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Lennart Gruvstedt
Helge Albin: Homemade

by Fran Kursztejn
If the word fussy" occasionally rears its head when relating the Helge Albin Quintet's newest release, it is not meant as a slight. Albin--an undeniable staple of the Swedish and wider North European jazz scene--is nothing if not insatiable. Before the quintet's founding, he led the impressive Tolvan Big Band, certainly Sweden's most ambitious musical project in recent memory, an 18-man ensemble almost entirely devoted to Albin's compositions. His record as a sideman is no less storied, working closely with ...
Continue ReadingTolvan Big Band: Interacting

by Jack Bowers
There's an ample supply of engaging music on Interacting, the fourteenth recording by Sweden's splendid Tolvan Big Band, all of it written and arranged by director and lead alto saxophonist Helge Albin. A shame there isn't more than thirty-two minutes worth. Be that as it may, the music itself is by and large buoyant and swinging, with seamless interplay among the various sections and sharp solos by Albin ("Dancing Shoes," Lightsome") and his colleagues. Trombonist Peter Dahlgren ...
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