LALLE LARSSON

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Swedish pianist/composer Lalle Larsson’s music has been described as beautiful, virtuosic and a bit melancholic. He has mixed a timeless jazz sound with modern classical composition, musical experimentalism, heartfelt romanticism and a fiery energy that hints at his teenage love of heavy metal. His unique playing style has made some of his recordings cult collectors’ items the world over.

Lalle Larsson’s CDs include several recordings for Liquid Note Records, jazz-rock CDs Ominox, Richard Hallebeek Project with the late guitar legend Shawn Lane, and Electrocution 250, electric cartoon music with Todd Duane and Peter Wildoer.

In 2001 Larsson received the Helsingborg culture award, a diploma from the city, plus 25.000 swedish kronor.

The following year he premiered the groundbreaking Seven Deadly Pieces at the Henry Dunker Culture Center in Helsingborg, Sweden. The music required a 200 page score written for chamber orchestra and thrash metal band, with no less than fifteen people on stage.

For the metal sections Lalle invited members from the highly acclaimed Swedish metal band Darkane to perform. The concert was a great success, receiving rave reviews. Never before had the Culture Center witnessed such a mixed but enthusiastic audience, young and old, classical and metal, culminating in the composer receiving a standing ovation. The concert was recorded and videoed and is released six years later on DVD together with a documentary about the composer.

In 2004 Larsson appeared on several albums on Liquid Note Records both as a player and composer.

The Richard Hallebeek Project topped guitar9.com, remaining the most popular fusion album for several weeks, as well as receiving rave reviews. The chart to Lalle´s composition “Free” was published in the January issue of Italian AXE magazine.

Lalle is called a “Swedish sensation” by the American press and his music is played regularly on independent radio stations in Australia, USA, Mexico, Japan and Holland.

Electrocution 250 made number 1 in a chart in the UK’s most respected jazz magazine, Jazzwise, being called “a masterpiece of originality” by the world press. In September of the same year it was released in Japan via Marquee/Avalon with new artwork and a brand new bonus track.

LNR also released Lalle’s recordings with his first band Ominox. A compilation of recordings from 1993-95.

MJ Brady of Proggnosis described the music on Ominox as: “a statement of grand proportions that elevate this CD to the level of the very best in the history of progressive related fusion recordings.”

Later that year Larsson joined bassist Jonas Reingold’s (Flower Kings) band Karmakanic together with Zoltan Csörsz (Hellborg, Flower Kings), Krister Jonsson, Rob Palmen & Göran Edman (ex Yngwie Malmsteen) for a European tour in Belgium, Holland and Germany.

In 2005 Lalle co-wrote and recorded TimeLine together with Bas Cornelissen, a trio release on Munich Records that features world reknowned bassist Gary Willis (Tribal Tech, Wayne Shorter) and drummer Sebastiaan Cornelissen (Isotope, RHP).

In April 2006 Karmakanic played at the progressive RosFestival in Philadelphia, US where they received a spontaneous standing ovation by an enthusiastic audience in the middle of the set. After the tour Lalle recorded his keyboards for Karmakanic’s third release Who’s The Boss In The Factory.

2009 birthed a new project - Lalle Larsson’s Weaveworld. This band is a quintet consisting of piano/keyboards, drums, bass and two guitars. Based around the piano the music is dark and gothic and has a melancholy and a vintage quality with such diverse influences as classical, jazz and heavy metal music. The first album was released on Reingold Records in October 2009, featuring Jonas Reingold, Richard Hallebeek, Stefan Rosqvist and Mikael “Walle” Wahlgren.
After coming back this fall from a successful US tour with Roine Stolt’s Agents Of Mercy & Karmakanic, Lalle Larsson has already begun working on the second Weaveworld album.

Outside of Sweden Lalle is better known as Lale Larson. Over the years he has appeared on over 20 CDs alongside people like Gary Willis, Virgil Donati, Dave Weckl, Shawn Lane, Brett Garsed, Sebastiaan Cornelissen, Richard Hallebeek, Todd Duane, Peter Wildoer, Sir Millard Mulch, Phi Yaan Zek, Marco Minnemann, Frans Vollink, Randy Brecker, Göran Edman and Jonas Reingold to name but a few.

(Source: artist bio on the Lalle Larsson official website)