Rune Urban Gustafsson (25 August 1933 – 15 June 2012) was a Swedish jazz guitarist and composer. He performed with

Arne Domnérus Sven Arne Domnérus (20 December 1924 – 2 September 2008) was a Swedish jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Career He began to play the clarinet at the age of 11 but had taken up the saxophone by the time he left school and then turned profession ...

, Jan Johansson, and

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

among others.

Life and career

Rune Gustafsson was born in 1933 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. He moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in the 1950s to work with

Putte Wickman Putte Wickman (10 September 1924 – 14 February 2006) was a Swedish jazz clarinetist. Career He was born Hans Olof Wickman in Falun, and grew up in Borlänge, Sweden, where his parents hoped he would become a lawyer. He nagged them to allow h ...

(Swedisk Jazz Kings, EP, 1957) and Arne Domnérus Radio band and Radio Jazz Group. His first issued recordings were ''Young Guitar'' (Metronome, MLP 15 072, 1961) with Arne Domnérus, Jan Johansson,

Jimmy Woode James Bryant Woode (September 23, 1926 – April 23, 2005) was an American jazz bassist. He played and/or recorded in bands with Flip Phillips, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Nat Pierce, Sidney Be ...

Bjarne Nerem Bjarne Arnulf Nerem (31 July 1923 in Oslo, Norway – 1 April 1991 in Oslo), was a Norwegian jazz musician (tenor saxophone, alto saxophone and clarinet) among the foremost soloists in Norwegian jazz. He was in the tradition of Lester Young, ...

Börje Fredriksson Börje Fredriksson (June 30, 1937 – September 21, 1968) was a Swedish jazz tenor saxophonist. Fredriksson was born in Eskilstuna, Sweden. He played at the beginning of the 1960s in a quartet with Bobo Stenson (piano), Palle Danielsson (bass) an ...

and

Jan Allan Jan Bertil Allan (born 7 November 1934) is a Swedish jazz trumpeter and composer. He is the winner of a Grammis Award, the Swedish equivalent of the Grammys. He has also composed for several films such as ''The Adventures of Picasso'' (1978), '' ...

. ''Rune at the Top'' was released in 1969 and included the Norwegian drummer

Jon Christensen Jon Christensen may refer to: * Jon Christensen (musician) Jon Ivar Christensen (20 March 1943 – 18 February 2020) was a Norwegian jazz drummer. He was married to actress, minister, and theater director Ellen Horn, Store Norske Leksikon (in ...

. He played in the Arne Domnérus duo (Dialog, 1972) and his orchestras, with Jan Johansson, Georg Riedel,

Cornelis Vreeswijk Cornelis Vreeswijk (; ; 8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch-born Swedish singer-songwriter, poet and actor. He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become ...

. ''Rune Gustafsson Himself Plays Gilbert O'Sullivan'' (1973), ''Killing Me Softly'' (1973) and ''Move'' (1977), was recorded with Egil Johansen, who was one of Gustafsson's most frequent musical partners. ''On a Clear Day'' (Sonet, SLP 2581, 1976) included

Red Mitchell Keith Moore "Red" Mitchell (September 20, 1927 – November 8, 1992) was an American jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet. Biography Mitchell was born in New York City. His younger brother, Whitey Mitchell, also became a jazz ba ...

and drummer

Ed Thigpen Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959. Biography ...

. He played with Zoot Sims on two recordings: ''The Sweetest Sounds'' (1979) and ''In a Sentimental Mood'' (1985), the latter was Sims last album. A duo performance with

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (, 27 May 1946 – 19 April 2005), also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Biography Pedersen was born in Osted, near Roskilde, on the Danish island of Zealand, the son of ...

Vossajazz Vossajazz or Vossa Jazz (established 19 December 1973) is an international jazz festival in Voss, Norway, which takes place annually during the week before Easter, and which also includes concerts throughout the year. The festival has been led by ...

1980, concluded on the album ''Just The Way You Are'' on the

Sonet Synchronous optical networking (SONET) and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) are standardized protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams synchronously over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diode ...

, recorded half a year after this first meeting. As a composer he was known for the soundtrack of Swedish films ''

The Man Who Quit Smoking ''The Man Who Quit Smoking'' ( sv, Mannen som slutade röka) is a 1972 Swedish comedy film directed by Tage Danielsson, starring Gösta Ekman, Grynet Molvig, Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt and Gunn Wållgren. The film is known as a Hasse & Tage film and is ...

'' (1972 ), ''

Release the Prisoners to Spring ''Release the Prisoners to Spring'' ( sv, Släpp fångarne loss, det är vår!) is a 1975 Swedish comedy film directed by Tage Danielsson. At the 12th Guldbagge Awards the film won the awards for Best Film and Best Actress (Margaretha Krook). The ...

'' (1975), and ''

Sunday's Children ''Sunday's Children'' ( sv, Söndagsbarn) is a 1992 Swedish drama film directed by Daniel Bergman and written by Ingmar Bergman. At the 28th Guldbagge Awards the film won the award for Best Cinematography (Tony Forsberg) and Thommy Berggren wa ...

'' (1992). Rune Gustafsson died in 2012 in Stockholm after a short illness.

Awards

Gustafsson received the Albin Hagstrom Memorial Prize in 1997, The

Thore Ehrling Thore Ehrling (December 29, 1912, Stockholm - October 21, 1994, Stockholm) was a Swedish trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, who led jazz and popular music ensembles. Ehrling played with Frank Vernon's ensemble from 1930 to 1934, and concomitan ...

Scholarship in 2001, and Guitar People's Prize in 2004. In 2009 he was awarded the Lars Gullin Award, for having been "the trend for young guitarists in Sweden and abroad". In 2010, he was awarded the

Monica Zetterlund Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Sweden, Swedish jazz Singing, singer and Actor, actress. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio ...

memorial fund scholarship.Rune Gustafsson Zetterlundstipendiat
Dagens Nyheter, September 6, 2009.

Discography

Solo albums

* 1961: ''Young Guitar'' (

Metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

) * 1969: ''Rune at the Top'' (Metronome) * 1972: ''Himself (Plays Gilbert O'Sullivan)'' (

) * 1973: ''Killing Me Softly'' (Sonet) * 1974: ''Out of My Bag'' (Sonet) * 1975: ''Plays Stevie Wonder'' (Sonet) * 1976: ''On a Clear Day'' (Sonet) * 1977: ''Move'' (Sonet) * 1979: '' The Sweetest Sounds'' (Sonet) – with

* 1980: ''Just the Way You Are'' (Sonet) – with

* 1982: ''La Musique'' (Sonet) * 1989: ''String Along with Basie'' (Sonet) * 1993: ''Rune Gustafsson'' (Eagle)

Collaborations

With

* 1972: ''Dialog'' (Megafon) * 1974: ''Svarta Får'' (Sonet) * 1979: ''Jazz I Kyrkan'' (Sonet) * 1979: ''Vårat Gäng'' (Sonet) * 1983: ''Conversation'' (Polar) * 1983: ''"Altihop"'' (Phontastic) – with Visby Big Band * 1992: ''Sketches of Standards'' (Megafon) * 1994: ''Heartfelt'' (Proprius) – including with Gustaf Sjökvist With

* 1985: ''In a Sentimental Mood'' (Sonet) With

and Georg Riedel * 1993: ''Sweet and Lovely'' (

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

)

Soundtracks

* 1972: ''

'' * 1975: ''

'' * 1992: ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gustafsson, Rune 1933 births 2012 deaths 20th-century guitarists 21st-century guitarists Swedish jazz musicians Swedish jazz guitarists Male jazz musicians Folk jazz musicians