Over het album

A re-connection with a musical icon or tradition - it is often the way something new, maybe even game-changing emerges. That was the idea in curator/ producer’s Siggi Loch’s mind when he suggested to Magnus Lindgren that he might look at re-tracing the footsteps of Herbie Mann. “Stockholm Underground” is a homage to the one of the greats of the jazz flute, and to his legendary 1969 album “Memphis Underground”, listed by Rolling Stone in 2013 in the “100 Best Jazz Albums” of all time.

The laid-back “sweet soul music” of Herbie Mann (1930 - 2003), has been brought into the present day. Mann’s rhythm n’ blues-imbued jazz was also underscored with latin, inspired by Mann’s trips to Brazil. And the fact that this tribute has come from Stockholm is no accident: alongside Paris and Copenhagen, the city was a place of refuge for American jazz and blues musicians in the 60s. Their presence continues to influence Swedish jazz, not least the players in the rhythm section on “Stockholm Underground”. With Henrik Janson on guitar, Lars Larry Danielsson on electric bass and Per Lindvall on drums, the original rhythm section of Nils Landgren’s Funk Unit – which became well known in Scandinavia and beyond – has been re-assembled. Already in the mid-90s, these musicians had proved that it is not only American musicians who can give authentic groove and soul – Europeans can do it, and also develop it further. They are joined on keyboards by Daniel Karlsson whose melodic and harmonic command are masterful. This is a Swedish version of the legendary “Memphis Boys”, the studio band at American Sound Studio. Through their presence on hits by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick, Wilson Pickett – and indeed on Mann’s “ Memphis Underground” – they played their way into music history.

The key figure in this project is evidently Magnus Lindgren, a stalwart of the Stockholm jazz scene and probably the best jazz flautist in Europe. Whether emulating the soft melodic lines, the breathy tone, or indeed other Herbie Mann hallmarks such as singing-whileplaying and multiphonics, Lindgren is a complete shoo-in. “Stockholm Underground” is not just a doff of the cap to one of the most successful jazz musicians of the 70’s. This tribute to Herbie Mann is always on the money. Mann’s variety of Memphis soul-jazz lives on in this new contemporary take – refreshed with Swedish cool.