Gunnar Almstedt
Gunnar "Ankan" Almstedt (* 23. September 1926 , † 5. November 2002 ) was a Swedish jazz - bassist .
Gunnar Almstedt grew up in the swing era and became a professional musician in 1946, initially as a freelance. In 1950 he became a member of the band of pianist Charles Norman , in which he participated in 1951 on recordings with Roy Eldridge . He also played in the Swedish jazz scene a. a. with Reinhold Swensson (“ Dinah ”), Rolf Ericsson , Arne Domnérus and Lars Gullin , with whom he wrote the title “Yellow Duck”, and in 1951 with James Moody, who worked in Sweden . In 1953 he had an appearance as a bass player in the film Kungen av Dalarna .
In 1953 Almstedt belonged to a quintet called Swinging Swedes , from which a quartet eventually developed, which he led with clarinetist Ove Lind ; the band belonged u. a. Rune Öfwerman , Arnold Johanssson , Bjarne Nerem , Bengt Hallberg and Sture Kallin . In 1958 the quartet was expanded to a sextet, which also included trumpeter Jan Allan . They played exclusively in Sweden and made only a few recordings; these appeared under the title Swingin 'the Blues on Dragon Records . Almstedt also worked with Alice Babs and Monica Zetterlund during this time .
At the beginning of the 1960s, Almstedt only played with the band on the side; he worked full-time as an animal dealer and later wrote a book on animal breeding . In his later years Gunnar Almstedt moved to Spain, where he played bass again and hosted a jazz radio show.
literature
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .
Web links
- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
- Gunnar Almstedt at Discogs (English)
Remarks
- ↑ Swedish for 'duck'.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Almstedt, Gunnar |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Almstedt, Ankan (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish jazz bassist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 23, 1926 |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 5, 2002 |