Jan Johansson (16 September 1931 – 9 November 1968) was a Swedish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist. His album '' Jazz på svenska'' (''Jazz in Swedish'') is the best selling jazz release ever in Sweden; it has sold over a quarter of a million copies and has been streamed more than 50 million times on Spotify. He was the father of former

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial ...

drummer Anders Johansson and

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

keyboardist

Jens Johansson Jens Ola Johansson (born 2 November 1963 in Stockholm) is a Swedish keyboardist and pianist who currently plays in the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius and Ritchie Blackmore's rock project Rainbow. He is notable for his high-speed neoclas ...

, who run Heptagon Records which keeps their father's recordings available.

Biography

Johansson was a native of

Söderhamn Söderhamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 11,761 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The biggest local sport is bandy. Broberg/Söderhamn Bandy play in the highest division E ...

, in the

Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to as Helsingia in English, is a historical province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of the land of Norrland. Ad ...

province of Sweden. Studying classical piano as a child, he would also go on to master the guitar, organ and accordion, before turning on to swing and

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

as a teenager. He met saxophonist

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

while at university. He abandoned his studies to play jazz full-time, and worked with many American jazz musicians, becoming the first European to be invited to join the

Jazz at the Philharmonic Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP (1944–1983), was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz. Over the years, "Jazz at the Philharmonic" featured many of the era's preeminent musicians, including Lou ...

package. The years 1961 to 1968, produced a string of classic albums, which would help define his style of re-imagining traditional European folk tunes via jazz and the avant garde. These included ''Jazz på svenska'' (''Jazz in Swedish'') and ''Jazz på ryska'' (''Jazz in Russian'') which are both available in an expanded form on CD. ''Jazz på ungerska'' (''Jazz in Hungarian'') together with Danish Jazz

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist

Svend Asmussen Svend Asmussen (28 February 1916 – 7 February 2017) was a Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many of the other jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and S ...

is the third album in that series. ''Jazz på svenska'' comprises variations on sixteen Swedish folk songs with Georg Riedel playing

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

. During this period, Johansson also made several recordings with

Radiojazzgruppen Radiojazzgruppen (The Radio Jazz Group) was a Swedish band led by Arne Domnérus (1967–78) and Lennart Åberg (early 1980s). Several prominent Swedish musicians have been members of the group, such as Ulf Andersson, Jan Allan, Bosse Broberg, R ...

. The

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

award winning albums ''Musik genom fyra sekler'' (''Music from the past four centuries'') builds on traditional Swedish melodies, but this time uses larger groups of musicians. There were also ''300.000'' and two trio sets, ''8 Bitar'' and ''Innertrio'', which have been reissued as a single CD. With his career including film & TV music, Johansson is also best known as the composer of "Here Comes Pippi Longstocking" ("Här kommer Pippi Långstrump"), the theme song of the famous

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

, ''

Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story wh ...

''. With lyrics by character/series creator

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

and sung by the series' young star

Inger Nilsson Karin Inger Monica Nilsson (born 4 May 1959) is a Swedish actress and singer. She is a former child actress. She is primarily known for her portrayal of Pippi Longstocking in the Swedish-produced TV series of the same name during 1969 which was ...

, it would also be one of Johansson's last works. In November 1968, Johansson died in a car crash on his way to a concert in a church in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipali ...

, Sweden.

Influence

American hip hop group Non Phixion sampled "Bandura" for their song "Skum". The Swedish band

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

has claimed him as an influence on the title track for their album ''

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

''.

Discography

As leader

Collaborations

;With

*1968: ''Spelar jazz på ungerska'' (Megafon Records) ;With

*1969: ''Vårdkasar'' (Sveriges Radio) *1970: ''Frostrosor'' (Sveriges Radio), with Georg Riedel *1991: ''Den korta fristen'' (Megafon Records) ;With

Alice Babs Hildur Alice Nilsson (26 January 1924 – 11 February 2014), known by her stage name Alice Babs, was a Swedish singer and actress. She worked in a wide number of genres – Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera. While she was best known i ...

*2007: ''Illusion'' (Vax Records ), with Georg Riedels Orkester ;With

*''

Imported from Europe ''Imported from Europe'' is an album by saxophonist Stan Getz which was released on the Verve label in 1959.Stan Getz at Large'' (Verve, 1960) *2011: ''Stan Getz At Nalen (Live In The Swedish Harlem)'' (Riverside Records) With

Oscar Pettiford Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom. Biography Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United ...

*'' My Little Cello'' (Debut, 1960)

References

External links

*
A very useful guide to buying Johansson issues and reissues on CD.
* AllMusic guide entry
Official YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johansson, Jan 1931 births 1968 deaths Road incident deaths in Sweden Swedish jazz pianists Folk jazz musicians 20th-century Swedish pianists Radiojazzgruppen members ACT Music artists Dot Records artists