Jan Johansson (16 September 1931 – 9 November 1968) was a Swedish jazz pianist. His album Jazz på svenska (Jazz in Swedish) is the best selling jazz release ever in Sweden; it has sold over a quarter of a million copies and has been streamed more than 50 million times on Spotify. He was the father of former HammerFall drummer Anders Johansson and Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson, who run Heptagon Records which keeps their father's recordings available.
Johansson was a native of Söderhamn, in the Hälsingland province of Sweden. Studying classical piano as a child, he would also go on to master the guitar, organ and accordion, before turning on to swing and bebop as a teenager. He met saxophonist Stan Getz while at university. He abandoned his studies to play jazz full-time, and worked with many American jazz musicians, becoming the first European to be invited to join the Jazz at the Philharmonic package.
The years 1961 to 1968, produced a string of classic albums, which would help define his style of re-imagining traditional European folk tunes via jazz and the avant garde. These included Jazz på svenska (Jazz in Swedish) and Jazz på ryska (Jazz in Russian) which are both available in an expanded form on CD. Jazz på ungerska (Jazz in Hungarian) together with Danish Jazz violinistSvend Asmussen is the third album in that series. Jazz på svenska comprises variations on sixteen Swedish folk songs with Georg Riedel playing double bass. During this period, Johansson also made several recordings with Radiojazzgruppen.
The Grammy award winning albums Musik genom fyra sekler (Music from the past four centuries) builds on traditional Swedish melodies, but this time uses larger groups of musicians. There were also 300.000 and two trio sets, 8 Bitar and Innertrio, which have been reissued as a single CD.
With his career including film & TV music, Johansson is also best known as the composer of "Here Comes Pippi Longstocking" ("Här kommer Pippi Långstrump"), the theme song of the famous SwedishTV series, Pippi Longstocking. With lyrics by character/series creator Astrid Lindgren and sung by the series' young star Inger Nilsson, it would also be one of Johansson's last works.[1]
In November 1968, Johansson died in a car crash on his way to a concert in a church in Jönköping, Sweden.
American hip hop group Non Phixion sampled "Bandura" for their song "Skum". The Swedish band Opeth has claimed him as an influence on the title track for their album Heritage.
With Claes Rosendahl (clarinet, flute), Sven Berger (flute, oboe, bassoon), Rune Gustafsson (guitar), Georg Riedel, Arne Wilhelmsson and Sture Akerberg (bass)[2]
^Lindsay, Bruce (20 September 2011). "Jan Johansson with Georg Riedel: in Hamburg". All About Jazz. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
^"Jan Johansson". Discography. Discogs.com. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jan Johansson (musician).
External linksedit
Official website
AllMusic guide entry
Official YouTube channel
October 31, 2023
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Jan Johansson 16 September 1931 9 November 1968 was a Swedish jazz pianist His album Jazz pa svenska Jazz in Swedish is the best selling jazz release ever in Sweden it has sold over a quarter of a million copies and has been streamed more than 50 million times on Spotify He was the father of former HammerFall drummer Anders Johansson and Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson who run Heptagon Records which keeps their father s recordings available Jan JohanssonJohansson in 1965Background informationBorn 1931 09 16 16 September 1931Soderhamn Halsingland SwedenDied9 November 1968 1968 11 09 aged 37 Sollentuna SwedenGenresJazzOccupation s MusicianInstrument s PianoYears active1948 68LabelsRosa Honung DotWebsitewww wbr janjohansson wbr org Contents 1 Biography 2 Influence 3 Discography 3 1 As leader 3 2 Collaborations 4 References 5 External linksBiography editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Jan Johansson jazz musician news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Johansson was a native of Soderhamn in the Halsingland province of Sweden Studying classical piano as a child he would also go on to master the guitar organ and accordion before turning on to swing and bebop as a teenager He met saxophonist Stan Getz while at university He abandoned his studies to play jazz full time and worked with many American jazz musicians becoming the first European to be invited to join the Jazz at the Philharmonic package The years 1961 to 1968 produced a string of classic albums which would help define his style of re imagining traditional European folk tunes via jazz and the avant garde These included Jazz pa svenska Jazz in Swedish and Jazz pa ryska Jazz in Russian which are both available in an expanded form on CD Jazz pa ungerska Jazz in Hungarian together with Danish Jazz violinist Svend Asmussen is the third album in that series Jazz pa svenska comprises variations on sixteen Swedish folk songs with Georg Riedel playing double bass During this period Johansson also made several recordings with Radiojazzgruppen The Grammy award winning albums Musik genom fyra sekler Music from the past four centuries builds on traditional Swedish melodies but this time uses larger groups of musicians There were also 300 000 and two trio sets 8 Bitar and Innertrio which have been reissued as a single CD With his career including film amp TV music Johansson is also best known as the composer of Here Comes Pippi Longstocking Har kommer Pippi Langstrump the theme song of the famous Swedish TV series Pippi Longstocking With lyrics by character series creator Astrid Lindgren and sung by the series young star Inger Nilsson it would also be one of Johansson s last works 1 In November 1968 Johansson died in a car crash on his way to a concert in a church in Jonkoping Sweden Influence editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Jan Johansson jazz musician news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message American hip hop group Non Phixion sampled Bandura for their song Skum The Swedish band Opeth has claimed him as an influence on the title track for their album Heritage Discography editAs leader edit Year recorded Title Label Notes1959 60 Younger Than Springtime Artist With Arne Domnerus alto sax Dan Jordan Georg Riedel and Sture Nordin bass separately Egil Johansen and William Schiopffe drums separately 1961 8 bitar Johansson Megafon Trio with Gunnar Johnson bass Ingvar Callmer drums 1962 Innertrio Megafon Trio with Georg Riedel bass Egil Johansen drums 1963 Rorelser Megafon with Georg Riedel1962 64 Jazz pa svenska Megafon Duo with Georg Riedel bass 1964 In pleno Megafon With Rune Gustafsson guitar Georg Riedel bass Egil Johansen drums Rupert Clemendore percussion 1964 Sweden Nonstop DOT1964 Svenska folklatar Ais Megarock1966 Dansa med TV AB Megafon1966 Live in Tallinn Heptagon Trio with Rune Gustafsson guitar Georg Riedel bass in concert 2 1964 66 Spelar musik pa sitt eget vis Megafon With Andreas Skjold trombone Arne Domnerus alto sax clarinet Claes Rosendahl clarinet Bjarne Nerem tenor sax Rune Gustafsson guitar Georg Riedel Sture Nordin and Sture Akerberg bass Egil Johansen and Rupert Clemendore drums 2 1966 Barnkammarmusik Megafon with Bengt Arne Wallin1967 Jazz pa ryska Megafon With Georg Riedel bass Egil Johansen drums Arne Domnerus clarinet Bosse Broberg trumpet Lennart Aberg tenor sax 1964 68 In Hamburg ACT Some tracks duo with Georg Riedel some tracks with big band 3 1967 68 300 000 Megafon With Lennart Aberg tenor sax Georg Riedel bass Egil Johansen and Rupert Clemendore drums Gote Nilsson electronics in concert 2 1967 68 Den korta fristen Heptagon With big band 2 1968 Musik genom fyra sekler Megafon With Claes Rosendahl clarinet flute Sven Berger flute oboe bassoon Rune Gustafsson guitar Georg Riedel Arne Wilhelmsson and Sture Akerberg bass 2 Pa skiva med Jan Johansson MegafonIntervju med ett piano Rosa HonungBlues HeptagonPiano HeptagonCollaborations edit With Svend Asmussen1968 Spelar jazz pa ungerska Megafon Records With Radiojazzgruppen1969 Vardkasar Sveriges Radio 1970 Frostrosor Sveriges Radio with Georg Riedel 1991 Den korta fristen Megafon Records With Alice Babs2007 Illusion Vax Records with Georg Riedels OrkesterWith Stan GetzImported from Europe Verve 1958 Stan Getz at Large Verve 1960 2011 Stan Getz At Nalen Live In The Swedish Harlem Riverside Records 4 With Oscar Pettiford My Little Cello Debut 1960 References edit nbsp Sweden portal nbsp Jazz portal nbsp Music portal Pippi Langstrump IMDB com Retrieved 19 December 2009 a b c d e Cook Richard Morton Brian 2008 The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 9th ed Penguin pp 781 782 ISBN 978 0 141 03401 0 Lindsay Bruce 20 September 2011 Jan Johansson with Georg Riedel in Hamburg All About Jazz Retrieved 15 January 2019 Jan Johansson Discography Discogs com Retrieved 7 November 2014 nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jan Johansson musician External links editOfficial website nbsp A very useful guide to buying Johansson issues and reissues on CD AllMusic guide entry Official YouTube channel Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jan Johansson jazz musician amp oldid 1124119126, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
