Mel Bay Early Jazz for Fingerstyle Guitar
Born in 1949 in Stockholm, Sweden, Lasse Johansson began playing the guitar in the mid 60s. His main early influences were Doc Watson and Merle Travis. Lasse recorded his first fingerpicking arrangement, Maple Leaf Rag, in 1969. A meeting with Stefan Grossman in 1970 inspired Lasse to continue arranging classic ragtime pieces for the guitar, and in 1974 he recorded his first album, March and Two Step consisting of ragtime guitar solos and particularly duets which defined his guitar style during this period.March and Two Step was re-released on Kicking Mule Records and Lasse and duet partner Claes Palmqvist continued to record music derived from classic nineteenth century piano rags. King Porter Stomp (1980), an album featuring arrangements of Jelly Roll Morton's music, was also issued as a book by Mel Bay Publications.