About Lennart Axelsson (english)

"I heard of Lennart Axelsson several years before I met him because I knew several players who had played with him either in Sweden or in Zurich with radio big bands. They mostly spoke of two powerhouse lead trumpet players from Sweden. One was Ernie Englund ( actually born in Chicago area but of Swedish lineage), and who had moved to Sweden from Las Vegas to play lead in the radio band in Gotland. The other was of course, Lennart Axelsson. Ernie Englund used to speak very highly of Lennart as well.

When I first met Lennart, he was playing lead with the NDR big band and sounding absolutely sparkling in setting the sound and feel of that wonderful band. How impressive! And THEN came the process of hanging out with him! Whew, quite an experience! His constant energyabout music, the trumpet, and life in general were explosive yetfull of devilish humor and good times for everyone in his vicinity. I feel honored to have become his friend for the times that we worked together.

I am very pleased that he has finally put this book together for the world of trumpeters to explore. Most notable to me are his inclusion of the information about jazz and lead playing. Far too many books do not contain ANY information about this ever-so-important aspect of becoming not only a good trumpet player, but more so, a good MUSICIAN! Thank you, Lennart. I hope everyone has the good sense to purchase a copy!"

Bobby Shew on Monday, January 16th 2012