Jazz Masterworks Series: Jazz På Svenska at The Standard

About

The legendary Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson (16 September 1931 – 9 November 1968) is little known outside Scandinavia, and his records are not widely available, though Jazz På Svenska (“Jazz in Swedish”) has sold more than a quarter of a million copies, and is the best selling jazz album ever in Sweden. It was released in 1964 and consists of jazz arrangements of Swedish folk songs. All arrangements are very sparse, consisting only of Johansson on piano and Georg Riedel on double bass. Many of the tracks are famous within Sweden, especially the opening track “Visa från Utanmyra” (Song from Utanmyra).