The Lars Gullin Website

"The first musician after Django Reinhardt to have an impact in the USA without relocating there, Gullin has never been duplicated or surpassed. His facility and relaxation, especially in the 1950s, were able to make the baritone feel like a delicately handled tenor. But his tone (thanks to the Tristano influence detectable in many Swedish and German musicians of this period) was so light and pure that it recalled not so much a tenor as altoist Lee Konitz.
  Konitz in turn was an admirer of Gullin, and participated in a posthumous album of Gullin tunes, under the title of one of them, Dedicated to Lee (1984, Dragon). Local commentators detect the inspiration not only of folk-music but the 19th-century Swedish composers in Gullin´s distinctive writing."
  BRIAN PRIESTLEY in "JAZZ, the Essential Companion"
  (Paladin, London 1987)

Chet Baker listened. He knew Mulligan's playing better than anyone else when he encountered Lars Gullin during their European tour in the autumn of 1955 – a tour that ended tragically with the Dick Twardzik O.D. in Paris - and again during a string of gigs in Italy in 1959. Admitting that his memories from that era were a bit foggy, Chet was very clear on his opinion of Lars when I talked to him in Stockholm some years ago:

"The only baritone player that I was aware of was Gerry Mulligan. When I heard Lars, I thought, Jesus, there is another way of playing the baritone!
Lars played with a lot more fire and a lot more authority in some ways than Gerry did." [The full interview]

The Lars Gullin Society is dedicated to Gullin's music. We help to keep it alive by arranging concerts, publishing sheet music, supporting research - and publishing discographies. In this version of my discography, limited to CD issues, you'll find much of the music that Lars Gullin created between 1950 and 1976 - with additional highlights by Clifford Brown, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Stan Getz and Lee Konitz.

Our research goes on to find air-checks and concert recordings. We have a lot, but we do welcome any information you might have! Tapes, memories, concert reviews from Britain, France, Germany and Italy. Especially from the Italian period, when Lars (and Chet) played with the bands of Gianno Basso, Gil Cuppini and Oscar Valdambrini.

Why not join the Society? You'll get a newsletter in Swedish, cassettes with rare recordings, as well as invitations to concerts - in Sweden. We treat fellow musicians (like Lee Konitz) with honorary memberships. We also award the Lars Gullin Prize to musicians who carry on Lars's musical spirit.

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