Listening to the opening song "Indiana," the music of
the Fyris Jazz Band
sounds like it's coming from a spirited but fairly conventional Dixieland group. Cornetist
Peo Osterholm's
tone resembles
Bobby Hackett's
a little, and none of the soloists are all that original or distinctive, although the rhythm section (led by pianist
Jan Strinnholm
) is excellent. But then, with
Evan Norrman's
sweet vocal in Swedish on the third song, a pretty ballad called "Medan Jag Vantar Po Att Kaffet Ska Bli Klart," it becomes obvious that this is not a typical Midwest trad band.
The Fyris Jazz Band
was formed in 1986 and have been fairly active in Sweden and throughout Europe ever since. They employ a standard instrumentation (with cornetist
Osterholm
, trombonist
Mats Josephson
, clarinetist
Ake Johansson
, pianist
, bassist
Roine Hultgren
and drummer
Hannu Raiha
) and play music that they describe as a mixture of swing, New Orleans jazz and Dixieland. There are occasional vocals by
Evan Norrman
(who sings "I've Got a Crush On You" in English) and the heavily accented
Josephson
, as well as many clean and uncluttered ensembles and a joyous group spirit. The rhythm trio is showcased on the pianist's original "The Inventor," which is dedicated to
Jelly Roll Morton
(although much more modern). In fact,
Strinnholm
also plays a
Thelonious Monk
-influenced solo on "All of Me" that seems quite out of place compared to everything else going on. Most of the other songs (which include a version of "Sidewalk Blues" that is close to the original
Morton
record, including the famous verbal introduction, but this time in Swedish) use conventional frameworks. The most unusual solo on the date takes place on "Fyris Blues," which finds
switching to the naverlur (a long horn that only seems to play five notes) and coming up with a statement that is only worth listening to once. An interesting but difficult-to-find release. ~ Scott Yanow