LED
Nils Janson – trumpet
Thomas Backman – alto saxophone and clarinet
Mats Äleklint – trombone
Alberto Pinton – baritone saxophone and flutes
Per-Åke Holmlander – tuba
Peter Danemo – drums and additional instruments
Inspired by the spirit of improvisation in rock music—drawing from bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix—Danemo has crafted highly creative and personal arrangements for a hand-picked group of musicians, all among the absolute elite of Sweden’s improvisational jazz scene. This sextet consists of five horns, with Danemo himself on drums. The tuba player, Per-Åke Holmlander, is also a member of Swedish Azz (with Mats Gustafsson) and Peter Brötzmann’s Tentet.
While there are clear free and avant-garde elements in LED‘s music, the band also incorporates influences from New Orleans jazz and funky grooves. Unexpectedly, there are also mellow sections featuring lyrical polyphony. These refreshing arrangements, combined with the inventive and playful musicianship of the sextet, offer a completely new perspective on Led Zeppelin’s music.
“When I was around 15 or 16 years old, I bought my first Led Zeppelin album, Physical Graffiti. I was absolutely blown away by the power of the music. From there, I worked my way backwards through their albums, diving deeper and deeper into Led Zeppelin’s world. Time passed, and 30 years later, I moved from one city to another.
The move involved going through old things, cleaning out and throwing stuff away. I came across my old Led Zeppelinvinyls and thought, I wonder how I feel about this music now? But at the time, there was no time to listen.
While settling into our new hometown, I remembered those old albums I had rediscovered. I began to listen to them again and found that the music still meant as much to me now as it did back then. One thing I noticed, with 30 years of hindsight, was how much they improvised. Especially when listening to their live albums, where songs could extend for up to 20 minutes, full of experimentation. This is something very rare in rock music today.
The idea struck me: What if I arranged some of their songs for a jazz setting? But I wasn’t sure what kind of band would be the right fit. Slowly, the concept began to take shape, and after some trial and error, I eventually found the perfect combination of instruments and musicians.”
“Transcribing and arranging the music was a very slow process, but the work itself was deeply satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed digging into the core of their music, exploring ways to translate it into our style of playing. Having grown up with rock in one ear and jazz in the other, I felt I had come full circle.
So, dear listener, I hope you enjoy the music as much as we enjoyed recording it!”
Peter Danemo, August 2011
LED – The Ocean was released in October 2011 on Kopasetic Productions. Also featured on the album is Dan Berglund on acoustic bass for No Quarter.
Below are two links to audio and video clips. The audio excerpts are from LED’s debut album, The Ocean, released on Kopasetic Productions. The video clips are from LED’s very first concert at Landet Jazz in 2010, filmed by Bertil Pettersson.