Finissage & Music Performance: Versuch der Rekonstruktion

Sven-Åke Johansson

Info: In 1967, Sven-Åke Johansson moved from Paris, then the Mecca of European jazz where the Swedish musician (*1943) made a name for himself as a Bebop drummer at such legendary clubs as the Blue Note and Le chat qui pêche, to the German city of Wuppertal. A young radical scene was taking shape there that included musicians like Alexander von Schlippenbach, Peter Brötzmann, Peter Kowald and Manfred Schoof. The city had evolved into an epicentre of free improvisation in West Germany and Johansson quickly established himself as one of its most experimental and versatile protagonists. Over the course of the next few years, he travelled extensively throughout Europe with various ensembles. He spent longer periods in Hamburg and The Hague before settling in Berlin in 1976. With him at all times was his camera, an old Agfa Clack, with which he captured a wide range of impressions from his day-to-day life.