Swedish Soul Funk Grooves - Patriks Soul:Funk Music

Swedish soul and funk 1979-2005

Sweden is best known for Abba that conquered the world in thelate 70s with catchy disco influenced melodies. Even though themelodies are "eternal" in many respects Sweden got more to offer.In this introduction to Swedish soul and funk and jazz from 1979to 1990, with a brief overview of the 90s as well, I will give you ashort history and most of all my recommendations to you of thebest rare Swedish soul and funk grooves!

Music history

Sweden got a rather limited amount of more prominent composersduring the history. The most well known names during the period1700-1800 are baroque composer Johan Helmich Roman andthe troubadour Carl Michael Bellman. Between 1800 and 1900Sweden had many names but no one reached higher levels ofrecognition outside Sweden. From 1900 until 1945 completelynew genres got a foothold on Swedish soil and jazz became oneof the most important ones. After the end of the second world warthe jazz influences from USA got even stronger and during thefollowing decades after 1945. Sweden have since the 50sproduced outstanding jazz impressionists and vocalists thatachieved much attention both in Sweden and on the Americanscene with names like vocalist Alice Babs, clarinetist ÅkeHasselgård, that was one of the first to play bop, pianist BengtHallberg and altoist Arne Domnerus. Many of these played orsang with the greatest names in America. Most of the productionswere traditional jazz but during the 60s and 70s moreexperimental productions with new musical constellations weremade and such prominent producers as Quincy Jones wasfrequently in Stockholm recording. Jones later married a Swede.

During the 70s Abba made disco something big in Sweden bothalso very much outside Sweden. They were Sweden's firstinternational hit band. They were also the pioneers in the verypolished but also highly well produced Swedish pop thatcombined the elements of jazz, blues, soul and a bit of funk. TheSwedish pop has been the most important player in the Swedishexport of music since the 70s a trend that increased dramaticallyduring the 90s.

Swedish soul funk grooves - Patriks soul/funk music http://www.soulfunkmusic.com/swedish.htm

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The first years of Swedish soul and funk

Even though Swedish jazz and pop are prominent areas inSwedish music outside its borders the more refined soul, funk,disco and even jazzfunk productions weren't that muchrepresented in Sweden and literally unknown outside the country.Compared to the big European countries in soul and funk musiclike the UK, Italy, France and Holland Sweden is just a dwarf. Thedevelopment of Swedish soul and funk to a broader audiencecame also many years after the hot peak in US during the 70s andearly 80s. It was indeed a rare occasion to hear a Swedish trackwith fat grooves including a crazy synth, big bass guitars andsteamy horns that we all love here o PSFS!

At the end of the 70s Abba still took almost all the attention and itwas more or less underground bands that actually created moresoul funk inspired tracks. Today literally all of them are totallyforgotten and almost impossible to get. But a few are going to bedescribed here.

1979-1984

SAD MOTION/FREESTYLE One major breakthrough for this kind ofmusic came in 1979 when two community radio frequenciesstarted in Stockholm on 88 MHz and 91.1 MHz on the FM dial.Soon popular radio stations like SBC, Disco 91 and MRS (stillaround today; www.mrs.se) were established even though the

economical circumstances and thetechnical quality of the broadcastswere very limited. The revolutionarything about it was that the Swedesfor the first time got to know thismusic that as a result opened upsmall import shops in down townStockholm but also gave moreinspiration to them who wanted tocreate their own stuff. In 1979 theband Sad motion released their

first single, the bouncy disco stomper "Jag vill ha dig ikväll" (I wantyou tonight) that was followed up by their probably one-and-onlyself-titled album in 1980 after a good deal with CBS. None of thetwo tracks on the 7" released on the small CBS owned Darkrecords were available on the album though. Two other singlereleases on CBS in 1980, the classic boogie style tunes of"Windsurfing" and "Den där festen" (That party) made it to thealbum though and even reached a smaller amount of success.Except a few more boogie tracks of the same style and quality thealbum included the very touching ballad "Längtan" (Longing), oneof the best ballad's I ever heard with lyrics that are seldom heard,and well-crafted reggae track "Ragnar". In 1981 at least one 7"was released called"Du är stark" (You arestrong) on Moonrecords. Both tracks


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on the single werepoor and didn't reachthe same level asbefore. Nothing morewas ever heard fromthe band after thatthough and Sadmotion most likelydisappeared. Despitethe name their musicwere anything elsethan sad. It featured ajoyous and wellbalanced boogieentirely performed inSwedish with powerfuland vivid vocals,catchy melodies, a strong and well-used horn section and snappyguitar riffs. In 1981 six curious people of this music formed theband Freestyle (right) that turned out to be the finest Swedishdisco inspired creation besides Abba. The band was alsocommercially one of the most successful ones ever and wasbehind classic hits like "Vill ha dig" (I want you) and "Fantasi"(Fantasy), all very catchy and easy listening bubble gum tracks.The lyrics were not impressive though with superficial andteenage care-free fantasies. The big thing here is the music,nothing more. At the same time they also dropped an Englishversion of the album called "Fantasy". Freestyle was somewhatSweden's answer to Shalamar even though not close to theamazing hits they produced. Later on they changed the name tojust Style something that ironically also changed their music to theworse. The most important member from a musical point of viewwas Christer Sandelin and Tommy Ekman. Sandelin launchedafter Style a quite successful solo career. But it is as producer andsongwriter they reached their highest ground. Sandelin produce(in conjunction with Tommy Ekman) the extremely rare Swedishsoul funk track "Kool katt" with Stop (below).

ELECTRIC BANANA BAND Therather different projectElectric banana band (left)was created as a spin off of awell-known Swedishchildren's TV program"Trazan och Banarne". Theprogram it self was created in1977 and is one of Sweden'sbiggest successes. At thesame time they releasedsongs taken from theprogram. But it was in 1981

that the actual band was created. It included the famouscomedian Lasse Åberg, well-used drumer Per Lindvall (that alsoparticipated as drummer on Shine's LP below) and the worldknown guitarist Janne Schaffer on guitar among others. Schaffer,


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one of Sweden's best session musicians, had earlier played withsuch great acts like Abba and Bob Marley. The style of Electricbanana band was a mix of pop, funk and samba with nicemelodies and with the distinctive guitar play by Schaffer on manytracks. The lyrics were often funny and even hilarious butsometimes also of a social nature penetrating questions aboutethics and morale. In 1982 the joyous popfunk track"Banankontakt av tredje graden" (Banana contact of the thirdgrade) was released that still today is one of the best groovesever in Sweden with over 150 000 sold copies. Despite, orperhaps thanks to the heritage from the children's program thelyrics were a serious appeal to all humans to change their wrongbehaviors. Lasse Åberg's sings about a spaceship that reach theearth and when the "Banana commando" steps out they see allthe destruction that war, environmental pollution etc. creates andasks: "When is a change gonna come!?" I wonder the same...Besides the highly recommended "Banankontakt" the groovy"Zvampen" (The mushroom) from 1983 is definitely worth having.Schaffer's guitar glows on this and creates a powerful party feelingwith an unusually catchy groove. I guarantee that you can't sit stillwhen this disc moves!

Today Shaffer still playes guitar in various projects and lives in thesame suburb as I do. The former comedian Lasse Åberg laterbecame a popular designer and painting artist best known for hisobsession with Mickey mouse. One of his latest work is the designof the cover of the seats on the Stockholm subway trains.

Other artist did have soul and funk influences too, but it was mostoften only on one or two tracks like Gyllene tider and TomasLedin.

1983 - A busy year

STOP In 1983somethinghappen that forme changedmy perceptionof Swedishsoul and funkwhen the bandStop (right)released theirdebut single"Kool katt"(Cool cat) onthe smallSwedish label"Hawkrecords". Thesingle wasunique in manyways, foremostas it feutured


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the first rap inSwedish eventhough themusic was of a bouncy soul funk kind rather than a traditional oldschool rap one. The band was created in 1982 and released "Koolkatt" early in 1983. The front cover (right) of the single (no 12"version ever released) featured the three members (from left toright: Werner Theunissen, Latifah - that only posed on the cover -and Jonas Siljemark) in a rebellious pose. Theunissen had playedin a funk band in the the late 70s before he in his late teens metSiljemark. The single is indeed a very groovy track with a classicsoul funk mix, lovely synthesizers and a steaming hot rap kind ofbreak featuring Theunissen and Kayo (see separate bio below)talking on the dance floor.

The lyrics on its hand are stupidly hilarious though and somethingto take anything else than seriously. The B-side featured a tastefulinstrumental version that did include some vocal parts, even morehilarious than the a-side. This track had it all except good lyrics;great hooks, great melody, a crazy synth and nice energeticguitars. The members wrote the track with some little help fromthe Freestyle (see above) members Christer Sandelin and TommyEkman as main role were as arrangers and producers giving thebasic patterns that final touch. Both later became successfulproducers and songwriters in Sweden during the 80s and the 90s.Gigi Hamilton, another key member of Freestyle did also play apart as one of the background vocalists (the cats).

Being a extremely rare piece it's for sure a collectors item despitethe fact that it was only performed in Swedish.

A very interesting fact is the striking resemblance between thealready mentioned break in "Kool katt" and the likewise thrillingbreak in Leon Haywood's monster groove "I'm out to catch" thatalso saw the light in 1983. Both of them occurs in the middle ofthe track when a girl tries to catch a man on the dance floor. Theexchange of words are almost exactly the same on both tracksand it easy to imagine that Stop might have been inspired byHaywood's track. But according to Stop member Theunissen theydidn't know Leon's track. If so, it's an amazing thing that two bandin very different corners on the globe came with the same ideaand with literally the same words the same year!

In 1984 Stop came up with their second and last single, thedanceable "Don't stop". It was released on both 7" and 12" andperformed in English this time. It did also manage to sell severalcopies in Europe but remained an obscurity. Stop did tour aroundSweden after that release with a good and appreciated show (seemembers of the show on the b/w picture above) but Stop wasdisbanded soon after with just two single under their belt. The twomembers continued their music careers, mainly as managers, witha very successful result. Siljemark later became CEO of WarnerMusic Scandinavia and Theunissen has been working withbooking many of the most well-known Swedish artists for manyyears besides playing in the rock band "Stockholm cowboys".


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A funny thing is that both "Don't stop" and "Kool katt" werereleased as cover versions on a 12" already in 1984 under thename of CCC (Cool clan connection) just a few month after theoriginal "Don't stop"! The project that Theunissen and Siljemarkhad nothing to do with featured "Don't stop" on the a-side and"Kool katt" on the b-side. Instead of "Hawk records" the coverswere released on the Swedish national television label "SVTTevegram". The arrangements of the track is different from theoriginal and isn't as tight and slick produced either, it's still prettynice tunes though. CCC's "Don't stop" cover was also thesignature of the very popular music program "Bagen" (The bag)for a couple of years and both of the covers were included on acompilation based on the TV program as well.

PER CUSSION 1983 was a busy year that besides Stop showedtwo albums of interest. The first of them was the project PerCussion all stars featuring jazzfusion artist Per Tjernberg and USborn Grandmaster funk (later shortened to GM funk) as the twoleading characters. Grandmaster funk (Michael White), hadmoved from Brooklyn in New York to Stockholm where he becamea breakdancer in the early 80s and was a key figure bringingbreak dance to Sweden. They released their first 12" "Don't stop"in 1983, which was the first rap ever recorded in Sweden. The

track, and a video of it, received hugeattention in Sweden and someconcern outside as well. It was forexample listed as "recommended" inthe Dance/Disco column in Billboard.One especially flattering story for PerTjernberg was when AfricaBambaata, that he considered thehigh priest of hip hop, asked him if hecould spare some copies of the 12"

since he had worn his out when DJ-ing! It was released on severalobscure labels like Virgin Greece and ultra rare Black market. Thelatter reported the pretty impressive 15 000 copies sold, beforegoing out of business. The 12" was followed up by an album withthe same name in June that year. The final result was a wellarranged and produced mix of funk and rap that besides "Don'tstop" included the essential and steaming hot funk bomb "Thewarning". The album is considered as the first rap album inSweden and a very rare piece of old school rap in any collectors'dungeon. A good news also is that the original Swedish labelSilence recently have reissued "the best" of Per Cussion all starsincluding the whole first album and the best of the following album"Beatwave" in 1984 besides a few really rare 12" versions and GMfunk's one and only 12" under that name called "Snowblind". Thisrare CD is a highly recommended and will soon be out of print!

In 1986 Per Tjernberg made two more efforts under the PerCussion name when he released the album "Everybody's talking".It was once again a release on the Swedish label Silence andproduced by M. Grant and G. Andersson. He did also, presumablyafter the album, release the 12" "Who messed up the world" on


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the Swedish label Palladium that featured some social reflectionsover world politics and following the same sound tradition foundon the earlier productions. Even though these two were PerTjernberg's last efforts under that name he has release severalCD's using his real name playing and experimenting with differentstyles of music like reggae, funk and world music. The latestrelease is "Universal riddim part 2" in 2005.

SHINE The second interesting releasebesides Stop that year was the twelvepiece (soon shortened to ten)multiracial band Shine that presenteda polished mix of soul and funk.Among the members both vocalist andpercussionist Frankie la Motte(co-produced Charlie's debut album)from the US, guitarist Amadeo Nicoletti(played with Stop, Shine, Charlie etc.)

from Italy and multiinstrumentalist Kofi Bentsi-Enchill fromGhana/Holland became well-used musicians and producers formany Swedish artists during the rest of the 80s and the entire 90s.In many ways they brought the American soul funk tradition toSweden and were an inspiring force for many young musicians tocome. Kofi Bentsi-Enchill, that earlier was a member of jazz funkband "Modern soul", is one of the best regarded bass players inSweden and are sometimes compared with legendary names likeLarry Graham and Stanley Clark. His distinct, powerful andengaging style left no one untouched. A good example of his skillsis displayed on the short instrumental "Spicy fingers" track on theb-side (sample).

Before Shine's one and only self-titled, and today very hard-to-findalbum (above) on Connection records at least the 7" "Equality"was released on the small Sound of Scandinavia records label.Whereas that track did appear on the forthcoming album theamazing dance tune "Give your love a chance" (written by Bentsi-Enchill) on the b-side was neglected, a huge mistake, as it's oneof Shine's most irresistible hits! The following album, on whichBentsi-Enchill wrote five of the nine tracks, featured several gooddance tunes like the energetic and enchanting boogie track "I lovethis feelin'", perhaps the band's best creation. The album alsopresented other speedy popfunk tunes like "Don't stop" and"Dance-o-matic" besides the deep funky tune "Watch out". Thelatter was almost a blue print of Per Cussion all stars "Thewarning" with just slightly different arrangements and without therap. The strange thing is that no credits or any other informationcan be found on the cover pointing out any relations with PerTjernberg's track; a real mystery! The album is no mystery thoughand a very good example of "Nordic light"!

LI BERG In 1983 yet anothervery rare example ofSwedish groove hit thescene when vocalist Li Berg(right) released "The


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smørgasbord", a highlyseductive and nicelyproduced combination ofpost disco and pop funk. Thesmoker is a humorous tributeto the world known Swedishdish and mainly performed inEnglish. Towards the end ofthe track one can even hear some imitations of the Swedish cockfrom the Muppet show. The track itself, that was both released on7" and 12" and featured an always welcomed instrumental versionon the B-side, is a joyous and easy listening production with asensual singing effort by Berg. Sometimes Berg is similar to TeenaMarie as both of them got that very seductive and sexy femalevoice. But Berg don't have the same intensity as Marie and singsmore controlled and polished that necessarily isn't something bad.

The ultra rare piece was written by Torkel Odéen, Dick Berglundand Li Berg and produced by Torkel Odéen and Dick Berglund forHannaH productions and was released on Polygram records,Solna, Sweden. Torkel Odéen had earlier worked with communityradio in Stockholm on Radio SUS and Radio SBC under the nameof "Bagarn" (The baker) and is a well respected radio DJ from thetime with a lot of knowledge and respect for "the right stuff".Odéen's HannaH productions are still active today with threestudios.

The single also appeared on the debutalbum "Vill du" (Do you want) in 1984.It did generously include the entire 12"version of "The smørgasbord" and wasbesides that track completelyperformed in Swedish. Her strongdebut did also continue the popfunk/disco style from "Thesmørgasbord" and featured a longside with that big hit "Vill du" (Do you

want) and "Video" as the two most interesting and catchy dancetunes. But both the sensual and slightly rock inspired funky piece"Olo's bar" and even more funky "Pokerface" are strong numbersnot to be missed! Li Berg did also participated in the SwedishEurovision contest finale in 1985 with yet another track written byDick Berglund, "Jag vet hur det känns" (I know how it feels) andended up on fifth place. As always when it comes to finalists in thecontest her track was released on 7" with "The smørgasbord" onthe B-side. The contribution could also be heard on her secondalbum "Li" (above) that same year including the brilliant pop funktrack "Mer av dig" (More of you) (sample). This is a rarely heardpiece of music in Sweden and a good pop funk/disco trackinternationally as well. C a t c h it if you can! Even though thealbum, that included a good interpretation of Diana Ross' track"Upside down", did offer good and catchy melodies it presentedmore pop and rock than funk this time. The warm and appealinggroove oriented feeling from the first album was in many waysgone. What happen to Li Berg after that is unknown however.


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1985-1990

ESQUILLE Soul and funk tunes from the mid- and late 80s inSweden are very limited in numbers; especially the funk tracks arealmost non-existing besides perhaps very obscure and almostentirely unknown bands. The releases became more focused onsoul and R&B including a few highlights. One super rare item ofthe soul funk tracks that came during this period was Esquille andhis "Just 4 U" that was released on 7" in 1987. It featured a veryaddictive synth galore with great hooks and an immediate andrefreshing melody. In 1990 Esquille came up with yet anothersingle "Such a good good feeling", this time featuring the unknownsinger Natalie. The result was a poor house influenced creationhowever with no hit potential and not even close to the the magicpresented on "Just 4 you".

CHARLIE/ERIC GADD Oneother really rare funk/rapgem was represented byan elsewhere-unknownSwedish girl called Charlie(left). On both 7" and 12""It's a mystery" wasreleased in 1988. It is atrack with a mega deepand fat bass line, sensualvocals and some pretty hotmale rap in the break. Therap was made by MC IIFresh, one of the

foreground figures in Swedish rap history that already in 1984created the rap collective "Ice cold rockers" that could be seen inthe controversial movie "Stockholmsnatt" in 1986. A poorly mixedpart II of that track was also represented on her debut album "Tobe continued" from 1989, a set completely singed in English with alot of house and drum 'n' base influences, but wasn't at all able tocompete with the quality of the 12".

During the late 80s a few competent acts saw the light. One ofthem was the talented male vocalist Eric Gadd from the Swedishsummer island of Gotland in the Baltic sea that released his debut"Hello!" in 1986. But it was on the second album "Hurra du leverpang du är död" (Hurray you're alive, bang you're dead) in 1989he really showed his full potential with the two addictive andrefreshing pop soul compositions of "Kom hit o ta" (Come and getit) and "Plus minus". Even though the rest of the album didn'tshow the same class the album is well worth buying nonetheless.Gadd came back with the perfect soul track "My personality" in1997, a sweet and polished soul gem that immediately hookedme. His latest album "Life support" from 2002 is heavily influencedby US R&B with tracks written by such great producers as BarryEastmond and Leon Ware. Gadd is by many considered as thesoul king of Sweden.


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KAYO/TITIYO/JUST D The last years of the 80s showed a fewmore artist of interest in these genres. Female vocalists Kayo andTitiyo together with the newly born rap group Just D were themost notable. Titiyo (right) came with here debut in 1990 featuringthe competent and pleasant hit"After the rain". Just D, a rap groupthat performed exclusively inSwedish had a big breakthrough withtheir debut in 1989 with hilarious yetclever lyrics making fun of the "coollife" and instead says "hey, relaxman, you don't need to be so cool!".With the intelligent lyrics togetherwith rather simple but still catchysampled melodies they had several hits with tracks like "N gångtill" (One more time) and the smooker "Hur e de möjligt? (How is itpossible?) together with the lay back "Relalalaxa" (Relax) from thefollowing album in 1990. Just D was one of the most well-knownand popular groups in the late 80s and early 90s. Kayo, anaccomplished dancer, was one of the members of Freestyle(above) in 1981 but left after the two first singles and before therecording of the first album. She did also the vocal parts in thebreak on Stop's "Kool katt" together with W. Theunissen (above).She released her debut album in 1990 including the hit "Changeof attitude", a nicely presented and a bit bumpy soul funk trackshowing the best sides of here dark voiced vocals.

The 90s - Sweden's second wave after Abba

STONEFUNKERS/VIKTORIA TOLSTOY/LISA NILSSON During the90s an explosion in both the soul, funk and rap scenes came inSweden producing dozens of hits and that like Abba over 15 yearearlier conquered the world once again. Well-know names like

Roxette and TheCardigan's are all fromSweden that togetherscored many top hits.They represented thepop and rock fields, butwhat about the soul andfunk? One of the funkiestof the funkiest are theGöteborg based funkband Stonefunkers thatrepresents one of thefinest moments inSwedish funk history and

are highly recommended to any collector of rare funk. For jazzlovers I recommend the beautiful vocalist Victoria Tolstoy (left)that is regarded as one of Sweden's most excellent jazz singers oftoday. With a sultry voice presenting an irresistible and spellbounding soft jazzsoul/jazzpop she has reached success both inSwede and abroad. Her most consistent albums is the excellect"White Russian" from 1997 including the irresistable "Solitary". As


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a curiosity; she is indeed related to the world famous Russianauthor count Leo Tolstoy as he was her grandmothersgrandfather, a fact that does make the whole thing even moreexiting. Also one of the finest and most appreciated voices of the90s in Sweden of Lisa Nilsson is highly recommedable stuff.Especially the third album "Himlen runt hörnet" (heaven aroundthe corner) from 1992 got some mesmerizing momemts worthyour time.

ANNMAARTMANNAmong alltheproductions Ihave heardduring the90s it's onethat standsbeyondanything elsethough in themysteriousbeauty,vocalist and

mutliintrumentalist Ann Maartmann (Pronounced Mortmann)(right) from the suburb Nacka east of Stockholm. With animpressive education mainly in the jazz genre at Berklee inBoston (where she wrote the amazing jazz funk tune "Illusions" in1983 sample) together with rich natural gifts both as vocalist,saxophone and piano player she had a solid ground for somethingbig. Her passionate and soulful voice were soon put on arecording after a contract with BMG Sweden when she droppedher irresistible debut track "Om ändå du" (sample) as a CD singlein 1996; a track you simply can't get enough off! Her debut is ararely heard perfect blend of soul, jazz and R&B with a joyfulsaxophone, funky synths and haunting lyrics yearning for love andcloseness; simply a pure masterpiece! The single also included anEnglish version called "I can't wait" (sample) with some interestingand slightly different arrangements including more of her pleasantand completely irresistable saxophone play besides being oneminute longer than the original mix. She not only sang on both ofthe tracks, she wrote and produced them, played the rhodes solo,sax solo, altsax solo, played the strings, performed as backgroundsinger and arranged the strings and horn section; wow!

Two years later and with big promoterBMG cancelling their engagemt justbefore her promised album wasfinished she was nonetheless in animpressive way able to release thedebut album "Reconciliation" (left) on


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her own and swiftly created productioncompany/label "Sensitive".Considering the great result it was

unfortunately only released in Sweden, Japan, Taiwan and SouthKorea but had for sure the potential for some sort of success onboth the US and German markets. The set was emphasizingalmost completely on sweet and sensitive jazz and soul ratherthan R&B from the debut single "Om ändå du". But the album onwhich she wrote all the tracks is nonetheless a brilliantachievement by Maartmann with very strong and hard to resistmelodies, perfect harmony between the song and the instrumentsand a very high level of consistencyall through the album. The albumgives a feeling of hope and a newbeginning just like after a refreshingrain. Her sensitive arrangements andappealing, likewise competent pianoplay leaves no one untouched. Thatsensitivity is perhaps bestmaterialised in the dreamy title trackand the very personal "It's too late"that is one of the most touching moments in her career. But it canalso be found in one of my personal favorites, the instrumentalpiece "Cherish the day", on which Maartmann creates a beautifulsong of joy and curiosity that sometimes takes the role of acharmingly shy girl that in the middle of the joy also shows asincere gratitude of life. Reconciliation is an album that gives thelistener plenty of peaceful and spiritual moments and generouslyregenerates your spirit with joy.

Her latest album titled "Swedish gold" from 2002 continues on thesame high level set on "Reconciliation". This time four of the ninetracks were written by others, including an old Ellington classic.Maartmaan delivers a highly tasteful and sassy laid back jazz soulof the best quality! In fact one even get the feeling that her songhas matured a bit since the first album and feels more confidentthis time.

What about Tolstoy versus Maartmann? Well, see it like this.Tolstoy is a highly regarded and well-known singer with strong andappealing melodies but without writing as much by her self. Thenot as well-known Maartmann's melodies are with out any doubtmore touching and joyful with a consistency on each album thatTolstoy don't even come close to. And when Maartmann alsowrites most of the melodies by her self the over all impression isnot only impressive, it's darn good! Their voices are very differentbut equally tasteful in their own special way which bring us to theconclusion that Maartmann is at least as impressive andaccomplished jazz singer as Tolstoy and on top a by far better andmore impressive song writer. Add Maartmann's touching andlovely sensitive piano and saxophone play and I think we got awinner even though it's a close race. Therefore Maartmann'sproductions can be considered not only as Swedish gold but alsoone of Sweden's most secret gold mines still to be explored andbecome embraced and enchanted by!


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Who ever you choose between the two Maartmann's debut singleand the albums are three of Sweden's finest musical moments!

Another interesting jazz soul name to watch out for is LindaPettersson from Sundsvall in the northern parts of Sweden andher impressive and sensual debut album "Who are you" from2004! Even though much is jazz and soul she has a rather widearray of songs on the album that is completely performed inEnglish.

The rest of the 90s ends here and can be found elsewhere.Hopefully this little introduction has given you completely newbeats and inspired you to embark on new musical adventures.

Patrik Andersson

Where to buy?

Many of the artists are very hard, or literally impossible to get andeven I do not have all of them. But a few of them can be bought atstores like:

www.gemm.comwww.cdon.com (EU citizens only)www.amazon.com

Get the grooves via PSFS!

I can also try to get these rare 7", 12" or LP's at a Swedishauction. I will then inform you about the assumed price (that oftenis very low) and you will set your highest bid. I will take a smallcharge of 10€ for each international order (worldwide) besides thecoast for shipping and handling of only 10€ in the EU and 15€elsewhere. All payments goes via PayPal or ordinary mail. Whenthe money has arrived your records will be shipped within 24hours.

This is a unique offer to get extremely rare grooves, take it!

Related sites:

Abba (official site)Ann Maartmann (official site)Electric banana band (official site)Gigi Hamilton (official site) Ex-member of Freestyle. Underconstruction.Kayo (official site)Lisa Nilsson (official site)Magnum Coltrane Price (official site)TitiyoVictoria Tolstoy (official site)


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Essential Swedish albums and singles 1979-2005

For more details like covers, complete track lists and samplessimply click on "More info" beneath.

Artist Title/FormatYear &rating

Albums and singles 1979-2005

Sad motionJag vill ha dig ikväll (7") More info(NEW)

1979 ****

Sad motion Sad motion (LP) More info (NEW) 1980 ****

Freestyle Fantasi (LP) More info 1981 ***

Sad motion Du är stark (7") More info (NEW) 1981 **

Electric banana bandBanankontakt av tredje graden (7") *More

1982 ****

Electric banana band Zvampen (7") * More info 1983 ****

Li Berg The smørgasbord (12") More info1983*****

Per Cussion all stars Don't stop (LP & CD) * More info BUY 1983 ***

Shine Equality (7") More info 1983 ****

Shine Shine (LP) More info 1983 ***

Stop Kool katt (7") More info1983*****

Cool clan connection Dont stop (12") More info 1984 ***

Li Berg Vill du (LP) More info 1984 ****

Stop Don't stop (7") 1984 ****

Esquille Just 4 U (7") More info 1987 ****

Charlie It's a mystery (12") More info 1988 ****

Magnum ColtranePrice

Sara (12") * More info (NEW) 1990 ****

Titiyo Titiyo (LP) * More info BUY 1990 ****

Lisa NilssonHimlen runt hörnet (CD) * More infoBUY

1992 ***

Ann Maartmann Om ändå du (CD single) More info BUY1996*****

Viktoria Tolstoy White Russian (CD) * More info BUY 1997 ****

Ann Maartmann Reconciliation (CD) More info BUY1998*****

Ann Maartmann Swedish gold (CD) More info BUY2002*****

All original release years

*) In print Sources: Cover info, booklet info, Ann Maartmann,Aftonbladet, Peter Wahlberg, Werner Theunissen and Wikipedia UK.

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Groovemaster


15 av 15 2012-02-18 13.39

Swedish Soul Funk Grooves - Patriks Soul:Funk Music

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Transcript of Swedish Soul Funk Grooves - Patriks Soul:Funk Music