Danish flautist-saxophonist Christina von Bülow has teamed up with Swedish singer Claes Janson to record the album “Det regnar i min stad” which also features singer Emily McEwan. A jazz record performed almost entirely in Swedish, released on February 17.
When you say the word jazz, you inevitably think of the United States, of the birth of this musical genre in New Orleans at the end of the 19th century. Either instrumental or sung, and therefore spontaneously in English. But the establishment of this music on the whole of the European continent also offered other linguistic sonorities and in particular Swedish, language of the last album of the Danish musician Christina von Bülow, Det regnar i min stadreleased on February 17.
Jazz in Swedish, why not?
Flutist-saxophonist Christina von Bülow has a career spanning more than 30 years, and the legendary Stan Getz is often cited among her influences. But to truly understand Christina’s playing and inspiration, you have to listen to Swedish trumpeter Jan Allan (b. 1934), whom she invited to play on her debut album in 1994. His timbre captivated and inspired her. , she wrote, among other things, the piece Vise in February for him. This song, the Finnish-Swedish poet Åke Grandell heard it, and, inspired in turn, he found words for it. He then sent them to Christina, along with other poems and a proposal to set them to music. A few decades later, Vise in February was renamed to I februari, and became one of the 14 songs on the album Det regnar i min stad.
This disc is thus the culmination of work over several decades and a testimony to the link which unites the Danish Christina von Bülow to this Swedish culture which fascinates and inspires her so much. For this she surrounded herself with the Swedish singer Claes Janson but also with the Swedish-Scottish singer Emily McEwan.
Texts by the poet Åke Grandell
Except for the title Summer Wishes in English, all texts are in Swedish. Lyricist Åke Grandell, who died in 2015, was committed to maintaining Finnish-Swedish culture through his work and activities, notably as a radio host. He was also a prolific writer. Four collections of his poems were published, and after his death hundreds of typewritten pages were recovered by his family in Grankulla (or Kauniainen in Finnish). Christina von Bülow went there and Grandell’s daughter allowed her to consult her father’s unpublished texts.
The title track of the album Det regnar i min stad means “it’s raining in my city” and transcribes well this melancholy of the poems of Åke Grandell who wrote about love, sorrow, nostalgia, mourning and the ephemeral nature of our existences as well as about nature. For Christina, these themes needed to be performed by a man old enough to resonate with listeners. She immediately thought of Claes Janson, born in 1947, a popular institution in Swedish music for over 50 years as a jazz and blues singer with a warm, deep voice.
Jazz, blues and traditional music
The overall color of the album is essentially jazz-swing and closes with Bra sa on a typical piano cocktail with a nocturnal club atmosphere, brushes on drums, felted guitar and soft and ethereal flute. But the atmosphere can turn downright blues, for example on a piece like Förbon.
This is Christina von Bülow’s first project with sung text. The lyrics and mood of the poems showed him the way, and his melodies and arrangements reflect his deep respect and knowledge of traditional Swedish song – from Bellman to Georg Riedel, Cornelis Vreeswijk and Jan Johansson, among others.
We find for example När den egnaste dör which almost ventures onto a pop ballad field, And Summarsorg who sounds more like a traditional nursery rhyme. This wide musical palette accompanies these Swedish texts and thus testifies to a broader European culture.
A way of reconsidering jazz beyond the classical borders that we know of. And to discover a lesser known language and its new sounds. Jazz in Swedish? Yes without hesitation, with this superb album which already promises to be timeless.
Claes Janson & Christina von Bülow – “Det regnar i min stad” – released February 17 (Stunt Records / UVM Distribution)
Christina von Bülow official website
Claes Janson’s Facebook Page