1. Jan JohanssonJazz På Svenska

There was a strange thing going on in the house I grew up in, where it seemed like only one album could be played for months. Someone in the house was obsessing and we would all just follow along, listening to the same record, and then, for some reason, we would all forget about it and compulsively listen to something new. This lasted until my mid-teenage years, I think. The only record I remember having some sort of consistent existence in the house was Jazz På Svenska. It’s just piano and double bass. There is space and a deep undercurrent of stories and reminiscences that seem ancient, like the piano is retelling them, changing them a bit, making them alive again. I guess I have a thing for sparse instrumentation. Another album I like, again with just two instruments, is Visions In Metaphor by John Sampen and Marilyn Shrude, just piano and saxophone. Really great stuff.