Eje Thelin

Born on 9 September 1938 in Jönköping, Sweden, Eilert Ove Thelin passed away on 18 May 1990. Emerging during the 1960s, he stood among the most commanding European trombonists of his era. Mastery across jazz idioms enabled him to shape distinctive ensembles while opening doors to collaborations with visiting luminaries, among them George Russell. After relocating to Austria, Thelin spent five years teaching yet maintained a co-leadership role in a band alongside Joachim Kuhn; together they featured on Don Cherry’s Eternal Rhythm. Back in Sweden he resumed direction of his own projects and received a lifetime government stipend recognizing him as a premier artist. He died at the age of fifty-two. Thelin endures in memory as one of Europe’s most formidable trombonists within modal and free music traditions.