Kind of Jazz III – Into the Night

It was a successful encounter. When this trio first united in 2020 for a performance at the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival during the pandemic, Sveriges Radio was on site and recorded the concert – which was then released as a live album entitled Into the Night.  

Each of these three musicians contributes their own original songs composed for this trio. “The French saxophonist Émile Parisien is like a contemporary Sidney Bechet,” says Jan Lundgren. Lars Danielsson has had a 40-year-long career, with countless collaborations and genre-crossing projects and albums – and he has also worked with Jan Lundgren on numerous occasions. 

Together, all three share a desire to expand jazz expression, which makes them excellent representatives of the kind of development that has characterised European jazz for at least a few decades: boundaries are broken, and a variety of stylistic influences – including classical and folk music – are tested and transformed into a European jazz dialect. This is evident on albums by both Émile Parisien and Lars Danielsson. And in the case of Jan Lundgren, this is evident for example in the Mare Nostrum series with accordion player Richard Galliano and trumpet player Paolo Fresu.

In recent years, Jan Lundgren has given numerous concerts under the collective name Kind of Jazz, featuring collaborations with guest artists and ensembles. Jan Lundgren is among our foremost musicians. Through around 50 albums and numerous projects and collaborations, he has demonstrated his ability to embrace tradition while undergoing continuous renewal.