Toots Thielemans at Winter Jazz: Photos

You know an artist is popular when he gets standing ovations by just entering the stage. That's what happend yesterday when Toots Thielemans arrived on stage in the second set of the Winter Jazz concert at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress.

The audience loved him and he loved them back. Of course he played the song that he is most known for in Sweden: Bluesette. He seemed to be in a good form although he is 86 years old. He first visited Sweden 50 years ago.

The whole set he was backed up by the Claes Crona trio with Claes Crona on piano, Petur Island Östlund on drums and Jörgen Smeby on bass. They are a fantastic jazz trio. I last saw them last spring at a concert at Katalin together with singer Vivian Buczek, who also sang with them this evening.



A large part of the Swedens very best jazz musicians played in the first set. What a treat! The MC was Uppsala's own Ulf Johansson Werre (piano and trombone).

My favorite part of the first set was the two songs featuring the singer Viktoria Tolstoy and trumpet player Peter Asplund. There was a good chemistry between them and I really liked their versions of Round Midnight and It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).



At the jazz concert there were also two guitarists: Andreas Öberg and Ulf Wakenius. Ulf Wakenius played over ten years with Oscar Peterson. A friend that I met at the concert said about Ulf: "It's not possible for a human to play the guitar that fast, but he does it anyway!".



In summary: It was a very good night. If you read Swedish, you can read what Upsala Nya Tidning, the local newspaper, wrote about the concert.

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Were you at the concert with Toots Thielemans? What did you think of it? Tell me.

Toots Thielemans at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress

What a concert there will be tomorrow at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress! The fantastic harmonica player Toots Thielemans is coming to town and he is backed up by the elite of Swedish jazz musicians.

The musicians are Ulf Johansson Werre, Claes Crona, Vivian Buczek, Jörgen Smeby, Petur Island Östlund, Viktoria Tolstoy, Ulf Wakenius, Peter Asplund and Andreas Öberg.

If you have the opportunity you should really attend the concert that starts at 17. The tickets cost 325 kr.

Here is a video clip of Toots Thielemans playing Bye Bye Blackbird.

The photo above is taken by Jos L. Knaepen.



What do you think of Toots Thielemans? Tell me.

Vivian Buczek and the Claes Crona Trio at Katalin: Photos

Yesterday singer Vivian Buczek and the Claes Crona Trio featuring Johan Hörlen (saxophone) played at a concert at Katalin and all that jazz. The concert was arranged by Uppsala Jazz Club.

The Claes Crona Trio consists of Claes Crona (piano), Jörgen Smeby (bass) och Petur ”Island” Östlund (drums).

Some examples of what they played: "To Close For Comfort", "Bluesette", the standard written by Toots Thielemans and Love For Sale (by Cole Porter). They also played a song with latin influences from Vivian Buczeks coming album "Straight from my heart".


The photos are taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Watch some other jazz photography by me.

Were you at the concert at Katalin? What do you think of Vivian Buczek and Claes Crona? Tell me.

Vivian Buczek with Claes Crona Trio at Katalin

Tomorrow Saturday there will be a concert at Katalin and all that jazz with singer Vivian Buczek and the Claes Crona Trio featuring Johan Hörlen (saxophone). The concert is arranged by Uppsala Jazz Club and starts at 14.

The Claes Crona Trio consists of Claes Crona (piano), Jörgen Smeby (bass) och Petur ”Island” Östlund (drums). Johan Hörlen (saxophone) will replace Hector Bingert, who was initially announced to be playing with the band.

The band will play jazz standards, swing, some songs with latin influences as well as some original compositions by Vivian Buczek and Claes Crona.

Vivian Buczek will soon release her second album: Straight from my heart in April but you can buy it at the consert if you like. The picture above is the cover for her cd. Cover design by Pär Wolfner and photograph by Åsa Kristensson.

Have you heard them before? What do you think? Tell me.