Åke Johansson (musician)

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Åke Johansson (born January 30, 1937 in Borås ; † March 19, 2011 ibid) was a Swedish jazz pianist .

Life

Åke Johansson was blind from birth and from 1944 attended a school for the visually impaired in Stockholm ; in his early teens he was an organist . Under the impression of a Louis Armstrong concert in 1949, he came into contact with jazz. His stylistic role model was Earl Hines , until bebop musicians like Charlie Parker , Bud Powell , then Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz became his main influences. In the early 1950s he appeared in the Stockholm club scene and also played in Dixieland bands and amusement parks; In 1956 he returned to his native Borås, where he worked as a piano tuner and musician; he also played in the Anders Söderling Trio. In the 1960s and 1970s he accompanied guest musicians such as Archie Shepp , Dexter Gordon , Chet Baker , James Moody , Toots Thielemans , Art Farmer , Doc Cheatham , Rolf Ericson , Cecil Payne , Leo Wright and Lucky Thompson ; in the 1970s he toured with Lars Gullin .

In 1974 his debut album Monday Date was created ; he recorded a number of albums in the 1980s and 1990s, including one with Chet Baker and Toots Thielemans. He also took part in the recordings of the Contemporary Bebop Quintet with Bosse Broberg and Stefan Isakson, Kjell Jansson, Anders Lindskog, Opposite Corner, Sune Spångberg and Ulf Wakenius .

Prizes and awards

Johansson was u. a. Awarded the Gyllene Skivan in 1988 (for his Encore album ) and the Jazzkatten in 1997 .

Discographic notes

  • Monday Date (1974)
  • Åke Johansson Trio with Chet Baker & Toots Thielemans ( Dragon , 1985) with Kjell Jansson and Rune Carlsson
  • Encore (1989)
  • Cry Me a River (1995)
  • The Spinning Top (1997)
  • Back from Where We Came (1998)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Obituary at gp.se
  2. ↑ Information at Culturum.se ( Memento of October 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Discographic information based on the Bielefeld Jazz Catalog 1985, 1988, 2001 and Cook & Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz , 1993, 2001, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Johansson, Åke
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish jazz pianist
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Borås
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 2011
Place of death Borås