A life in the service of music
My history in the service of music began in Kalixbygden in 1957, when I was born. Music has been a big part of my life since an early age in various ways, as well as an enthusiastic listener, performer, but also as an organizer in the local music scene. In professional life, producer, arranger, artistic director, orchestra director, etc.
This is where the spark was lit – as I remember it…
Enthusiasts are probably absolutely indispensable for the musical life to flourish, not least outside urban areas. One such was “Symaskin-Andersson” who went around Kalixbygden to sell sewing machines with accessories. In addition, he had a burning interest in music and made sure that kids like me had the chance to buy guitars and other instruments. I have been told in retrospect that he assisted more people than I did. When I finally got the chance to meet a music teacher, she asked me to tune the guitar. Judge my surprise when I suddenly hear how the instrument starts to crack and when I was about to take the first notes the stable came loose… an ominous sign for the future? Well, Andersson made sure I eventually got a new one. Others were the brothers Janne and Gunnar Andersson, outstanding and inspiring in every way. Lennart Åström an important influencer with the latest news on the vinyl front. Also want to mention Märta and Henning Forsberg who supported us.
The big moment for me was the meeting with what would become the band Karl XII, which was born in the hall of the Mannhem School during junior high school. After a few tentative months, me, Charlie, Peter and Nelson gathered around our artistic prime mover Foppe and plugged into the school’s only amplifier – a Dynacord with some din inputs. Somewhat later Charlie and I acquired his radio as an amplifier. Gradually, Nelson and Peter Strömbäck dived and before the ropes at CYK started, we stayed in the Forsberg family’s basement and living room, or Nelson and I loaded the equipment on kickstands and set off to the Brännholm family’s living room at Djuptjärn, just over 4 km one way. Our first gig – at least paid (SEK 100 in our pocket) was at VPK’s annual meeting at Kaskad, just after the split when APK was formed. Quite a bad atmosphere in the room, I want to remember… Not sure who took the pictures below, maybe Lennart Åström (sorry for my poor image processing).
Here are some sounding examples from Karl XII’s repertoire.
New assignments
In 1991, I received the offer from the Umeå Cultural Administration to be responsible for the Umeå Jazz Festival, which at that time needed to be reconstructed. Freelanced part-time with this assignment until it became part of my employment within Västerbottensmusiken (Norrlandsoperan) 1997-2018. In 2019, I finished NO and took the festival with me to Umeå Folkets Hus, which now produces and arranges. It was 32 years in the role of artistic director before I was able to retire in November of this year in the new role of baron with holidays at a rescheduled time.
Alongside my employment, over the years I have had various assignments in the field of music:
- 2020-2022: Program manager for Norrbotten Big Band
- 2002-2005: The Phonogram group at the Norwegian Cultural Council
- 2011-2016: Member of the Norwegian National Music Board’s artistic council
- 2012-2017: Member of the board of the Europe Jazz Network, central network for jazz music in Europe (183 organizations from 34 countries).
- 2017-2019: Chairman of the artistic council at the Statens Musikverk
- 1997: Assignment from Umeå University to develop a proposal for higher music education in the area of Jazz and improvisation.
In addition, as a board member, I have been active in Föreningen Jazz in Umeå for many years and was recently appointed to be part of the Cultural Council’s reference group for support to organizing music associations.
Yes, this is a small summary of my journey in the field of music and where music has taken me. In many ways, I find it difficult to understand how it all happened – because you are from Kalix, certainly via Korpikå and Holmträsk – and the usage is just as deplorable now as it was when I began my journey in the service of music. These days it’s mostly taking care of the farm property, renovations, and practicing guitar and sharpening my new pedal board. Hope to get the opportunity to write new music again and maybe, maybe bring Mr. Peasley to life. It has been more than 20 years since the last…