- Part one of this series can be found here.
- Part two: from the 70s onwards
- Part three: the interpretations
By Jürg Lehmann
Of course, Blowin’ in the Wind was also embraced by the jazz community. Ray Bryant got off to a promising start in 1963, but most jazz covers in this early stage were dutifully reproducing the tune, such as Duke Ellington (1964) and Stan Getz (1964). King Curtis’s version of the song (1966) treats it as just another pop number – he does at least give it a cheerful swing that opens up some of the melody’s potential.
But the epitome of Dylan’s tunes being used by jazzers keen to tap into the pop market, writes Luke McKernan, is ‘Dylan Jazz’, by the Gene Norman Group, from 1965. This is an entire album of jazz covers performed in workmanlike fashion by a combo that included future country star Glen Campbell on guitar. It’s proficient stuff, great for playing in the background at your mid-60s swinging party, but chiefly notable for how the musicians have no sense of the song’s import, even if they are playing them as instrumentals. Their covers reproduce exactly what they saw on the music sheet, but bear no relation in feeling, or indeed tune, to what Dylan meant.
Shirley Scott, the ‘Queen of the Hammond Organ’ (1968), and Stanley Turrentine (1968) stand out by trying their own interpretation.
But it is only with Jan Johansson, who was somehow ahead of his time, things start to get truly interesting. Although he is little known outside Scandinavia, Johansson was among Sweden’s top jazz pianists of the 1950s and 60s. It was at that time that Johansson came to the attention of Stan Getz, who spent a lot of time in Scandinavia. Getz loved the melodic nature of Johansson’s playing and went on a six week tour with his quintet. Johansson also was an outstanding fusionist of Swedish folk music and jazz and known for his ability to combine complex harmonic structures with melodic clarity. His album Jazz på svenska (Jazz in Swedish) has sold over a quarter of a million copies and has been streamed more than 50 million times on Spotify. In November 1968 Jan Johansson died in a car crash on his way to a concert in a church in Jönköping, Sweden. Blowin’ in the Wind is a live recording made in the period between 1966 and 1968 and released posthumously in 2004 on the album Blues.
Arne Domnérus (1924-2008) was a contemporary of Jan Johansson, and together they recorded 10 albums. Born in Stockholm, Domnérus made his professional debut during the early ’40s, playing alto sax in popular dance bands. By 1942 he led his own group and made his recorded debut in 1945, honing an urbane, sophisticated style that nevertheless possessed an urgency often absent from the cool, remote tone associated with Swedish jazz.
American icons Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were both in attendance for Domnérus 1949 Paris festival gig, a performance which served notice that players of European descent could offer their own interpretations of music largely considered an African-American phenomenon. In his very Swedish, unassuming way, Domnérus said he developed his own style because he couldn’t hope to play like his idols, Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges and, of course, Bird. Parker was so impressed that he signed Domnérus for the Scandinavian tour he mounted a year later. At the time, Scandinavia was considered a safe haven for American jazz musicians, with an open-minded audience and better performance opportunities than in the US. Above all, African Americans were safe from racial hostility here.
Domnérus’ Dylan cover is from the album Sketches of Standards with guitarist Rune Gustafsson and dates from 1991. Domnerus was capable of transcending the most unpromising material, enthuses Chris Mosey. One example featured on ‘Sketches of Standards’ is his total transformation of the old Bob Dylan folk revival anthem ‘Blowing in the Wind’ which, with the admirable Rune Gustafsson on guitar, is transformed into something of a mini masterpiece.”
‘Last Radio Show’ is the last completed film by director Robert Altman. The comedy is inspired by one of the most popular radio shows in the US, ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ hosted by Garrison Keillor. ‘The Last Show’ is a love letter to a radio format that seems to have fallen out of time: the live show in front of a studio audience with sketches, music, commercials and the same main actors.
For 23 years (1993-2016), Richard Dworsky served as pianist and music director for Keillor’s. In 2006 he made his on-screen film debut as pianist/bandleader in the Robert Altman film and he was also the arranger and composer of the film. Dworsky’s Blowin’ in the Wind dates from the time before the Prarie radio show, it is from Back to the Garden (1992), an album with instrumental covers of songs from the 1960’s.
‘Last Radio Show’ is the last completed film by director Robert Altman. The comedy is inspired by one of the most popular radio shows in the US, ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ hosted by Garrison Keillor. ‘The Last Show’ is a love letter to a radio format that seems to have fallen out of time: the live show in front of a studio audience with sketches, music, commercials and the same main actors. For 23 years (1993-2016), Richard Dworsky served as pianist and music director for Keillor’s. In 2006 he made his on-screen film debut as pianist/bandleader in the Robert Altman film and he was also the arranger and composer of the film. Dworsky’s Blowin’ in the Wind dates from the time before the Prarie radio show, it is from Back to the Garden (1992), an album with instrumental covers of songs from the 1960’s.
Peter Saltzman is a pianist who has written music and produced a slew of records over the years, ranging from solo piano to symphonies, pop songs, choral and chamber music, and jazz. In the mid-to-late 90s, Saltzman led the Revolution Ensemble, a group that broke new ground with its adventurous mix of jazz, classical, Latin, and pop genres. He describes it as a highly personal, but accessible approach to playing the piano in a post-jazz style’. Since 2001, he has headed the Peter Saltzman Band as lead singer, pianist, songwriter/arranger. Things Better Left Said, released in 2003, is a vocal album comprising originals and standards, such as Blowin’ in the Wind.
Passionate improviser, composer and arranger, Belgian Pierre Van Dormael was a musician of many talents, and is considered by many a pioneer in various musical forms and experiments. His cover on the album Solos – Duos stands out for Tony Attwood, “because of the space it allows for us to appreciate the simple but highly effective representation of the chords without playing any.” The album was recorded between September 2007 and February 2008 and mastered in September 2008, the same month Pierre van Dormael passed away.
Italian saxophonist Stefano Cantini began his career in the 80’s, he has played with Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Michel Petrucciani, Chet Baker and many others. Cantini is described as an artist with a reserved life, appreciated by his fellow countrymen and musicians in the sector without ever having made it commercially. The characteristic of his music is that it transcends the boundaries of genre; clearly of jazz origin, especially for the sense of improvisation and cadences, it offers excursions into the pop, rock and classical fields. This year (2024) has seen the addition of another genre, when Cantini teamed up with Italian disco music and techno king Alexander Robotnick. The EP Robocok is the perfect sound for the dancefloor – and million miles away from the 2010 album Errante with Blowin’ in the Wind.
Details of our other current series are given on the home page.