Lars Gullin

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Lars Gullin Biography #2– The first recordings

There are numerous 78 sides by the Seymour Österwall Band, but only two with saxophone solos by Lars Gullin. Only one, with his arrangement of Vilhelmina from 1950, is available on CD. In addition, there exists a broadcast with the Thore Ehrling Big Band featuring Lars in I Surrender Dear, Godchild and, together with Alice Babs, in En liten bebopknopp, a whimsical novelty by Povel Ramel.

But his first effort with the baritone on record was made earlier that year with Zoot Sims. Lars arranged a tune he had written together with bass player Gunnar Almstedt, called Yellow Duck. The tune's title is of course a pun on the nicknames of the two composers; Gunnar Almstedt was called "Ankan", the Duck, and Gullin "Gulan". In Swedish, "gul" means yellow.

"I remember the studio, small but modern. Lars was a very nice person and we got along well. I understand this was his first solo on record. I just heard again after all these years and it was a nice surprise, after all it was more than thirty ago! I don't sound too old-fashioned and the arrangement is very good. I guess Lars wrote it. I couldn't write arrangements then and I still can't", Zoot told me later.

Lars himself remembered: "I had started to play the baritone in September 1949 and only six months later I stood in the studio with Zoot Sims, I was fresh on the instrument. My sound was raw because my mouth was dry from nervousness. But I did it my way and people told me it was OK".

Rolf Ericson came back to Sweden in the fall of 1950 after three years in the US, where he had worked in the bands of Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Charlie Ventura, Benny Carter and others. He even subbed for Red Rodney during a week in Charlie Parker's quintet in the New York club Three Deuces before returning to Sweden. Now he formed a quintet with Lars, touring the Swedish countryside from December 1950 to the spring of 1951. The rhythm section consisted of Mats Olsson, piano, Bengt Wittström, bass, and the drummer Nils-Bertil Dahlander, who soon would be another Swede making himself a reputation in the US backing Earl Hines and Terry Gibbs.

At "Nalen", the Stockholm dance palace "National", all the musicians would meet between gigs and during jam sessions, and now plans were drawn up to form a permanent house band. Rolf Ericson and alto saxophonist Arne Domnérus, known from the Thore Ehrling Band and from his own first records as well as the James Moody sessions, were to lead the band together. Drummer Jack Norén was a natural choice. He had moved to Stockholm in 1946 from Chicago, where he was born 1929 by Swedish parents or at least a Swedish father), and introduced a much needed bop flavoured approach to rhythm. Yngve Åkerberg on the bass, pianist Gunnar Svensson and tenor player Rolf Blomquist, both from the Seymour Österwall Band, completetd the line-up.

The orchestra became the leading dance/jazz band of the 1950s and developed into an institution that with few staff changes survived into the 1970s. The idea of dual leadership was soon abandoned due to a clash of personal life-styles and ambitions. You could say that Arne played for a living while Rolf, Lars and Jack lived for playing. That said with due respect for the ever-present qualities of Domnérus' playing! A permanent band also requires a certain amount of discipline, and Jack and Lars were certainly not your ideal kind of partners in a seven man enterprise. Rolf had a more professional attitude towards work but felt hampered as an artist by the trite dance repertoire and sometimes acted like a true diva.

There are stories ... like when the almost blind pianoplayer Reinhold Svensson had to guide him, with his black "hip" American sunglasses and a heavy US accent to his almost forgotten native language, through Stockholm city. Or when he invited all the musicians to a farewell party in the BRA studios, before going back to the US. And ruined the party by asking everybody to contribute to his ticket ...

The band recorded frequently, depending on the label under the leadership of Rolf or Arne. It is fairly well documented on two Dragon CDs.

Lars on his own