{"id":3898,"date":"2012-08-05T04:38:43","date_gmt":"2012-08-05T11:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=3898"},"modified":"2013-04-13T17:24:20","modified_gmt":"2013-04-14T00:24:20","slug":"three-swedish-tenors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2012\/08\/three-swedish-tenors\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Swedish Tenors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The 250 listeners of a certain age who filled Per Helsas g\u00c3\u00a5rd on Friday got what they came for—reassurance that solid mainstream jazz is alive and well in Sweden. The courtyard surrounded by venerable half-timbered buildings rang with the brawny music of three of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best-known tenor saxophonists, Nisse Sandstr\u00c3\u00b6m, Krister Andersson and Bernt Rosengren (left to right in the second photo). Framed by walnut and pear trees as clouds drifted and birds swooped chirping in brilliant sunshine, the trio of saxophonists justified their billing as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Swedish Tenor Kings.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Their repertoire was a stockpile of standard songs and jazz originals long favored by modern traditionalists, from the riffs of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Blues Up and Down\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lester Leaps In\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to ballads including Thelonious Monk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ask Me Now\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and Cole P\"\"<\/a>orter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You Do Something To Me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Andersson, featured on the Monk piece, soloed with respect for not only the angular beauty of the melody but also the harmonic structure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s invitation to quirky individuality. <\/p>\n

When Charlie Parker recorded Miles Davis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sippin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 at Bells\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on tenor saxophone rather than his customary alto, he inspired a generation of young tenor players, including Sonny Rollins. That part of the tenor tradition was on display in the Per Helsas g\u00c3\u00a5rd version of the tune, notably so in the tenors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 exchanges with the Danish drummer Aage Tanggaard. The rhythm team of Tanggaard, his fellow Dane pianist Ole Kock Hansen and the Swedish bassist Hans Backenroth were impressive in solo as well as in support. Hansen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choruses on John Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Blue Train\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were a highlight of the session. A straightforward stylist whose solos communicate assurance, Rosengren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s de facto leadership was evident as he set a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lester Leaps\u00e2\u20ac\u009d riff with Tanggaard. The drummer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nearly constant smile seemed a metaphor for the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pleasure at working together. In addition to his fine soloing, Sandstr\u00c3\u00b6m contributed as a genial and informative master of ceremonies.<\/p>\n

When they want more, European audiences set up rhythmic clapping, an unyielding insistence that brooks no resistance. It brought the band back for an encore, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just Friends.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Following a round of testicular solos, the piece and the concert ended with an extended tag ending of simultaneous improvisation by the three tenors. It was the most adventurous collective playing of a satisfying set. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 250 listeners of a certain age who filled Per Helsas g\u00c3\u00a5rd on Friday got what they came for—reassurance that solid mainstream jazz is alive and well in Sweden. The courtyard surrounded by venerable half-timbered buildings rang with the brawny music of three of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best-known tenor saxophonists, Nisse Sandstr\u00c3\u00b6m, Krister Andersson and Bernt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3898\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}