Whether you know the term "Ballin' the Jack" as the title of the popular song from 1913 or another railway themed definition, here's the Swedish jazz orchestra that confirms that there's plenty of jazz swing/blues with their trumpet player, Thomas Driving, (the train)!
"Young" Mr. Driving knows his chops and with Håkan Trygger (double bass and arrangements) and Charlie Malmberg (baritone saxophone) who are themselves 50% of the Choco Chatru Quartet (see review HERE) together with Ture Trygger (alto saxophone, Håkan's son), Anders Färdal (guitar) and Martin Wikström (drums) with trombone duties split between Dicken Hedrenius and Olle Eklind you get this unique combination.
But don't expect any of CCQ's 'concept' jazz (they've got their next album on the label coming out soon called 'Lost Christmas' - review coming soon) as this is, what they describe, a "no-generation-band" as the age range is 18-81 years old (Ed. there should be some reference to 'Palindrome'?)
If you do a search on 'Ballin' The Jack' you'll come across a huge selection of jazz history but this band has its roots in the Swedish band Gugge Hedrenius Big Blues Band in which Håkan played in for 10 years, Charlie since the 90s with the 'Jazz Ballroom Night' LP and Thomas for almost 30 years; whilst Dicken Hedrenius (Gugge's son) has been involved all his life. Such was the band's standing, over the year it's attracted guesting jazz musicians, from across the pond including Mel Lewis, Hank Crawford, Sabu Martinez and more.
With this heritage, it didn't take much for Håkan to spot the potential for a merger (or could that be a 'con(man)firmation'?) of like minds and arrangements. Like the title track, that you might think Benny Goodman doing trad jazz but it's more subtle than that as we find jazz guitar in the safe hands Anders, Martin's swinging drums and Dickin's trombone.
And then, you'd think that this formation, with their love of Big Band/Orchestra Swing, would stick to this formula? So they do to an extent with 'Blues For Ronnie' (written by Ture and not a tribute to the original baritone sax player was Ronny Stennson, but for the jazz drummer Ronnie Gardiner – a fantastic person and drummer, originally from america but who has lived in Sweden for many years) with Thomas, Anders, Dicken and the drum'n'bass team standing out.
Talkin' of the blues, 'Mood Indigo' is a long time standard from lounge to charity shop so this might be the best version you've ever heard! And then, Duke Ellington's 'Prelude To A Kiss' sounds inspired by a downtown sleazy night club (perhaps it was) and 'Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You' is the upgrade to a smokey jazz club with movie soundtrack aspirations.
But hang on, the tracks (like the band) are a mix of old and new. There's originals like 'Rena Hjärtat' ('Pure Heart', written by Håkan)) which is like an instrumental Chevalier Brothers big band without the vibes and bar room sweat (the campaign to get Daniel Kåse guesting on vibraphone starts here) and the boppy 'The Swedish Apple' (another written by Håkan) that's ready for the jazzdance.
At the time of release, we've had three supermoons events ('Harvest', 'Beavour' and 'Cold') and this album starts with a version of the blues standard 'Moonglow' that's a quicker version than Bob Freedman's (the one that appears on his 'Music To Strip By' album) and its a 'shared' track that sets the style for the rest of the album that needs to play on repeat to get the best out of it.
It's great to see Swedish jazz lineage go both ways here (with Håkan and Ture following Gugge and Dicken) and with exponents delivering a new take to a non-generational audience (much like when Gilles Peterson 'discovered' British Jazz 30 years after its peak). What's that you say, "The Ornette Coleman Trio at the 'Golden Circle ' Stockholm? I wonder!
BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://tidal.com/album/472271824/u
Artist: Ballin' The Jack Orchestra
Title: Con Man Firmation
Release date: 20th November, 2025
Label: Trygger Music
Catalog Number : TM3
Format : Vinyl LP / Spotify / Tidal
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