Yes, Lars Jansson Trio has been around for 30 years, probably the oldest Swedish jazz group. Anders Jormin, Anders Kjellberg and myself started 1979. Our first gig was at Nefertiti, Göteborg and our first record, a LP was recorded in Oslo with Jan Erik Kongshaug. The label was Caprice records and the title was "Sadhana".
1985 Lars Danielsson replaced Jormin on bass and the first record we did together was "The eternal now". Now Christian Spering is playing the bass. Anders is still playing the drums.
In april I recorded with three different danish singers, Katrine Madsen, Sidsel Storm and Sören Lampe. It all took place in Nilento Studio, Göteborg. We also did a new trio recording for Spice of Life in Japan. It will be released this summer. In september we go to Japan for a tour. The cd is called "In search of lost Time". here is the text from the cd;
In search of lost time is the English translation of Marcel
Proust..s masterpiece A..la recherché du temps perdu. In Swedish it consists of
seven volumes, more than 4000 pages. It is a demanding book but when you get
into Proust..s world you can..t stop. His language is so beautiful and after some
time you enter a kind of timeless, meditative state of mind.
As Proust..s book is about different experiences
of time and looking back into your life, the
music on this CD is a mix of old tunes I found while cleaning and repairing my
music room and some new, fresh tunes. The oldest one is more than twenty five
years old and the newest was written just one
day before recording. The focus this time was not so much on the compositions,
but more on improvising and having fun playing in the studio.
There is A Butterfly In My Room is in memory of Anna, a
sweet girl and friend of my daughter who died at the
early age of thirteen. After
her death I came across an interview with
Elisabeth Kubler Ross who said that; ”Living is
like being caught in a pup(?) and dying is getting wings and becoming a
butterfly”. Just then, a butterfly came
flying into my room. It flew around for a
while, then sat on my left shoulder, showed it..s beautiful wings and then flew out through the open window.
At-one-ment. Many of my song titles and CD titles have to do with
living in the present, here and now. So often difficult but the only way to
live at peace with yourself and celebrating life.
Midsummer. The Swedish midsummer is something extraordinary.
Siljan Waltz. Very old tune composed at Siljan, Dalarna many years
ago. Simple and easy and fun to play on.
In Search of Lost Time. Title tune of the CD. Has some Ellington in its
melody and harmony.
Simple Song, Simple Life. A tune I found in my sketch
book in my country house. It is so simple that I almost felt embarrassed to
play it. Now I like it more and more. It is difficult to write simple music
that still has honesty and depth. Same thing with life. It is a skill to live a
simple, natural life.
One Hand Clapping. A twelve tone piece. The melody you hear is made of 12 plus 12 tones, the prime form and
the retrograde form. The piano improvises over these twenty four tones and the
bass over the twelve tone inversion and the twelve retrograde inversions. The
sound of one hand clapping is a famous Zen koan.
Fisherman is dedicated to a young guitarist, a friend of my
son.
God..s Delays are not God..s Denials. We need to
have patience in our lives. What we cannot achieve
today we might achieve some day in the future when we are ready for it.
A Rare Italians Bird is originally dedicated to the great Italian
clarinetist Gabrielle Mirabasi but I would like to dedicate this piece to some
other great Italian birds too. Mimmo Paladino who is one of my favorite artists
and who has made so many beautiful covers for my CDs including this one. Franco
Leidi, also a great artist that died last year. He was from Italy but lived
many years in Sweden working as an artist and teaching at Valand, Göteborg. A
new Italian friend and a great drummer is Carlo Bernardinelli.
Where is the Blues 4. On the album ”Worship of Self” I composed
some more abstract and free music but built on the blues form. This is the 4th
piece with this concept using the blues form as
the classical composers use the fugue or sonata form.
Gods who Shit is and old tune built on the African 12/8 groove. As
humans we are both animals and spiritual beings.
New Room. My new music room gives me inspiration to work and
compose. Hopefully I will find some new inner rooms.
Hilda is our grandchild. An angel that inspire us all with
her sweet smile.
1 There is A Butterfly In My Room
2 At-one-ment
3 Midsummer
4 Siljan Waltz
5 In Search of Lost Time
6 Simple Song Simple Life
7 One Hand Clapping
8 Fisherman
9 God..s Delays are not God..s Denials
10 A Rare Italian Bird
11Where is the Blues 4
12Gods who Shit
13New Room
14Hilda