Phontrattarne at Norrlands nation: Valborg tradition

Yesterday was Valborg in Uppsala, also known as Walpurgis night. At Valborg we celebrate the arrival of the spring and I would estimate that at least 80000 people are out on the streets celebrating.

Uppsala has a lot of traditions this day: breakfast pick nick by the river, raft racing in the river, lunch pick nick in some park, a great ball at the castle and many many more traditions. If you try to do everything I guarantee that you will be exhausted.

One of my favorite traditions that I hardly ever miss is the outdoor concert by Phontrattarne in front of Norrlands nation just after 3 pm. Great energy, good music and dancing in the street. What more could you ask for?



If you want to see more of Phontrattarne (of course you want), you should see their Grand Show at Reginateatern between 10th and 17th of May.

The photos are taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want licence the photos.

Did you see Phontrattarnes concert yesterday? What did you think about it? Tell me.

Uppsala Konsert & Kongress presentation

Yesterday I attended a presentation of the new consert and congress hall in Uppsala: Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, also known as Musikens hus (House of Music). The meeting was arranged by Musikens Hus vänner (Friends of House of Music).



The building of a new concert and congress hall has been debated a long time but now the building is soon completed. In a couple of months time they are ready to move in and it will be inaugurated September 1st.



Magnus Bäckström (CEO), Cecilia Jordan (Congress project manager) and Göran Persson (CMO) presented what is happening right now and what will happen once the building is inaugurated.

All people from Uppsala Konsert & Kongress radiated with enthusiasm and passion for the house and they seemed to have a great time working together. This will become a great creative meeting spot in Uppsala. Although there are some concerns,

I would dare to say that this is the best thing that has happened in Uppsala in over a decade. I'm excited and can't wait till it's finished.

As part of the evening Musikens hus vänner awarded two young musicians with a scolarship. One of them was trumpeter Henrik Grim (also seen at Youth Jazz Contest as a member of the Silver Sextett). Henrik Grim played a classical piece and then the jazz standard Autumn Leaves.

The scholarships was handed over by the chairman of Musikens hus vänner: Ola Carlsson. Unfortunately I didn't catch the name of the flute player that also got awarded, please tell me her name.




The photos are taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

What do you think of Uppsala Konsert & Kongress? Tell me.

Crescent City Jazz concert

Crescent City Jazz is a trad jazz band from Uppsala and they had a concert yesterday at Stabbygården.

They played, among other songs: When You're Smiling, Royal Garden Blues, Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone and Jelly Roll Blues. They also played some of Gunnar Ekbohms own compositions.

Crescent City Jazz consists of: Gunnar Ekbohm (clarinet), Arne Andersson (cornett), P-O Östergren (trombone), Göran Carenbäck (tuba) and Jörgen Berlin (banjo).

About the name of the band: Crescent City is another name for New Orleans where much of the music they play originated. The name also plays with words in another way: until 1960 Uppsala was the town is Sweden which manufactured the most bicycles in the land and one brand was called Crescent.



The photos are taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

Have you seen Crescent City Jazz? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Uppsala Winter Swing 2007

Tomorrow the jazz festival Uppsala Winter Swing will take place. It features 12 hours of jazz, 18 bands and over 200 musicians. It's estimated that approx. 1300 people will attend the event.

List of bands at Uppsala Winter Swing.

I will be there listening, dancing and taking a lot of photographs and I'm planning to give you some reviews of Uppsala Winter Swing next week.

If you want to attend it's not too late to get a ticket, you can buy them at UNT City or at the door, 380 kr. If you only can attend in the evening you get a discount after 20 o'clock: 200 kr (160 kr if you have a UNT-card).

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. If you're going there, come up to me and chat a little, maybe tell me what you think of this blog.

Dance at Dekadans tonight

Tonight it's dancing at Dekadans where David will be the swing dj. Go there, dance, have fun and listen to good swing music.

Dance lindy hop, balboa and swing at Dekadans tonight

Just a reminder, tonight I will dj swing music for your dancing and listening pleasure at the swing music club Dekadans. Dance lindy hop, balboa or whatever other dance you like.

I've found some new music gems that I would like to play. Come and check them out.

Dekadans is located at Västgöta nation, Västra Ågatan 18 in Uppsala. From 20 o'clock till 23 o'clock. Entrance fee: 20 kr.

Jazz jam session at Pub 19, Uppsala

Last night was a jazz jam night at Pub 19, where everybody could bring their instrument and jam together.

This was a nice evening and the best was when jazz singer Sani Gamedze from South Africa took the stage. Just wonderful.

She will sing at Katalin Thursday Feb 8th with Democracy of jazz.

The photo was taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permisson. You also see Erik Ojala on bass. I don't know the drummers name, if you know, please tell me.

Spring season premiere at Dekadans Jan 16th

Next tuesday, Jan 16th, the swing club Dekadans start the spring season. I will be djing that night and I'm looking forward to spinning some newly found swing songs.

Dekadans is located at Västgöta nation in Uppsala (V. Ågatan 18) and has a fantastic atmosphere. Entrance: 20 kr. 20-23 o'clock.

If you have any suggestion about what you would like me to play, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Uppsala Winter Swing - Jazz Festival

In a few weeks, on Jan 27th, the annual jazz festival in Uppsala, Uppsala Winter Swing, will take place.

The festival will be from 13 till 01 o'clock and feature 8 big bands and also musicians in smaller groups.

There are so many good musicians coming to Uppsala Winter Swing, so if you like jazz, this is definitely the place to be.

If you want to find out more about the bands, orchestras and musicians just click their name in the list below.

• Brazz brothers
• Remi Toulon
• Laurence Allison
• Sliding Hammers
• Joakim Milder
• Peter Asplund
• Ulf Johansson Werre
• Lars Erstrand
• Bosse Broberg
• Martin Sjöstedt
• Klas Lindquist
• Thomas Arnesen
• Kjell Öhman
• Good Morning Blues
• Trio X
• Swing Delight
• Peter Lind and the Cabaret Band
• Induss & Lagerberg Great Sweet Orchestra
• Rockford
• Solskensorkestern
• Big Swing Face
• Svenska Showorkestern Phontrattarne
• Skrapan Big Band, John Högman, Teamwork big band, Uppsala Storband
  
  

Youth Jazz Contest in Uppsala

In november last year Uppsala Jazz Club held a contest for young jazz musicians: Youth Jazz Contest.

The musicians were overall very talented. They played modern jazz styles and while I can appreciate that on an intellectual level it doesn't grab me as much as swing does. How do you encourage young muscians to start playing swing?

The winners of the competition was a group called Nkiru with members (left to right): Andreas Larsson (drums), Niklas Fernqvist (bass), Jakob Gustavsson (saxophone) and Alexander Zethson (piano).



Stina Hellberg played a unusual instrument in a jazz environment: a harp, but it really worked. In her trio were also Linus Fredin (bass), Wille Alin (drums) and Alexander Iberer (cello).

Silver Sextett

This band plays a lot of songs by Horace Silver.

From left to right: Christoffer Aldin (saxophone), Johanna Grim (trombone), Henrik Grim (trumpet) samt Per Björkling (bass) Also in the band but not in this picture were Joel Sandberg (drums) and Henrik Boseaus (piano).

Johanna won the jurys bonus price.



All pictures are taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.