Nils Lindberg

A fine pianist and arranger/composer, Nils Lindberg worked with a who's who of Swedish jazz. He studied music at Uppsala University and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, graduating in 1960. He gigged with Benny Bailey (1957-1958), Ove Lind, Putte Wickman, and others while still a student. Two of Lindberg's finest LPs, Sax Appeal and Trisection, were reissued as a single Dragon CD in 1992 and feature Lars Gullin, Jan Allan, Idrees Sulieman, and Eje Thelin. He also wrote arrangements for Alice Babs and recorded with Karin Krog (1976). Nils Lindberg was expert at combining Swedish folk songs with jazz, wrote classical music (including for the Swedish Radio Symphony and the Hanover Symphony), appeared with Duke Ellington's Orchestra in October 1973, accompanied Judy Garland during a Scandinavian tour, and was the leader of the big band at the Municipal Music School of Stockholm. Nils Lindberg died on February 20, 2022; he was 88 years of age. ~ Scott Yanow