Ulf Andersson

Swedish jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer, arranger and band leader, born on July 16, 1940 in Örnsköldsvik, Ångermanland and died on February 2, 2023 in Skarpnäck, Södermanland. Andersson got a flying start into the music profession, when, in the early 1960s, he became a member of Eje Thelin's legendary quintet. After three years of intensive touring in Europe with engagements at festivals and jazz clubs as well as three disc recordings, the group disbanded. He started a family and became a freelance musician in Stockholm. Worked extensively in TV and recording studios, as a theater musician in shows and in several ad hoc jazz groups. That kind of commitment made new demands on him as a musician. He expanded his instrument arsenal, when, in addition to his main instrument tenor sax, he also began treating alto and soprano sax as well as flutes and clarinet. Toured in the Swedish folk parks with artists such as Carli Tornehave, Lill-Babs and had a ten-year collaboration with Lill Lindfors. In 1971, Ulf formed, together with i.a. Ahmadu Jarr, Jan Tolf and Ulf Adåker, the group EGBA. The group became stylistic with its mix of Afro-Latin funk and a forerunner of what much later received the name "World-Music". Extensive touring and album recordings with EGBA were combined with other freelance assignments of various kinds, e.g. tours with ABBA or productions with Radiojazzgruppen. When famous artists such as The Supremes, Nancy Wilson, Frank Sinatra Jr., Shirley Bassey, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Judy Garland and others came to visit, Ulf was in the accompanying orchestra. In the Swedish TV series "I morron e´ de´ lördag", "Sveriges Magasin" and "Notknäckarna" Ulf was also present with his woodwinds. From 1980 and fifteen years later, he worked as a saxophone teacher on the African-American program at Kungliga Musikhögskolan I Stockholm. During the same period, he was employed as a teacher at KMI, the 'Kulturskolans Musikinstitut' and at the summer courses at Musikhögskolan Ingesund in Arvika, Värmland. He was a SKAP (Swedish composers and lyricists) scholarship holder in 1983. From the mid-90s he has worked as a bandleader for Monica Zetterlund. During his years as a musician, he has developed the ability to arrange and compose and he also produced a few records under his own name, e.g. with the group Crystal Eagle, a solo record, "Saxes and Woodwinds" and with the Ulf Andersson Band "Flying Carpet". He has also satisfied his curiosity about classical art music through a collaboration with the Russian born concert pianist Irina Sundström, a pianist who has been based in his hometown. During the playing year 1998/99 he worked at Oscarsteatern, with the musical "Guys and Dolls" and in the spring of 1999 he also did a concert tour with Charlie Norman and Alice Babs. A new project during the late 90s has been the formation of a new, youthful group, with Latin music in the repertoire. On October 28, 2022 he did his last show, with "THE SHOW - a tribute to ABBA," in Finland. After the show he announced that he had decided to stop touring and that this was his last show. His very first tour with ABBA, in the 1970s, was also in Finland. On February 2, 2023 he passed away. The cause was cancer.