Eilert Ove "Eje" Thelin (9 June 1938 – 18 May 1990) was a Swedish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trombonist.

Biography

Thelin, who was self-taught as a musician, started playing with the

dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

group Pygmé Jazz Band, and later joined the sextet of Putte Wickman. Influenced by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

among others, he then moved towards modern jazz. Thelin led his own quintet from 1961 until 1965, touring in Europe on several occasions. Disillusioned with the Swedish jazz scene, Thelin moved to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in 1968, where he taught at the Academy of Music in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, while also performing free improvised music with a group led by himself and Joachim Kühn in several European countries. After returning to Stockholm in 1972, he led his own Eje Thelin Group in Sweden for the rest of the 1970's, moving towards

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

and experimenting with

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

. Thelin would later mainly devote himself to composing and performing as a soloist. During his career, Thelin performed and collaborated with

Roy Brooks Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer. Biography Early life Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in c ...

Graham Collier James Graham Collier (21 February 1937 – 9 September 2011) was an English jazz Double bass, bassist, bandleader and composer. Life and career Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, on leaving school Collier joined the British Army as ...

Palle Danielsson Nils Paul "Palle" Danielsson (15 October 1946 – 18 May 2024) was a Swedish jazz double bassist born in Stockholm, Sweden. From 1974 to 1979, he was a member of Keith Jarrett's quartet. He was the brother of pianist Monica Dominique. Daniels ...

, Joe Harris, Joachim Kühn,

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

, George Russell,

John Surman John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, Clarinet family, clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for danc ...

and

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Acoustic Space'' (Odeon, 1970) * ''Candles Of Vision'' (Calig, 1972) – with Pierre Favre and Jouck Minor * ''Club Jazz 8'' (SR Records, 1973) * ''Bits & Pieces'' (Phono Suecia, 1980) * ''Polyglot'' (Caprice, 1981) * ''E. T. Project Live At Nefertiti'' (Dragon, 1986) * ''1966'' (Dragon, 2003) – with

Barney Wilen Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen (4 March 1937 – 25 May 1996) was a French jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist and composer. Biography Wilen was born in Nice, France; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. His ...

* ''Graz 1969'' (Dragon, 2005) – with

and John Preininger With Eje Thelin Group * ''Eje Thelin Group'' (Caprice, 1975) * ''Live '76'' (Caprice, 1977) * ''Hypothesis'' (MRC/Electrola, 1979) * ''Night Music 1974'' (BE! Jazz, 2015) With Eje Thelin Quintet * ''Jazz Jamboree 1962 Vol. 2'' (Polskie Nagrania Muza, 1962) * ''So Far'' (Columbia MI 1963) * ''At The German Jazz Festival'' (Metronome, 1964) With Eje Thelin Trio * ''1965'' (Dragon, 2016) – with

Bengt Hallberg Bengt Hallberg (13 September 1932 – 2 July 2013) was a Swedish jazz pianist, composer and arranger.John Fordha"Bengt Hallberg obituary" theguardian.com, 7 August 2013 Born in Gothenburg, he studied classical piano from an early age, and wro ...

With The New Joachim Kühn–Eje Thelin Group * ''In Paris'' (Metronome, 1970)

As composer

* Swedish Radio Jazz Group: ''Raggruppamento'' (Phono Suecia, 1991)

As sideman

* Don Cherry: '' Eternal Rhythm'' (MPS, 1969) *

Clarinet Summit Clarinet Summit was a project organized by producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt in 1979. A 1979 concert was released on MPS Records as ''You Better Fly Away''. It features John Carter, Perry Robinson, Gianluigi Trovesi, Bernd Konrad, Theo Jörgensmann ...

: ''You Better Fly Away'' (MPS, 1980) *

: ''

Hoarded Dreams ''Hoarded Dreams'' is a live album by bassist/composer Graham Collier featuring a composition commissioned for the Bracknell Jazz Festival by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1983 and released on the Cuneiform label in 2007. Reception Al ...

'' (Cuneiform, 1983

007 The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (; born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of the 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. He is also a frequent collaborator of German filmmaker Wolfgang Pet ...

: ''Jubilee'' (Atlantic, 1973) * Léon Francioli: ''Live In Montreux'' (Evasion Disques, 1972) – with Pierre Favre and Jouk Minor *

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

: ''

Stockholm Sojourn ''Stockholm Sojourn'' is an album by the International Jazz Orchestra directed by Benny Golson which was recorded in Sweden in 1964 and originally released on the Prestige label.

'' (Prestige, 1965) *

Karin Krog Karin Krog (born 15 May 1937) is a Norwegian Vocal jazz, jazz singer. Life and career Krog began singing jazz as a teenager and attracted attention while performing in jam sessions in Oslo. In 1955, she was hired by the pianist Kjell Karlsen ...

: ''Different Days, Different Ways'' (Philips, 1976) * Rolf and Joachim Kühn: ''Monday Morning'' (Hör Zu, 1969) *

: '' Around 6'' (ECM, 1979) *

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...

: '' Some of My Best Friends Are the Blues'' (Prestige, 1964) *

Monica Zetterlund Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. She represented Sweden in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest with the jazz ballad " En gång i Stockholm" ("Once Upon a T ...

: ''Monica Zetterlund'' (Philips, 1967)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thelin, Eje 1938 births 1990 deaths People from Jönköping Free jazz trombonists Swedish jazz trombonists Swedish male jazz composers Swedish music educators 20th-century Swedish composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century trombonists