Eje Thelin in Club Jazz 8 (1973) and his Group's Hypothesis (1979)

Given the expected unpopularity of that last post I won't let you suffer long before going back to more progressive music.  And if it's original, never before heard music that you want, then you've got it made here with this rip because we're dealing with the dreaded free jazz style on this early album from Eje Thelin, a Swedish trombonist and composer, who passed away at a relatively young age (1938-1990).

I wasn't aware of the Swedish Club Jazz series until now and it seems they are underrepresented in the digital sphere (perhaps for good reason).  Some out there know a lot more than I do and it would be nice to get some more information from those who might have heard the records in question.  They all seem quite rare and it's interesting to me that our old post Wallgrens appears in a 1974 release of the series.

To give you an idea, I'll post the shortest of the four long tracks that make up this album, Club Jazz 8.





Desperately turning our attention now to the more fusionary Eje Thelin Group who put out a few great albums in the 70s, I am given permission to share what's surely his best work, the 1979 album Hypothesis.  First of all notice that like Peter Wolf all their album covers were black and white.

On the title track instantly you can see what a mellowed-out man Eje became some six years following the Club experience, reminding me of the great Freddie Hubbard in the 70s:





Note how that laidback intro leads to the more uptempo and intense body of the song. This is a Thelin composition btw.

The track called Curved Space was written by Arne Lothman, the pianist.  Starting with a simple B flat minor 6 arpeggio with enhancements from both acoustic piano and electric guitar, the track very very slowly builds to the oddest chords supplemented by a synth soloing above.  It's a rare song where the notes played above a persistent chord (80% of the song consists of B♭m6) add so much interest.





Truly a lost treasure I'd say.  I don't know though why there are not one but two versions of the tired old Jimmy van Heusen standard Here's that rainy day on here.