Sten Åke Henry "Stan" Hasselgård (October 4, 1922 – November 23, 1948) 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 ...

clarinetist. Hasselgård was heavily influenced by

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

, and he played

swing jazz Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

in his early years, before exploring

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

shortly before his death.

Biography

Hasselgård was born in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

. His father was John Levin Johansson (1886–1923), a son of Johan Ludvig Persson who later changed his name to John Hasselgård; his mother was Linda Köhler (1893–1979), a daughter of Magnus Wilhelm Köhler. Åke Hasselgård's father died in a hunting accident in

Gällivare Gällivare (; ; or ; or ; ) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget ...

when Åke was only a year old.Roland Classon,
Stan Hasselgård och hans rötter
("Stan Hasselgård and his roots"), ''

Helsingborgs Dagblad (''HD'', lit. "Helsingborg's Daily Paper"), published in Helsingborg in Skåne is the largest (circ. 84,000) newspaper in Swedish outside the metropolitan cities of Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm. History and profile The newspaper was found ...

'', October 30, 2006. Accessed December 4, 2011. Hasselgård grew up in

Bollnäs Bollnäs () is a Swedish locality and the seat of Bollnäs Municipality, in Gävleborg County, Sweden. It has about 14,000 inhabitants.https://bollnas.se/kommun-och-politik/kommunfakta History The first recording of Bollnäs in writing is fro ...

, Sweden, and began playing clarinet at the age of 16. He attended college at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

and played in the there. In 1945, he played in a quintet led by Arthur Österwall, and founded a new Royal Swingers group that year. From 1946 to 1947, he played with Simon Brehm's sextet alongside Gösta Eriksson (piano), Bror Hansson (trumpet), (guitar) and (drums).Roland Classon,
Stan Hasselgård fick spela med de stora
("Stan Hasselgård played with the greats"), ''Helsingborgs Dagblad'', October 30, 2006. Accessed December 4, 2011. Having achieved international renown, he moved in 1947 to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and played there on 52nd Street with

Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an United States, American jazz Trombone, trombonist and singer. He led both of his bands himself and was a sideman for Paul Whiteman's orchestra. From 1946 to 1951, he played ...

and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

. Under the stage name Stan Hasselgard, he made his acclaimed recording of ''Swedish Pastry'', and in 1948 he joined Benny Goodman's

septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry ...

, alongside

Wardell Gray Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist. Biography Early years The youngest of four children, Gray was born in Oklahoma City. He spent his early childhood years in Oklahoma b ...

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

and others. His last recording session occurred on November 18, 1948; on November 23 he was killed in a

car crash A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

outside the city of

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, at the age of 26. He was buried in the family plot of District Judge John Larson (1883–1962) in Bollnäs churchyard. Larson had become Hasselgård's stepfather when his mother remarried in 1929, six years after she had been widowed.

Recognition

Filmmaker Jonas Sima's 1983 documentary, ''Åke Hasselgård Story'', portrayed Hasselgård's life and career. At the 2002 Swedish Jazz Celebration at

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

's Nalen entertainment centre, he was posthumously recognized with a Golden Django Award. Since 2000, Bollnäs municipality has also disbursed an annual scholarship in his name, awarded to a young jazz musician with ties to Bollnäs. Hasselgård was the "famous bop clarinetist hohad died in an Illinois car-crash recently" the memory of which spooked Sal Paradise on his journey to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

's ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagoni ...

'' (1957). Kerouac also mentions him by name (as "Hassel") several times in other chapters. Hasselgård was second cousin to former Swedish Prime Minister

Ingvar Carlsson Gösta Ingvar Carlsson (born 9 November 1934) is a Swedish politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Sweden, first from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1996. He was leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1986 to 1996. He ...

; their common great-grandparents were Per August Magnusson (1822–1899) and his wife Kristina Charlotta Hjellström (1817–1880).Roland Classon,
Ingvar Carlsson och Stan Hasselgård var sysslingar
, ''Helsingborgs Dagblad'', October 30, 2006. Accessed December 4, 2011. Hasselgård's niece Åsa Hasselgård-Rowe is married to Richard Rowe, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n who served simultaneously as ambassador (2003–2007) to Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania."Roland Classon,
Namnet Hasselgård lever vidare – via en brorsdotter
("Hasselgård name lives on through his brother's daughter"), ''Helsingborgs Dagblad'', October 30, 2006. Accessed December 4, 2011.Alexander Downer,

, October 2, 2002. Accessed December, 2011.

References

External links

Biography and discography
by Par Rittsel * Stan Hasselgardat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Minnet av Stan Hasselgård
("Remembering Stan Hasselgård"), ''Helsingborgs Dagblad'', Oct. 16, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hasselgard, Stan 1922 births 1948 deaths Swedish jazz musicians People from Bollnäs People from Sundsvall Benny Goodman Orchestra members Swedish emigrants to the United States Musicians from Västernorrland County