Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
You couldn’t get much further from jazz’s birthplace in New Orleans, Louisiana, than the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, but it was there in the town of Visby in 1928 that one of the music’s greatest exponents of the baritone saxophone was born.
Lars Gullin astonished all those around him as a child accordionist, but when he moved from his home island to Stockholm in 1947 his reputation grew first as a pianist and then as a baritonist after 1949 when he first heard Gerry Mulligan on the Birth of the Cool sessions.
He played baritone horn with altoist Arne Domnerus and trumpeter Rolf Ericson in Stockholm from 1951, also working and recording with visiting US musicians like Clifford Brown, Zoot Sims, James Moody and the very influential saxophonist Lee Konitz.
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a new album featuring Pat Thomas and Ahmed, and marvels at the tempestuous power of a live performance
Re-releases from Bobby Wellins/Kenny Wheeler Quintet, Larry Stabbins/Keith Tippet/Louis Moholo-Moholo, and Charles Mingus Quintet
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to saxophonist and retired NHS orthopaedic surgeon ART THEMEN


