Thore Swanerud (18 June 1919 – 8 December 1988) 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,

vibraphonist The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was born in

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 ...

and died in the same city. He is best remembered for an eight-bar improvised solo he made during a 1949 recording of "

I'm in the Mood for Love "I'm in the Mood for Love" is a popular music, popular song published in 1935 in music, 1935. The music was written by Jimmy McHugh, with the lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was introduced by Frances Langford in the movie ''Every Night at Eigh ...

", in a quintet headed by James Moody while Moody was touring Sweden. Eddie Jefferson created the 1952 song "

Moody's Mood for Love "Moody's Mood for Love" is a 1952 song by Eddie Jefferson, whose melody is derived from an improvised solo by jazz saxophonist James Moody (saxophonist), James Moody (and a brief solo in the middle by pianist Thore Swanerud) on a 1949 recording ...

" in

vocalese Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation. Definition Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...

style by adding lyrics to Moody's and Swanerud's solos in the recording, and the song later became a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

, covered by many singers.Jazz at 100 Hour 50: Vocalese (1952 – 1961)
WTJU, February 16, 2018

Career

Swanerud played extensively with major Swedish dance bands in the 1940s, such as the groups of

Simon Brehm Simon Brehm (31 December 1921 – 11 February 1967) was a Swedish double-bass player and, later in life, a record producer and owner of Karusell Records. He was the manager of the singer Lill-Babs and was the leader of the orchestra that played ...

Miff Görling Uno "Miff" Görling (March 21, 1909, Stockholm – February 24, 1988, Stockholm) was a Swedish jazz bandleader, trombonist, arranger, and composer. His brother was Zilas Görling. Görling, who took his nickname from trombonist Miff Mole, got his ...

, and Stan Hasselgård. He led his own six-piece ensemble in 1949-1951 and led smaller groups in the 1950s and 1960s. His associations include work with

Ernestine Anderson Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, ...

and James Moody. In addition to recording as a jazz leader, he also did arrangement work and led studio orchestras for Swedish recordings.

Film score

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

– ''

The Hard Game ''The Hard Game'' (Swedish: ''Den hårda leken'') is a 1956 Swedish sports drama film directed by Lars-Eric Kjellgren and starring Sven-Eric Gamble, Ann-Marie Gyllenspetz and Åke Grönberg. It was shot at the Råsunda Studios in Stockholm and on ...

'' *

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

– Sommarnöje sökes *

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

–

Filmography

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

– *

–

References

*"Thore Swanerud". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanerud, Thore Swedish jazz pianists Swedish composers Swedish male composers Swedish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Musicians from Stockholm 1919 births 1988 deaths Male pianists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century pianists 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians Male jazz musicians