🔎

Swedish jazz orchestra formed in 1962 in Årsta in Stockholm.

It was formed by classmates Christer Ekhé (then: Jansson) and Kenneth Arnström. Originally in traditional New Orleans style, but as new members were added in arranged 20s style with Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Luis Russell, Jelly Roll Morton and others as role models.

Kustbandet played until the mid-70s, when Arnström left the group, without written arrangements, and performances and recordings under his leadership are characterized by a free relationship to the role models with spontaneous whims, gags and occasional modernist improvisation. With the trumpeter and arranger Bent Persson joining Kustbandet, the rehearsals became more efficient and the repertoire expanded more quickly.

Kustbandet performs at concerts, dance events and festivals and has toured in around 20 countries. Notable appearances in recent years have been the Nobel Festival (three times in the 1990s), the US radio show A Prairie Home Companion hosted by Garrison Keillor, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Kustbandet was added in the aftermath of the contradictions between jazz traditionalists and modernists. Over the years, these genres have blurred and styles have blended. This is also reflected within the orchestra, which during most of its career moved between several of the styles of early jazz. From Ragtime to Swing is today also the title of Kustbandet's concerts, which is an exposé of the jazz history of the early 20th century: blues, ragtime, boogie woogie, hot, jazz, swing, gospel, and brass band-style and more.