Rolf Billberg (22 August 1930 – 17 August 1966) was a Swedish alto saxophone player active during the 1950s and 1960s.
Rolf Billberg was born in the southern Swedish city of Lund. He grew up on the west coast, living in Gothenburg with his mother and went to school there. At the age of 17 he began on clarinet with the Uddevalla millitary band and remained for four years. He went over to tenor saxophone and worked in Visby, Borås and Gothenburg before coming to Stockholm in 1954 to join the Simon Brehm orchestra. During 1954-1955 Billberg worked with baritone saxist Lars Gullin and also made recordings together with him.
He worked in Copenhagen at the National Scala first with Lasse Wanderyd's orchestra (1955), and later with the Ib Glindemann orchestra (1956). All this time Billberg was playing tenor saxophone. However, he appeared at American clubs in Germany and France with a quintet led by an Austrian vibraphonist, Vera Auer (1956-1957) and during this period changed to alto saxophone.
Here’s “Moonlight In Vermont” from above LP
In September 1957 he joined the Carl-Henrik Norin orchestra at 'Nalen' in Stockholm. He continued to work frequently in Copenhagen with, amongst others, the Jazz Quintet 60 and the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra. In Sweden he appeared with Lars Gullin in a variety of groups and also worked a great deal with trumpeter Jan Allan.
It's interesting to note how four extremely important personalities put their mark on Billberg's music. From Charlie Parker he learned the whole foundation of modern jazz and self-confidence; Stan Getz showed him the importance of knowing the horn inside out; Lee Konitz gave him the airy, almost vibratoless sound and a further insight into the superimposition of chords, and Lars Gullin contributed with his deep love and feeling for Swedish folk-lore.
During the 1960s, Billberg appeared on several recordings with Lars Gullin and Nils Lindberg, and led a quintet together with trumpeter Jan Allan. During the spring of 1966 after settling in Malmö, he was featured soloist and section leader for the saxophones of the Danish Radio Jazz Group, led by Ib Glindemann. That summer he spent, as he had spent others, helping out at his mother's holliday hotel on the island of Käringön in the Gothenburg archipaelago. Billberg became suddenly and seriously ill, and died on the way to hospital in Uddevalla, Sweden on August 17th. 1966 just short of his thirty sixth birthday.
The liner notes to the CD Rare Danish Recordings 1956-1957 states that: According to the most credible jazz witnesses in Denmark and Sweden...Billberg was an extroverted artist with a gluttonous appetite for life and all it has to offer – including intoxicants, which came to affect both his emotional and physical health - but never stopped his love of playing in all tempos and keys.
(Edited from Wikipedia, Carl-Erik Lindgren quote & Discogs)
