Eje Thelin

Eje Thelin (born Eilert Ove Thelin) (June 9, 1938 - May 18, 1990) was an innovative Swedish trombonist, widely admired among fellow trombonists for his facile technique and rhythmic intensity. He was, perhaps, the first jazz trombonist to translate that technique into the so-called "sheets of sound" style that characterized much of the music of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and, in general, Free Jazz of the late 1960s and 1970s.

Thelin started his own quintet in 1961. From 1969 to 1972 he was on the faculty of the Music Academy in Graz, Austria. For the rest of the 1970s, he led his own Eje Thelin Group in Sweden. In the 1980s he expanded into composition, writing commissioned works for large European orchestras, sometimes featuring himself as soloist. In spite of the attention given to the obvious technical side of his playing, Thelin was also known for his warm approach to traditional ballads, a somewhat retro-romanticism that comes through in his later playing.

As leader

 * So Far-Eje Thelin Quintet (1963) Columbia EMI Swenska AB
 * Eje Thelin Quintet at the German Jazz Festival (1964) Dragon of Sweden DRCD 374
 * Eje Thelin with Barney Wilen (1966) Dragon of Sweden DRCD 366
 * Rolf & Joachim Kühn: Monday Morning (1969) HörZu; with Rolf Kühn, John Surman, Joachim Kühn, Barre Phillips, Stu Martin, Jacques Thollot
 * Joachim Kühn/Eje Thelin Group- In Paris (1970) Metronom; with Adelhard Roidinger, Jacques Thollot
 * Eje Thelin/Pierre Favre/Jouck Minor-Candles Of Vision (1972) Calig CAL 30609
 * Eje Thelin Group (1974) Caprice CAP 1091
 * Eje Thelin Group-Live (1976) Caprice CAP 2007:1-2
 * Eje Thelin Group-Hypothesis (1978)
 * Eje Thelin-Bits and Pieces (1980) Phono Suecia PSCD 9
 * Eje Thelin-Polyglot (1981) Caprice CAP 1291
 * Eje Thelin-E.T. Project (1986) Dragon of Sweden DRLP 128

As composer

 * Raggruppamento (1980) Phono Suecia 0000056

As sideman
With Don Cherry With Clarinet Summit With Benny Golson With Krzysztof Komeda With Jimmy Witherspoon With Kenny Wheeler
 * Eternal Rhythm (MPS/BASF, 1972)
 * You Better Fly Away (1980)
 * Stockholm Sojourn (Prestige, 1974)
 * Ballet Etudes (Polonia, 1962)
 * Some of My Best Friends Are the Blues (Prestige, 1964)
 * Around 6 (ECM, 1979)