Jan Allan

Jan Bertil Allan (born November 7, 1934 in Falun) is a Swedish jazz trumpeter and composer. He is the winner of a Grammis Award, the Swedish equivalent of the Grammys. He has also composed for several films such as The Adventures of Picasso (1978), Sopor (1981) and Trollkarlen (1999).

Allan began his career in 1951 as a pianist; after moving to Stockholm, he changed to the trumpet as his main instrument. At this time he played in Carl-Henrik Norin's orchestra. From 1954-55 he worked with Lars Gullin and Rolf Billberg and from 1955-59 with Carl-Henrik Norin. At the same time he earned a PhD in physics.

Despite his small number of records, Allan is among the most important modern jazz musicians in Sweden. From 1960-63 he led a quintet with Billberg. Over the course of the 1960s, he worked with Arne Domnérus, Georg Riedel, and Bengt Hallberg, among others. From 1968 to 1975 he was a member of the Swedish Radio Jazz Group. His album Jan Allan -70, which featured Rolf Ericson, Nils Lindberg, Bobo Stenson, Jon Christensen, and Rune Gustafson, won a Grammis Award for Jazz of the Year in 1970. Allan played with the same group and Georg Riedel on the trio-album Sweet And Loverly. His 1998 album Software stands in strong affinity with the West Coast Jazz of Gerry Mulligan and Stan Getz.

Over the course of his career, Allan also recorded albums with Bosse Broberg, Benny Carter, Dorothy Donegan, Lars Gullin, Jan Johansson, Thad Jones, Roger Kellaway, Lee Konitz, Nils Lindberg, Georg Riedel, George Russell and Monica Zetterlund. In 2009 he was honored with a Swedish Golden Django as a Master of Jazz.

Literature

• Richard Cook & Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. Sixth Edition, London, Penguin, 2002
• Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X.