LEE SCHIPPER – Phunky Physicist (CAM, 1975)

Instrumental
International relevance: **

Now here are some peculiar turn of events! Lee Schipper was an American physicist specializing in energy efficency research and considered something of a pioneer on climate issues. He was also a vibraphonist and recorded an album in 1973 with Swedish musicians Stefan Brolund, Ola Brunkert, Christer Eklund, and thick-as-thieves couple Schaffer & J:son, plus Americans Art Lande on piano and Ted Curson on trumpet, and produced by Swedish big band leader Lasse Samuelsson. The album, appropriately entitled ”Phunky Physicist” was originally only released on Italian library music label CAM in 1975 before eventually getting a Swedish reissue on Four Leaf Clover two years later with new title ”Jazz Meeting 1”. Later yet it appeared as a digital release expanded with two bonus tracks, one with the eyebrow raising title ”LSD Takes A Holiday”.

I'm not a fan of the vibraphone; it's too close in sound to steel pans and there's something about it that makes me restless. A personal thing for sure, but even without the vibraphone, the album isn't too thrilling. It's all very competent but also very dutiful, going through the motions without much excitement. It leans towards fusion jazz but without becoming a fully fledged fusion album of the most formulaic kind. The track ”Still Life” moves in a silent way (if you get the drift) and is one of the best ones on the album. Apart from that, it's Jan Schaffer who gets to shine the most here, going crazy in opening number ”Phunky Physicist” and ”Harvest Machine” (also found on Schaffer's debut LP in a tamer version). ”LSD Takes A Holiday” is unfortunately not as strange as the title might lead you to believe.

So the album has some OK moments, but the somewhat odd story behind it is much more interesting than the album itself.

Full album playlist with bonus tracks

JOHNNY 'MBIZO' DYANI – Witchdoctor's Son 'Together' (Cadillac, 1987; rec. 1979-80)

Instrumental, other languages
International relevance: *

Not to be confused with the ”Witchdoctor's Son” album from 1978, this album was recorded in Stockholm winter 1979/80 with Kenny Håkansson, Bosse Skoglund, Hassan Bah (of Kebnekajse) and Dudu Pukwana. It wears Johnny Dyani's South African heritage proudly, and despite Dyani being best known as a jazz pianist and bassist, there's very little actual jazz here. It's much closer to Soweto's township music. A huge exception is the track ”Kalahari” clocking in at almost nine minutes with Kenny Håkansson really letting it loose, firing off psychedelic fireworks almost as if it was Baby Grandmothers all over again. It comes a real surprise as there's nothing else on the album even close to that. The rest of the album isn't too interesting from a progg perspective, but that track alone is worth the price of admission.

Together
Johnny's Kwela
Marabi Soweto
High Priest
Kalahari
Crossroads
Tula Tula

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Ljud från Friberga (Bröderna Surf, 1978)

Chilly Chimes / Fifth Avenue / Overdoze / High Voltage / Santa Luzia / Superstition 
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *

A case of 'progg by association', as the main motive for including ”Ljud från Friberga” is that it has two exclusive tracks by Chilly Chimes that eventually developed into Mörbyligan. Two bad tracks at that, sounding like revved-up singalong second rate rhythm & blues. Santa Luzia has vague progg credentials too sounding like an electrified youth recreation center version of Röda Bönor. The album's often classified as punk, and while some of the six bands on this short disc have a punky edge, some of them sound more like garage rock bands lost in time. One of those is also the best of the lot, Fifth Avenue which comes off as a lingonberry version of British band The Cannibals.

The album was released in two versions, the first (in 400 copies) had a yellow background and brown picture, the second edition had a brown background with a yellow picture. The first edition seems rarer but the second edition is rather scarce too these days, but the album's not really worth looking for.

Full album

PETER NORDSTRÖM – Ensam och fri (Bastun, 1980)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Little known rock singer/songwriter that worked hard on his Ulf Lundell look on the album cover but sounding more like a lesser version of Swedish country/soft rock singer Lalla Hansson.

Peter Nordström debuted in 1978 with one-off single ”Det kommer nya tider”/”Salongsbolsjeviken” featuring Björn J:son Lindh on piano. He appears on the ”Ensam och fri” album too, plus Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård, Berndt Egerbladh and a number of seasoned studio musicians such as Jan Bandel, Ola Brunkert and Peter Lundblad.

The album is insignificant and Nordström's lyrics are full of ”lonely man drifting restless through the world” clichés that are quite irritating as he doesn't sound at all like somebody with a romantic hobo lifestyle. Rather like a perfectly ordinary bloke who sends his kids to school in the morning and walks the family dog named Fluffy when he comes home from his boring work at the local insurance agency xeroxing papers no-one really needs.

The best track is ”Det här är mitt liv” but that's a Swedish cover of Danish band Gasolin's hit ”This Is My Life” from a few years earlier. In short, this is a redundant album and the only one Nordström made.

Full album

SALIH BAYSAL – The Myth (Sonet, 1978)

Instrumental, other languages
International relevance: **

Imagine a Sevda album where the spotlight is almost exclusively on their deft violin player Salih Baysal and you'd get ”The Myth”. It's a solo album of his to all intents and purposes, but with Maffy Falay and Okay Temiz appearing on various drums and percussion, it's still something of a lost Sevda album, or at least a Sevda stripped to the basics. Especially the second side where Temiz really have a go at it on the drums.

But the focus is really on Baysal's violin and, on several tracks, his throaty, experienced voice. The material is all Turkish folk tunes, collected and arranged by Falay. If you enjoy the Turkish melodics, you'll probably love both sides of the disc equally. If not, the B side is still worthy of many spins as it's always such a rousing pleasure hearing the multifaceted rhythms of Okay Temiz. A little gem from the outskirts of progg!

Full album

MATS GLENNGÅRD – Violin Race (Bastun, 1980)

Instrumental, English vocals
IRG: **

The expression ”don't be fooled by the name” has rarely been as appliable as here. If you expect anything close to Kebnekajse violinist Mats Glenngård's first solo album, the lovely ”Kosterläge” from 1972, then you'll be sorely disappointed. This is closer to Kebnekajse's last album ”Vi drar vidare” which had Glenngård at the helm as Kenny Håkansson had left the group by then. ”Vi drar vidare” is an insult to the band's once glorious name, with limp fusion jazz, and that goes for ”Violin Race” as well. This is an equally bloody awful piece of shit, with fretless basses (and ”funky” slap bass), appalling keyboards and even electronic disco handclaps, featuring members of EGBA, Häxmjölk, Wasa Express and Hörselmat. It's almost scary thinking that this is what an ex-member of one of the greatest Swedish progg bands really had in him.

I hate this album so very much.

Full album playlist

MODERN SOUND QUINTET – OTINKU (Odeon, 1971)

Instrumental
International relevance: **

A real oddity, this. The music itself is rather straight ahead jazz funk but what sets it apart from other jazz funk albums is that the main instrument is steel pans! Pannist Rudy Smith left Trinidad for Sweden in the late 1960's and played with plenty of Swedish musicians including Bernt Rosengren, Ingemar Olsson and Ewert Ljusberg. His Modern Sound outfit went through several changes, from quartet to quintet before becoming Modern Sound Corporation in the late 70's. While steel pans produce a sound that's extremely annoying to me, Smith uses them more like a piano making them fit surprisingly well into the music. The pans work particularly well on the African flavoured title track, Joe Zawinul penned ”Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, the modal ”Ursia” and their take on Herbie Mann's ”Memphis Underground”.

Internationally sounding as it is, the album had an international becoming as well. Recorded with musicians from Finland, Ghana, Triniad, Barbados and Surinam, it was recorded in Stockholm and produced by arranger, trumpeter etc Lasse Samulesson and released only in Finland! It will never be a favourite album of mine, but I must admit it's much better than I ever expected it to be, with some rather appealing moments.

A revamped band released one further album in 1978 (as Modern Sound Corporation) through the Swedish branch of low budget label K-Tel.

Full album playlist