# Lars Jansson (composer)

Lars Jansson (born 1951) is a Swedish jazz pianist and composer.

## Life

Jansson grew up in Örebro, Sweden, where he was bored by his lessons at the community music school. In his early teens, a relative lent him records of Miles Davis, Ben Webster, and Mose Allison. During the 1960s, he followed the fashion and developed an interest in the organ. He listened to Kjell Öhman play with the Telstars, to Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, and to Hammond organ music. Drummer Sjunne Ferger became an important figure in his life, and together they formed a duo: "Takt & Ton" (Beat & Pitch).
In 1970, after graduation from upper secondary school, he took a semester off, planning to go on and study medicine. He ended up at dental school, but after a year and a half he decided to switch to music. He was accepted at the Göteborg College of Music, where all the professional musicians had their jam sessions at night. That gave him the opportunity to play with Ove Johansson, Jan Forslund, Conny Sjökvist, Gilbert Holmström, Gunnar Lindgren, and others, and he discovered Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Paul Bley, Bill Evans, Lennie Tristano, Keith Jarrett, and Chick Corea.
Lars became a member of Björn Alke's quartet, with Gunnar Bergsten. He also played with the Arild Andersen Quartet. He went on to play with Radka Toneff and various Norwegian musicians, including Knut Riisnaes and Jan Garbarek, and then with Hawk on Flight, Equinox, Red Mitchell, Joakim Milder, Crystal Eagle, and many other groups, both Swedish and Danish. Today, the Lars Jansson trio is, and has long been, one of the most well-renowned jazz groups in Sweden. Originally, the other two members were Anders Jormin and Anders Kjellberg. Lars Danielsson succeeded Jormin as the trio's bass player in the mid-1980s, and since January 2005 he has been succeeded by Christian Spering. Lars Jansson Trios member are now Thomas Fonnesbaek-bass (Copenhagen) and his son Paul Svanberg (Stockholm) on drums.

## Discography
### As leader

| Year recorded | Title | Label | Notes |
| 1984 | Trio 84 | | Trio, with Anders Jormin (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 1987 | The Eternal Now | Ton Art | Trio, with Lars Danielsson (bass, cello), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 1991 | A Window Towards Being | Imogena | Most tracks trio, with Lars Danielsson (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums); some tracks quartet, with Brynjar Hoff (oboe) added |
| 1995 | Invisible Friends | Imogena | Trio, with Lars Danielsson (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 1996 | The Time We Have | Imogena | Trio, with Lars Danielsson (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 1996 | The Blue Pearl | Phono Suecia | With the Bohuslän Big Band |
| 1998 | One Poem, One Painting | Imogena | With the Bohuslän Big Band |
| 1999? | Hope | Spice of Life | Trio, with Lars Danielsson (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 2001? | At Ease | Spice of Life | Trio, Mori Yasuhito (bass), Anders Kjellberg (drums); in concert |
| 2000 Jan 25-27 | Giving Receiving | Imogena | Sextet, with Paolo Fresu (trumpet, flugelhorn), Paul McCandless (English horn, soprano sax, bass clarinet); Johan Borgström (tenor sax), Christian Spering (bass), Morten Lund (drums) |
| 2002? | Witnessing | Imogena | Trio, with Lars Danielsson (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 2003 | Temenos | Spice of Life | With the Bohuslän Big Band |
| 2004 | I Am That | Imogena | Trio, with Lars Danielsson (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 2005? | Sound Pictures | Spice of Life | Duo, with Tommy Kotter (piano) |
| 2008? | Worship of Self | Amuse | With Christian Spering (bass), Anders Kjellberg (drums), Ensemble MidtVest |
| 2010 | What's New | Spice of Life/Naxos | Trio, with Thomas Fonnesbak (bass), Paul Svanberg (drums) |
| 2011? | In Search of Lost Time | Prophone | Trio, with Christian Spering (bass), Anders Kjelberg (drums) |
| 2012? | Koan | Spice of Life | Trio, with Thomas Fonnesbak (bass), Paul Svanberg (drums) |
| 2014? | Everything I Love | Spice of Life | With Ove Ingemarsson (tenor sax), Thomas Fonnesbak (bass), Paul Svanberg (drums) |
| 2015? | Facing the Wall | Spice of Life | Trio, with Thomas Fonnesbak (bass), Paul Svanberg (drums) |
| 2016? | More Human | Spice of Life | Trio, with Thomas Fonnesbak (bass), Paul Svanberg (drums) |
| 2018? | Just This | Storyville | Trio, with Thomas Fonnesbak (bass), Paul Svanberg (drums) |

### Compilations

* Ballads (Imogena, 1991–97)

### As sideman

With Arild Andersen
* Shimri (ECM, 1976)
* Green Shading into Blue (ECM, 1978)
With Hans Ulrik
* Strange World (STUNT, 1994)
With Ove Ingemarsson
* Heart of the Matter
* New Blues