Since the mid-1960s the twelve-piece Swedish ensemble Kustbandet has specialized in inventive readings of material from the 1920s while avoiding literal recreations of vintage discs. The musicians originally performed under the name Southside Kneewarmers until a shipboard engagement prompted a switch to Kustbandet, a term denoting the shoreline visible from open water, and the new designation remained in place. Multireedist Kenneth Arnstrom functioned as the chief solo voice in that earlier lineup, which consisted largely of players who could not read music despite the sophistication of the charts. The 1974 addition of cornetist Bent Persson, whose playing closely recalls 1926 Louis Armstrong, encouraged greater use of written scores, a shift that accelerated after Arnstrom’s departure in 1978. The group nevertheless preserved its relaxed character and has ranked for decades among Sweden’s leading and most imaginative traditional jazz ensembles, drawing on the late-1920s orchestral styles associated with Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Luis Russell, and McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Its recorded output encompasses numerous dates for the Kenneth label beginning in 1966, one of them with altoist Charlie Holmes, as well as sessions for Stomp Off that include a program spotlighting singer Carol Leigh.
