantastic music made with these two!

Also on the cards: the embryo of an international group featuring Mats on keyboards. Still early days, but very interesting and potentially musically excellent! And a couple of other things too, but these are still laying around at the drawing board.

2007 has the potential to be a wonderful IB year. Let's hope so!

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Kenny Wheeler used to be a really interesting trumpet player, but having heard him a few years ago with a Swedish Big Band, I am not so sure he's still got it. Nevertheless, his album What Now? featuring Dave Holland, Chris Potter and John Taylor is a fine record, if not outstanding. I must admit that frequently, Wheeler's sidemen more than upstage the main man. Having said that, there are some nice compositions by Mr. Wheeler on this album. The title track is a slow number with beautyful interplay between all the musicians on a relaxed but confident level.