I think that outside of Sweden Jan Johansson is almost unknown. A shame because he was a more than remarkable musician, active between the late '50s and the '60s.

Outside the jazz whirlwind that raged in America, our hero resided in Göteborg, where he caught the attention of Stan Getz, who at one point went on tour with him for six weeks in the distant 1958, shortly before the bossa period (incidentally, Getz and Byrd’s "Jazz Samba" is from 1962; Stan Getz has always had the nose of a bloodhound for discovering great jazz fusions outside the States).

This reissue actually contains two albums, "Jazz pa svenska" (from 1962) and "Jazz pa Ryska" (from 1967). Swedish traditional melodies inspire, in my opinion, a feeling of subtle melancholy, almost a regret because the sun sets too early in winter. Often they are precariously balanced between major and minor keys, with a sense of precariousness lived almost with detachment, beautiful or ugly situations fade into a watercolor made of a few decisive brushstrokes.
A varied landscape, at times cruel, at times joyful, but even the joys cast a long shadow, one expects them to fade into pain or be erased from memory. Fairy tale tones not necessarily with a happy ending.

"Jazz pa svenska" gathers these Swedish folk elements and reworks them by filtering them through the swing and bebop language.
"Jazz pa Ryska" is instead a tribute to the Russian musical tradition. Both are records with just the piano and double bass, teetering between folk, classical, and jazz.

Because Johanson is a pianist with a strong classical background and you can tell. And it must be said that in his case it is not a flaw at all, in this he somewhat resembles Brad Mehldau. I did a little research on the internet and almost all the material I found on him is in Swedish, a language I unfortunately do not know. Even on Wikipedia (the English one), there are only three lines. I bought this record by chance during a vacation in Sweden and I must say it is truly enchanting.

Highly recommended, although somewhat difficult to find outside of Scandinavia (still, if you search on Amazon or eBay, I think you’ll find it, nowadays you can find just about anything).

Tracklist and Videos

01   Visa från Utanmyra (04:33)

02   Gånglek från Älvdalen (02:00)

03   Polska från Medelpad (02:30)

04   Visa från Rättvik (03:22)

05   Brudmarsch efter Larshöga Jonke (02:03)

06   Vallåt från Jämtland (01:53)

07   Emigrantvisa (03:27)

08   Berg-Kirstis polska (03:30)

09   Leksands skänklåt (02:59)

10   Gammal bröllopsmarsch (03:41)

11   Visa från Järna (01:22)

12   Polska efter Höök Olle (02:31)

13   Nära hemmet (02:21)

14   På ängen stod en björk (02:51)

15   Stepp, min stepp (03:44)

16   Bandura (02:25)

17   Längs floden (02:05)

18   Det går en kosack (01:22)

19   Mellan branta stränder (02:42)

20   Pråmdragarnas sång på Volga (03:43)

21   Jag broderade till gryningen (01:53)

22   Kvällar i Moskvas förstäder (04:19)

23   Entonigt klingar den lilla klockan (01:55)

24   Ströva omkring (00:47)

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