As the title suggests, this is but a fleeting, though by no means hasty, glance at the diverse and meandering Nordic jazz scene. The object of this compilation is not to show a detailed cross-section – on the contrary, its a rather haphazard selection. But jeez, what a selection! The common denominator in this case is, that all of these tunes were recorded in the Nordic countries – in this instance Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

As the 1960’s emerged, one of the chief changes in popular culture was, that jazz lost its dance music crown to rock and pop, and had to adjust to the changing climate. This had a number of Americans deciding to move across the Atlantic, although that was the situation more or less over here as well. Some of the migrants included this comp’s Dexter Gordon, Sahib Shihab and Brew Moore, whose playing echoes the sophisticated groove of the original art form, layers of history and, above all, the flawless command of their instruments.