Hurv KRCD-22: Tunes from Gästrikland - and more

Gunnar Persson

Gunnar Persson is one of Sweden's foremost accordionists in the style popularized by Carl Jularbo, and on this recording there are many examples of tunes from the Jularbo tradition, played with that special push and authority that few have mastered; incidentally Gunnar met Carl Jularbo several times.

But what also makes Gunnar unique is his large repertoire of tunes from the time when Magdeburg button-accordions (melodions) could be heard on open-air dance floors, at crossroads and in dance-pavilions.

The tunes were picked up from old fiddlers and accordionists around Gästrikland, but also during his 35 years of playing for dances, which he still does.

Apart from the old accordion tunes and the Jularbo tunes, Gunnar has also composed a fair number of tunes himself. Many of these were written after his retirement from his job with the local authority in Sandviken.

Anders Larsson and Gunnar began playing together around 1988. Anders was around 15 then, and had long been regarded as a prodigy on the accordion.

He was born in 1973 in Stora Tuna near Borlänge in the Dales, and says that he has been a fan of accordion music since the age of four. One reason behind this was a performance by a very popular accordionist, whom Anders saw in Borlänge together with his father, who also has a keen interest in the accordion. That year he got his first instrument, a small piano-accordion. From then on, the piano-accordion has been his main instrument.

At the age of five Anders played on the radio for the first time, and a year later he performed on TV. As a teenager he received first prize in three accordion competitions.

At first he devoted himself to the virtuoso repertoires of Pietro Frosini and the Swedish accordionist Ragnar Sundquist (1892-1951), but soon he became interested in Jularbo tunes, and also accordion swing in the spirit of Nisse Lind.

As an accordionist Anders Larsson not only has a stunning technique, he also has a special gift for picking up older styles. At a moment's notice he can switch from dance rhythms in Jularbo style to concert music of Ragnar Sundquist's brand, and then go into breakneck accordion swing improvisations which would make many of the old swing masters green with envy.

When Anders and Gunnar play together, it is Anders who improvises the second parts. Gunnar's Jularbo rhythm and Anders' imaginative backing with an unfailing sense of style - this makes for an accordion duet of the finest kind!

Gunnar Persson, melodions/button-accordions with one, two and five rows.
Anders Larsson, one-row melodion and piano-accordion.

list of tunes