Sture Åkerberg

Swedish contrabassist, born on February 10, 1935 in Alingsås, Sweden. He died on July 29, 1997 in Stockholm, Sweden. Sture Åkerberg started as an accordionist, but in the early 1950s he switched to the contrabass, and on that instrument he had a rapid development to become one of Sweden's most prolific musicians, not only in jazz but also in revues and in modern musicals. During the 1960s Åkerberg played with Gals And Pals, and in minor groups with different pianists like Thore Swanerud, Knud Jörgensen and Gunnar Svensson. In 1969 he participated in Hasse & Tage's "Spader Madame", which initiated his many revue engagements in the 1970s when the climate for jazz music was harsh. It was also on the revue stage his long-time collaberation with Monica Zetterlund, to whom he was married to between 1974 and 1983, started. As a member of the pianist and arranger Lars Bagges Trio he accompanied Monica Zetterlund on stage until the mid 1990s. For Sture Åkerberg the 1980s and 1990s became jazz music decades, and he had many free-lance engagements. He then also participated on many jazz music recordings, with artists like Arne Domnérus, Putte Wickman, Svante Thuresson, Toots Thielemans, Scott Hamilton, and Clark Terry. During the 1990s he was a member of as disparate groups as Sveriges Jazzband and Gösta Rundqvist Trio.