Eje Thelin

Eje Thelin (born Eilert Ove Thelin) (June 9, 1938 – May 18, 1990)[1] was a Swedish trombonist, widely admired among fellow trombonists for his facile technique and rhythmic intensity. He was possibly the first jazz trombonist to translate the so-called "sheets of sound" style, that characterized much of the music of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane.

Thelin led his own quintet in 1961.[1] From 1968 to 1972, he was on the faculty of the Music Academy in Graz, Austria. For the rest of the 1970s, he led his own Eje Thelin Group in Sweden.[1] In the 1980s, he expanded into composition, writing commissioned works for large European orchestras, sometimes featuring himself as soloist. Thelin was known for his warm approach to traditional ballads, a somewhat retro-romanticism that comes through in his later playing. He was featured in a profile on composer Graham Collier in the 1985 Channel 4 documentary 'Hoarded Dreams' [2]