Jan Johansson

Although not well known in the U.S., Jan Johansson was among Sweden's top jazz pianists of the 1950s and '60s and commanded tremendous respect in Scandinavian jazz circles. Johansson (who also played guitar, organ, and accordion) was born and raised in Soderhamn in Sweden's Halsingland province, where he studied classical piano as a child before becoming interested in swing and bebop as a teenager. As a high school student in the late '40s, he played locally with various Soderhamn swing and dance bands, including Gerhard's Orchestra, the Five Swingers, and the sextet of the Be...