Swedish Jazz in the United States: Swede and Cool traces and analyzes the dissemination and reception of jazz from Sweden in the United States during the period of 1947-1963. It maps the networks through which Swedish record companies exchanged recordings with their American counterparts, establishing an American interest in Swedish jazz at a time long regarded as a predominantly American era. Exploring these Swedish-American exchanges—rather than the canonized names in jazz—shines a light on new perspectives in the genre, clarifying the ways in which Swedish jazz was adapted to the American market and how it was understood in an American context. The result is an opportunity to consider the challenges national borders present in a global jazz world while reflecting on the genre’s expanding transnational reach during the 1950s.
1. Swingin’ Swedes in the United States / 1.1. Jazz and Sweden After the War / 1.2. Swedish Jazz and the International Record Industry / 1.3. Claes Dahlgren / 1.4. Feather Lauds Swedish Jazz / 1.5. Jazz Around the World / 1.6. Imported from Sweden / 2. Swedish Jazz Is Swedish Modern / 2.1. Records as Mediators / 2.2. New Sounds from Sweden / 2.3. Swedish Modern / 2.4. Danny’s Dream / 2.5. Bengt Hallberg / 2.6. Smörgåsbord of Swedish Jazz / 2.7. The Audience for Swedish Jazz / 3. Of White Men from the Cool North / 3.1. Notions of Europe and Jazz as an Art Form / 3.2. Nationality and Ethnicity / 3.3. Swedish Jazz and the Question of Race / 3.4. Swedish Masculinity and Femininity / 3.5. Consuming Swedish Jazz as a Performance of American Hipness / 4. The Transnationality of Swedish Jazz / 4.1. Americans in Sweden, Swedish Recordings in the United States / 4.2. The American Meaning of Swedish Jazz / 4.3. Transnational Perspectives on Swedish Jazz in the United States
Biography
Mischa van Kan is Senior Lecturer in Musicology at Linnaeus University, Sweden.
