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Jazz Unit (the
groups original name) started in the spring of 1995 as bass- player Ola
Bjerding was
employed as musical director
at Musik i Blekinge.
One of his
tasks was to be touring the following autumn. The same spring guitarist
Ulf "Listerby" Johansson also started and worked in the group
for about six month. The following year, in January 1996, jazz Unit got it's second member, drummer Andrew Eberhard and in September 1996 the group became a trio with pianist Steven Snyder. He also took over the role as musical director. This was the first version of Jazz Unit. They made several tours and recorded their first cd called "Jazz Unit" with Randy Brecker and Jesper Thilo as guests.
Ola Bjerding left Musik i Blekinge and Jazz Unit in the autumn of 1998 to finish his economy studies and Jonas Castell was hired as bassplayer. All the members of Jazz Unit had changed within one year.
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Ola Bjerding comes
from the small village of Torsås in Småland in the southern parts of Sweden.
After a few years in Stockholm in the early 90th Ola went over to USA to
study at University of North Texas.
During that period he also got the opportunity
to play a lot in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He returned to Sweden in
1995 and started to work as musical
director for Jazz Unit. At first as a part-time job but very soon it
changed into a fulltime job. August
the 15th 1998 Ola left Jazz Unit to study. Since
September 1 he is Länsmusikchef |
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Andrew "Andy" Eberhard comes from San Francisco. Between 1991 and 1995 he studied at University of North Texas where he took his Bachelor in Jazz Studies. January 15th 1996 Andy stated to play in Jazz Unit and he moved back to San Francisco on new years eve 1997. Among others he has played with: Randy Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, Tim Hagans, Ann Farholt, Anders Bergcrantz in Jazz Unit. | |
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Steven Snyder comes from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He took a Bachelor and a Master in Jazz Studies at University of North Texas between 1987 and 1994. During those years he played with 1:00 o'clock Lab Band for two years. Steven was a member of Jazz Unit from September 1 1996 until May 21 1997 when he moved back to the states to continue his studies there. Steven has played with among others: Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, Roger Humphries and Marcel Ivery. | |
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The groups second cd "Bridges" was released early 1999. Among the players were Mitchel Forman, Tim Hagans, Håkan Broström och Leni Stern.
The third cd called ”Yaqui” with saxophone player Gary Thomas as special guest was released in 2000. A live-cd named "Swiss Swede Connection" was released just before a tour of Switzerland, Germany and Sweden. In April 12 2003 Unit's fifth cd was released. This time featuring Brazilian singer Maúcha Adnet and trumpet player Gustavo Bergalli.
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Jonas
Castell grew up in the small village of Degeberga in Skåne,
the very south of Sweden. He began playing the electric bass at the age
of fifteen and started on the double bass six years later. The acoustic
bass has been his main instrument ever since. The music was just a hobby
until 1993. A year later he started the two-year jazz line at Skurup Folkhögskola.
After that he studied for two years at Malmö Musikhögskola
on the individual musicians line.
Jonas played bass in Jazz
Unit and Unit between 1998 and 2001 and after that he has worked as a
free lancer and a teacher.
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| Copyright©2003
Unit Page modified 2005-03-23 22:00
E-mail: unit@musikiblekinge.com. Webmaster: Lasse Fagerberg www.unit-mib.com |
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