Palle Danielsson – Bass

Nils Paul “Palle” Danielsson (15 October 1946 – 18 May 2024) was a Swedish jazz double bassist born in Stockholm, Sweden. From 1974 to 1979, he was a member of Keith Jarrett’s quartet.

Danielsson’s first instrument was the harmonica, which he started playing at the age of two. By age eight he was playing violin, which he continued to play and study for about five years. Around this time he became interested in jazz and started to play double bass. When he was fifteen, Danielsson was playing professionally. Having studied at the Stockholm Royal Academy of Music (1962–1966), he began to play with Scandinavian musicians such as Eje Thelin, Bobo Stenson, and Jan Garbarek and took up international collaborations, for example with Lee Konitz and Steve Kuhn.

Danielsson worked with Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Wheeler, Geri Allen, Michel Petrucciani, Charles Lloyd, Peter Erskine, Elvin Jones, Ben Webster, Charlie Shavers, George Russell, Albert Mangelsdorff, Enrico Rava, Collin Walcott, Tomasz Stańko, and John Taylor. He also led and co-led several bands in Sweden, and released several recordings.

(biographical details from Wikipedia)

This transcription features Danielsson’s complete performance of the tune ‘My Song’ from the legendary 1978 Keith Jarret album of the same name. It’s easy to read and easy to play but lovely nevertheless. There is a long rubato (out of time) section in the middle where the band drops out for a piano soliloquy but the pick is logical if you know the melody