Absent Minded Blues Carlings 1986

Hans had to undergo a hernia operation, at the end of 1985. Having trouble playing trumpet he suggested that Gerd take up this instrument, but as I have been told, she did not have the right chops for trumpet. Trombone playing sister Gunhild tried and was able to play trumpet well in a short time. Gerd , normally on piano, learned to play trombone as well, and some time after Hans got well again, they were all able to switch back and forth between various instruments.

Son Max, with the help of his father, build his own violin and later they build several harps together. In 1986, 7 year old Ulf joined the family band on drums. At first he could only play snare drum and woodblocks, until a year later a drummer from Stockholm, Sigge Dellert, designed a special pedal suitable for child drummers, whereupon Ulf could play the bass drum as well.

The Carlings live in a large house that had been in the family since 1916, when the Carling grandparents, originally from Denmark settled in Sweden. The children have each their own room with their own recordplayer so that they can listen to and learn jazz.

In this clip, one of the first I received on VHS tape from my new Swedish friend Stellan Obert,
the Carlings play a tune which was initially recorded by the Dutch Swing College Band in 1948, the "Absent Minded Blues"