"Free" and "Happy" In the 1970s Swedish musicians were strongly influenced by "free jazz" (without formal boundaries) and "fusion" (jazz with rock rhythms and electronic instruments). As in other European countries, "free" jazz musicians didn’t derive their language primarily from American jazz but from a vast number of sources, including folk music of different ethnic origins, rock music, contemporary art music and electronic music, to name but a few. Iskra, formed around 1970 by players from different backgrounds (including drummer Sune Spångberg (b. 1930), who had belonged to the new hard bop generation of the 1950s) and active until the early 1990s, became a pioneering force in this area, both as a concert group and as leaders of musical workshops in schools, hospitals and other institutions. Lokomotiv Konkret, founded in 1977, is fronted by saxophonist Dror Feiler (b. 1951) who also has an established name as a composer of art music. Since the 1990s saxophonist Mats Gustafsson (photo: Hans Permbo) (b. 1964) has been the leading Swedish exponent of freely improvised music in Sweden, working in many different combinations on the international scene.  Mats Gustafsson: All other waanties (1997) from 'Gush: Live at Fasching' [Dragon DRCD 313] For most musicians, however, the element of free improvisation has been incorporated into the different formal structures of modern mainstream, in particular by pianist Per Henrik Wallin (picture) (1946-2005). Wallin’s compositions and arrangements (mostly played by a trio but occasionally by larger ensembles) combined jazz ingredients with a multitude of other components while at the same time offering opportunities for all kinds of spontaneous expression. Brus Trio, with pianist Arne Forsén (b. 1960), bassist Ulf Åkerhielm (b. 1962) and drummer Gilbert Matthews (b. 1943), a South African expatriate, has specialised in free jazz as well as playing original compositions, folk music material and jazz standards.  Per Henrik Wallin: Helsinki Ride (1982) from 'Blues Work' [Dragon DRLP 35] One of the first Swedish bands to fuse jazz and rock (and occasionally African and Latin-American music as well) was Egba (photo: Pawel Lucki), led by trumpeter Ulf Adåker (b. 1945) and saxophonist Ulf Andersson (b. 1940), two musicians with roots in the jazz of the 1960s. Several other musicians of that era also expanded their vocabulary to include the electronic sounds of the day, collaborating with younger musicians whose background was mainly in rock. One of the latter is pianist and keyboard-player Harald Svensson (b. 1954), who has also been involved in other groups, most notably Entra. Tenor saxophonist Ove Johansson (b. 1936) and keyboard-player Susanna Lindeborg (b. 1952) in the group Mwendo Dawa have combined acoustic instruments with electronic sounds since the 1970s, and there are several other groups which work with fusion types of jazz.   Egba: Turtle dance (1976) from 'Jungle-jam' [Sonet SLP-2579]