FASCINATING TALK WITH KJELL BERGLUND, TOP JAZZ TRUMPET

I've heard Kjell often in the past but not recently. I notice that he always plays with a certain intensity. He doesn't smile, he looks serious and there is no doubt that he is very serious about what he does. "For me, melody and rhythm together are the most important. The harmony is just colouring for the tune," he says.

Kjell likes playing ballads. He says it might be because of his Swedish background. "In this country they like energy, whereas in Sweden there is more openness and space. In Sweden you can have a jazz concert all evening consisting of ballads and you'll be popular"

To get colour in his solos he sometimes uses the diminished or the whole tone scales, but never too much. He would rather pick individual notes. "Every note is important in a solo, every one"

He would use a darker scale for some songs and a lighter scale for others. "There is a musical line to be navigated," he says. This to me is a very interesting idea which I have never heard before, although it seems obvious now he has said it. I guess it is the sort of thing one would feel if you pay a lot of respect to the tune.

Shortly after hearing this I heard them play a brilliant and fast 12 bar blues "Straight no chaser". This song sounds simple, with one idea being re-stated over and over, but the tricky bit is the fact that each time it is in a different part of the measure. Typical trickery in Monk's compositions.
Monk was a great user of Whole Tone scales. Because they are symmetric they float around without giving any tonal clue.

I asked him about riffs and patterns. Kjell says might start a phrase with a riff then extend it. He sometimes plays around with major scales. "For example, I might use Dmaj 7#11 which is the IV7#11 of an another A maj."

Very interesting man, very interesting player, and very thoughtful and interesting ideas. Lovely solos. I also noticed that he often uses a long note to resolve a phrase. So we all get time to settle down before he tensions it again.

John


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