Jazz at the Pawnshop 30th Anniversary (Live) Arne Domnerus, Bengt Hallberg, Georg Riedel, Egil Johansen, Lars Erstrand

• 1 Limehouse Blues 10:12
• 2 I'm Confessin' 08:01
• 3 High Life 07:11
• 4 Jeep's Blues 06:57
• 5 Lady, be Good!: Oh, lady, be good! 09:15
• 6 Take Five 06:58
• 7 Everything Happens to Me 05:13
• 8 Barbados 08:13
• 9 Stuffy 07:06
• 10 The Wizard of Oz: Over the Rainbow 07:16
• 11 Now's the Time 09:21
• 12 Out of Nowhere 07:54
• 13 Take the A Train 09:33
• 14 Here's that Rainy Day 05:31
• 15 Struttin' with Some Barbeque 06:42
• 16 The Big Show: Poor Butterfly 03:55
• 17 Exactly Like You 06:04
• 18 Jeepers Creepers 05:07
• 19 How High the Moon 06:28
• 20 Things Ain't What They Used to Be 08:58
• 21 In a Mellow Tone 11:16
• 22 Gubben och Kallingen 07:25
• 23 Nancy (with the Laughing Face) 06:28
• 24 Struttin' with Some Barbeque 12:13
• 25 It Don't Mean a Thing 03:11
• 26 Mood Indigo 06:06
• 27 Jeep's Blues 14:16
• 28 High Life (take 2) 06:00
• Total Runtime 03:32:50

Info for Jazz at the Pawnshop 30th Anniversary (Live)

Die Crème der schwedischen Jazzmusiker fand sich an jenen zwei Dezembertagen 1976 im Stockholmer Jazzclub Stampen (= Pawnshop) ein: Arne Domnérus an Altsaxophon und Klarinette, Pianist Bengt Hallberg, Georg Riedel am Bass und Drummer Egil Johansen; dazu am Vibraphon Lars Erstrand. Was sie hier zelebrierten, war der ganz klassische Jazz – der Swing-Stil, wie ihn Benny Goodman in seinen kleinen Besetzungen gespielt hatte. Aufnahmetechnisch bekanntlich ein absolutes Meisterwerk – oder auch ein Wunder, wenn man bedenkt, daß Tonmeister Gert Palmcrantz seine kleine Nagra-Tonbandmaschine in dem überfüllten Club die ganze Zeit auf den Knien halten mußte! Die klassische Audiotrade-Ausgabe der Proprius-Aufnahme hält sich heute noch im Katalog und dürfte damit eine der langlebigsten audiophilen Tonträgerveröffentlichungen sein.

Arne Domnérus, Alt-Saxophon, Klarinette
Bengt Hallberg, Klavier
Lars Erstrand, Vibraphon
Georg Riedel, Kontrabass
Egil Johansen, Schlagzeug

Recorded on December 6-7, 1976 at The Pawnshop (Stampen) Jazz Club in Stockholm, Sweden
Recorded by Gert Palmcrantz
Produced by Jacob Boëthius

Digitally remastered from SACD

Arne Domnérus
looms large in the annals of European jazz — his breakthrough performance at the Paris Jazz Fair of 1949 is widely cited as the tipping point of the Scandinavian bop movement.

Born in Stockholm on December 20, 1924, Domnérus studied clarinet as a child and made his professional debut during the early '40s, playing alto sax in popular dance bands led by Lulle Ellboj and Simon Brehm.

By 1942 he led his own group and made his recorded debut in 1945, honing an urbane, sophisticated style that nevertheless possessed an urgency often absent from the cool, remote tone often associated with Swedish jazz. American icons Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were both in attendance for Domnérus 1949 Paris festival gig, a performance which served notice that players of European descent could offer their own authoritative interpretations of music largely considered an African-American phenomenon — Parker was so impressed that he signed Domnérus for the Scandinavian tour he mounted a year later.

Throughout the '50s Domnérus headlined the Stockholm jazz club Nalen, often appearing alongside trumpeter Rolf Ericson and baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin (who both turn up in the 1952 short film Arne Domnérus Spelar). Domnérus also joined Stockholm locals including pianist Bengt Hallberg for a landmark 1953 Swedish tour in support of American trumpeters Clifford Brown and Quincy Jones. From 1956 to 1965 Domnérus served as a member of Harry Arnold's Swedish Radio Big Band, continuing on with its successor Radiojazzgruppen through 1978 — concurrently he wrote for television and films, most notably scoring 1966's Nattlek, a film produced by Mai Zetterling and based on her own novel.

Domnérus' 1977 LP Jazz at the Pawnshop proved an unprecedented hit, selling more than half a million copies upon its original release — a year later, he returned with Duets for Duke, a collaboration with Hallberg that captures both men at the zenith of their artistry. While remaining true to his bop roots, Domnérus cited traditional Scandinavian folk music as a growing influence throughout the later chapters of his career, and from the '70s on he regularly performed live in churches, inspired by Duke Ellington's own sacred concerts. He also toured the U.S. and Japan, and recorded with American notables including Clark Terry, James Moody and Jimmy Rowles. After several years in poor health, Domnérus died in Stockholm on September 2, 2008 at the age of 83.

Booklet for Jazz at the Pawnshop 30th Anniversary (Live)