International relevance: ***
This third volume of Caprice Records' vinyl only "Öppet" series is a highly interesting outing with late 60s recordings by Roland Keijer's quartet. (Volume 1 is reviewed here with some background info on the series.) This is the seed that would soon grow into Arbete & Fritid, with Torsten Eckerman on trumpet and piano, Bosse Skoglund on drums, and fleshing out the line-up, the meritorious bassist Staffan Sjöholm. The four tracks were all recorded in Stockholm at different spots and dates in 1968 and 1969. The sound characteristics differ a bit between the tracks, but the quality is good to very good throughout.
Three of the tracks are long, from 10 to almost 20 minutes with only ”Sommarromans” being around the three minute mark. The recordings are a testament to Keijser's jazz origins and also reflect his love for both Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman, rich with a cheeky, melodic playfulness. Childlike melodies and phrases reccuringly lighten up the crosspollination of free jazz and post-bop. Here and there you can sense ideas and snippets of what would come with Arbete & Fritid, most obviously in ”The Big Bad Wolf Of Baba-Louie” which exists in an Arbete & Fritid recording on the V/A compilation ”Jazz från det svenska 70-talet”. The version here however sounds a bit tentative and meek in comparison.
The value of ”Öppet tre” doesn't rely on historical importance alone. It's a very good album in itself and a beautiful example of late 60s Swedish jazz when the genre was slowly opening up to a plethora of influences and the rich structures of the 70s in which Roland Keijser had a crucial role. It may not knock me over like the previous Nisse Sandström volume does, but it's nevertheless a mandatory installment in this series. I only wish someone will step forward and release more early Keijser material.
