Samla Mammas Manna was a Swedish

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band often characterized by virtuosic musicianship,

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

references and silly

humour Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

, similar in many ways to the song-writing style of

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

. They were one of the founding members of the

Rock in Opposition Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive rock bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiated by English avant-rock gro ...

(RIO) movement in the late 1970s. In 1979 they were

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

's backing band on his solo album, ''

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'' (1980). Musically, they bore a resemblance to the

Canterbury scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) is a musical scene that originated in the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisation ...

. The original line-up was Lars Hollmer (keyboards), Hasse Bruniusson (drums), Lars Krantz (bass) and Henrik Öberg (percussion). For ''Måltid'',

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

guitarist Coste Apetrea joined the group. They were on the fringe of the Swedish political "

progg Progg was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that began in the late 1960s and became more widespread in the 1970s. Not to be confused with the English expressions "progressive music" or "prog rock," progg is a contraction ...

" movement, although their lyrics were humorous and not explicitly political. The title of the album ''Klossa Knapitatet'' is a play on the Swedish phrase ''krossa kapitalet'', a common

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...

in the 1970s that means "crush the

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", and also the title of a seminal progg song by Blå Tåget, called "Staten och Kapitalet (Den ena handen vet vad den andra gör)". Some more serious elements of the progg movement were not amused by this frivolous attitude. They spent a significant part of the 70s touring in Sweden, but also in other European countries. The band underwent line-up and name changes over the years (they released albums as Zamla Mammaz Manna and von Zamla), reinventing their sound each time. In 1999, the band reformed under their original name for a one-off release entitled ''Kaka''. In 2002 they reunited again, this time with Japanese musician Tatsuya Yoshida on drums, for some performances and their final album ''Dear Mamma''. The band played their first concerts in the US in August 2003, in Chicago at Schuba's, and at the annual Progday festival in

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. In 2005 the band opened the international

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that took place in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

InProg InProg was an international progressive rock festival held almost yearly since 2001 in Moscow, Russia. The festival was organised by the Russian Rock-magazine InRock. The organizers of this festival called it "a festival of intellectual music", ...

2005. Hollmer died in December 2008.

Musical style

The musical style of Samla Mammas Manna has been described as a fusion of progressive rock and various national folk styles. This being the result of complex rhythms using instruments not commonly used in the rock genre including the marimba, bouzouki, veena, and accordion. Having no direct political stand, being neither "a traditional Swedish folk group" nor, "a leftist folk-rock band" as stated by Andrew Jones in his book Plunderphonics, Pataphysics & Pop Mechanics: An Introduction to Musique Actuelle, they freely weaved in and out of the styles of both groups creating their own unique sound.

Discography

as Samla Mammas Manna *''Samla Mammas Manna'' (1971) *''Måltid'' (1973) *''Klossa Knapitatet'' (1974) *''Snorungarnas symfoni'' (1976) *''Kaka'' (1999) *''Dear Mamma'' (2002) as Zamla Mammaz Manna *''För äldre nybegynnare'' (1977) *''Schlagerns mystik'' (1978) *''Familjesprickor'' (1980) as von Zamla *''Zamlaranamma'' (1982) *''No Make Up!'' (1984) *''... 1983 (live)'' (1999)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Avant-prog groups Swedish progressive rock groups Rock in Opposition Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1980 Musical groups reestablished in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Musical groups from Uppsala Silence Records artists

Musical style

Discography

See also

References

External links