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Lars Jansson

Lars Jansson was born in 1951, and grew up in Orebro, Sweden, where he was bored by his lessons at the community music school. In his early teens, a relative lent him records with Miles Davis, Ben Webster, and Mose Allsion. During the 1960s, he followed the fashion and developed an interest in the organ. He listened to Kjell Ohman play with the Telstars, to Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, and to Hammond organ music. Drummer Sjunne Ferger became an important figure in his life, and together they formed a duo: "Takt & Ton" (Beat & Pitch).

In 1970, after graduation from upper secondary school, he took a semester off, planning to go on and study medicine. He ended up at dental school, but after a year and a half he decided to switch to music. He was accepted at the Göteborg College of Music, where all the professional musicians had their jam sessions at night. That gave him the opportunity to play with Ove Johansson, Jan Forslund, Conny Sjökvist, Gilbert Holmström, Gunnar Lindgren, and others, and he discovered Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Paul Bley, Bill Evans, Lennie Tristano. Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea.

Lars became a member of Björn Alke's quartet, with Gunnar Bergsten. He also played with the Arild Andersen Quartet. He went on to play with Radka Toneff and various Norwegian musicians including Knut Riisnaes and Jan Garbarek, and then with Hawk On Flight, Equinox, Red Mitchell, Joakim Milder, Crystal Eagle, and many other groups, both Swedish and Danish. Today, the Lars Jansson trio is, and has long been, one of the most well-renowned jazz groups in Sweden. Originally, the other two members were Anders Jormin and Anders Kjellberg. Lars Danielsson succeeded Jormin as the trio's bass player in the mid-1980s, and since January 2005 he has been succeeded by Christian Spering.

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Radio & Podcasts

Lars Jansson, Ark Ovrutski, Pablo Held and More

Read "Lars Jansson, Ark Ovrutski,  Pablo Held and More" reviewed by Bob Osborne


A focus on Swedish pianist Lars Jansson is complemented with new releases from Ark Ovrutski, Pablo Held and Perry Smith. In a piano trio dominated show there is also a mix of classic recordings and exciting new cutting edge jazz. Playlist Ark Ovrutski “Second Line" from Journey Moments (Ark Ovrutski Music) 00:00 Lars Jansson Trio “The Masquerade Is Over" from What's New (Spice of Life) 05:22 Pablo Held Trio “Birkenhain" from Investigations (Edition) 12:53 Perry Smith “Rise ...

4
Album Review

Lars Jansson: Just This

Read "Just This" reviewed by Chris Mosey


Swedish pianist/composer Lars Jansson is a Zen Buddhist, concerned primarily with being in the moment. There can be difficulties--"To experience and accept all that happens in our lives is no easy matter," says Jansson. “It takes practice and an open mind (beginner's mind) to ignore expectations and preconceived attitudes and completely immerse oneself in the present as it unfolds." There are two songs on Just This that deal with this problem: the title track and “No Purpose." ...

5
Album Review

Lars Jansson: Satori

Read "Satori" reviewed by Chris Mosey


Satori means “sudden enlightenment" in the Japanese Buddhist discipline known as Zen. It's something you might be wise not to claim you had experienced for fear of the head priest fetching you a whack across the shoulders with his wooden staff while shouting something deep and meaningful such as “The pine tree in the courtyard!" Once expressed, the term Satori becomes rational and meaningless. In the same way, the word Zen itself can mean all manner of ...

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Album Review

Lars Jansson Trio: Koan

Read "Koan" reviewed by Chris Mosey


A koan is a Zen Buddhist riddle that cannot be solved by the intellect alone. The best known, portrayed on the cover of Lars Jansson Trio's Koan, is “What is the sound of one hand clapping?" The koan has been described as a form of spiritual dynamite that can propel the mind into satori, or “spiritual equilibrium." Swedish pianist Jansson sees his music as “a kind of koan." He says, “You can of course analyze music in ...

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Album Review

Lars Jansson Trio: Koan

Read "Koan" reviewed by James Pearse


The second Lars Jansson Trio recording of 2012, after the outing with Ensemble MidtVest on Worship Of Self (Prophone, 2012), is a deep and reflective one. Koan not only remembers the victims of the 2011 tsunami, but also pays homage to the people of Japan and their unique culture.Lars Jansson Trio is something of a permanent fixture on the contemporary Swedish jazz scene. Past members have included bassist Anders Jormin (later replaced by Lars Danielsson and Christian Spering), ...

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Album Review

Lars Jansson Trio with Ensemble MidtVest: Worship Of Self

Read "Worship Of Self" reviewed by Chris Mosey


Pianist Lars Jansson's music is beyond category. Its roots are in jazz but, especially on Worship Of Self, it also embraces the Western classical tradition, bringing to mind the genius of Leonard Bernstein. Jansson hails from Sweden's second city, Gothenburg, but frequently visits Japan with his trio and is a self-proclaimed Zen Buddhist, and his meditative compositions reflect this. In his sleeve notes, Jansson says they are “built on melodic, tonal and atonal language," and quotes American ...

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Album Review

Lars Jansson Trio: In Search of Lost Time

Read "In Search of Lost Time" reviewed by Chris Mosey


Pianist Lars Jansson recently cleared out the music room of his home in Gothenburg, on Sweden's west coast, and in the process, found some old songs he'd written but forgotten. Inspired by Marcel Proust's epic novel, A la recherche du temps perdu, he put them together with some new ones to create an album that sheds new and often surprising light on the familiar territory of piano jazz. Jansson is a Zen Buddhist, which accounts for most ...

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Just This

Storyville Records
2018

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Satori

Prophone Records
2016

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Worship Of Self

Prophone Records
2012

buy

Koan

Prophone Records
2012

buy

In Search of Lost Time

Prophone Records
2011

buy

What's New

The ACT Company
2010

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