NEW SINGLE! SPRAY IT! OUT MAY 21!

This song is about George Floyd’s last minutes in life. He was killed due to police brutality and structural racism on May 25th 2020. I want to show my support for the fight that non-white persons go through daily. The systematic racism that runs through our society must end. The famous last words of George Floyd symbolizes that the struggle must continue. 

The streaming revenue from this song will go to Amnesty International.

Performed by Bror Gunnar Jansson on vocals, electric guitars and synthesizer; Stefan Bellnäs bass guitar; Emanuel Svensson drums. Produced by Bror Gunnar Jansson and Oskar Karlsson. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Oskar Karlsson. Design by Anton Andersson. Recorded June 2020. Released at Playground Music Sweden.

Det finns hundratals versioner av denna klassiker. Och det finns förstås en historia att berätta. Låt oss ta den baklänges. 1994 släppte Rednex sin version av låten. De var dessutom påhittiga nog att påstå att de själva är upphovspersoner. 1959 gjorde Nina Simone en vackert smäktande ballad av denna danslåt, som alltid på sitt unika vis. 1947 spelade Bob Wills and His Texas Cowboys in en svängig tagning av låten. 1927 spelades den för allra första gången in av Dykes Magic City Trio. 1875 är äldsta nedtecknade referensen till denna låt. Och låten har sitt ursprung hos de afro-amerikanska slavarna under 1800-talet. I år, 2020, ger sig Bror Gunnar Jansson på denna odödliga klassiker bland sånger ur historien.

”Jag har gjort min version som en ursäkt för Rednex historielösa stöld och en kärleksförklaring till låten och dess ursprung”, säger Bror Gunnar. ”Populärmusikens arv är sprunget ur de afro-amerikanska folkkulturyttringarna som gjordes under 1800- och början på 1900-talet, och det kan aldrig nog understrykas.”

•

Bror Gunnar Jansson’s rendition of the old American folk classic song is haunting and fresh, giving it a new angle that is still true to its African American roots. And pretty far from Rednex’ worldwide hit version from 1994. With origins from the 19th century, the song has had many interpreters since the first recording was released by Dykes Magic City Trio in 1927.

“My version is an apology for Rednex’ ignorant theft but also a declaration of love to the song and its origin,” Bror Gunnar Jansson says. “Western popular music stems from the Afro American culture from the late 19th, and early 20th century, and that fact cannot be stressed enough.”

Recorded January 2020 by Oskar Karlsson at Elementstudion. Illustration by Bläck & Bokstav. Photo and design by Anton Andersson. Released at Playground Music.

New merch!

There are three different models available:

Unisex tee 250kr/25 euro/dollars, slim fit tee 250kr/25 euro/dollars and baseball tee 350kr/35 euro/dollars.

All shirts are made from 100% GOTS certified organic cotton and Fair Wear Foundation. The print is illustrated by Bläck & Bokstav. Email your order at gugge@brorgunnar.com.

“A masterpiece” - Journal du Sud fribourgeois La Gruyère, FR

Bror Gunnar's brand new release is what one could call True Crime Music. Many of the songs are based on known criminal investigations and most of them from Sweden. One case in particular was indeed literary close to home. With a knife killer breaking into people's home on the same street where Bror Gunnar lives.  The title song is based on the gruesome murder of Catrine da Costa in 1984. Where the Police found the remains of a woman in a couple of garbage bags ditched by the side of a road in the outskirts of Stockholm. All body parts were found except for the head, and the perpetrator was never found.

Musically Bror Gunnar puts one foot in grunge and rock'n'roll, but keeps one foot steady in blues and folk soil with this album. It's recorded and co-produced by Oskar Karlsson at Elementstudion in Göteborg. Some of the songs are based on Bror Gunnar's one-person-band, with him playing all instruments but some guest musicians can be heard as well. Performed by Bror Gunnar on vocals, electric guitars, drums, percussion and synthesizer. Emanuel Svensson drums & percussion. Henrik Nilsson electric bass. Emma Augustsson vocals & cello. Recorded at Elementstudion by Oskar Karlsson. Produced by Bror Gunnar Jansson and co-produced by Oskar Karlsson. Mastered by Henrik Alsér at Svenska Grammofonstudion. Photos by Johan Rönnow. Design by Anton Andersson.

This album is not an example of someone making entertainment out of other people's misery, but rather a way to cope with the world we live in, and to tell the stories of these victims and of the crimes they've been subject to.

“It’s swamped in a visceral, instinctual charm, and Jansson solidifies himself as one of the great storytellers of this generation.” - Jason Scott, B-sides & Badlands, USA

“A blues genius descending from the North” - Journal du Sud fribourgeois La Gruyère, FR

“Impressive, bewitching, disturbing. And fantastic.” – www.gaesteliste.de , DE

It’s a dark and lonely road. Bad people. Strange religions - with even stranger rituals. A journey. A landscape. This is a cold land, with cold soil. With murderers, power hungry war moguls and religious fanatics. O’ death where is thy sting? The Devil’s waiting just around the corner. Watch out. Watch your back. Do you really think you’re safe? When you’re asleep, do you think you’re safe?

This is Bror Gunnar Jansson And The Great Unknown. The latest solo-release of the swedish one-person-band. It’s dark and suggestive, rough, raw and beautiful. Southern Gothic, blues and swedish melancholy meet in stories of murderers and their victims.

With this double album Bror Gunnar takes yet one step further into the dark imaginary worlds of his mind.

A 2 CD Box set containing And The Great Unknown Part I & Part II + fold up poster with stills from the video shoot for the single "Moan Snake Moan Part III - The Bear-Snake" photographed by Camilla Topuntoli. Cover photos by Julien Bourgeois and Donovan von Martens. Design by Anton Andersson. Recorded and co-produced by Filip Leyman and Christoffer Johansson. With guest appearances by Kjell Jansson, Emma Augustsson, Kristin Nordén, Johan Hjalmarsson, Emanuel Svensson, Malin Wättring, Max Lindahl & Fredrik Askerdal. Released Autumn 2017 at Normandeep Blues Records.

Vinnare av Manifestgalans pris 2018 i kategorin Singer/songwriter. Motivering: "Närvaro, intimitet, nerv. Förmågan att trollbinda lyssnaren med en avskalad ljudbild och själfull sång. Rotad i traditionen men med ett uttryck som är här och nu."

Album of the week (Album de la semaine) in Canal+

“[...] where performances are like the circus and the music is an entire universe that you can enter.” - Mikael Timm, Kulturnytt Sveriges Radio P1.

Best sold jazz/blues album in France on it's release.

This album contains nine original songs with Bror Gunnar Jansson on vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, drums and percussion, tenor saxophone and more. Emanuel Svensson drums, percussion and vocals. Johan Hjalmarsson percussion. Christoffer Johansson electric guitar and vocals. Kristin Nordén organ, keyboards, upright piano and vocals. Kjell Jansson electric and double bass. Malin Wättring baritone saxophone. Max Lindahl trumpet. Filip Leyman organ. Fredrik Askerdal pedal & lap steel. Emma Augustsson vocals.  Just like 'Part I' this second part is recorded and co-produced by Filip Leyman and Christoffer Johansson. Photos by  Donovan von Martens. Artwork by Feni. Design by Anton Andersson.

Cover with cut out triangle. Turqoise colored vinyl. Download code.

3/4 in L’Express
“And what if the best American bluesman comes from Göteborg?”

“With his sublime And The Great Unknown, Part 2, he actually takes us into a strange tempest, an elsewhere that promises great surprises and especially an immense change of scenery. One-man-band, Bror Gunnar Jansson knows his limits and ignores them. Always in search of a form of transcendence, he invented his own Mississippi, his own poetry. It is this transcendence that makes the greatest force of this bluesman of another century. Constantly inspired by the throbbing rhythms of Afro-American music, it also draws on new seas and creates unlikely encounters.” -Rolling Stone Magazine (France)

MONO MAGASIN
“Det är faktiskt lite av en skam att Sverige inte förmår att uppskatta hans talang efter förtjänst eftersom det är en talang som är större än hos många av dem som vi själva importerar från USA.”

5/6 i GAFFA
"Dags att bluesdoldisen kliver in i rampljuset."

4/5 i Nya Wermlandstidningen.
"De musikaliska influenserna gör det till en variationsrik skiva, men det är koncentrerat och med en febrig närvaro när han väver ihop svensk folklore med amerikansk tradition i berättelser som rör sig i gränslandet mellan skröna och verklighet. Det är själ, melodi, kraft, tragik och skönhet i en tilltalande blandning."

Song "Edward Young Took His Gun" featured in the short documentary "The Normal People" (2017) by Daniel Soares.

Released at Normandeep Blues February 2017.

And The Great Unknown, Part I is an EP containing five original songs by Bror Gunnar. Recorded and co-produced by Filip Leyman (Anna von Hausswolff, Temple) and Christoffer Johansson (previous Bror Gunnar releases). Also with some guest musicians such as Emma Augustsson, Kjell Jansson, Emanuel Svensson, Malin Wättring, and Christoffer and Filip. Mastered by Henrik Alsér. Designed by Anton Andersson. Front cover photo by Julien Bourgeois. Back cover photo by Donovan von Martens.

10" EP on turqoise colored vinyl. Download card included.

Song "Spiritual" featured in Netflix movie "The last days of American crime" (2020) and in SVTs "Bye Bye Sverige" (2017).

“The revelation of the year.” - Stéphane Deschamps, Les Inrockuptibles.

“Dark, screaming, poetic.” - Brian Banks, It's A Psychedelic Baby Magazine.

“Moan Snake Moan is an outstanding collection of alt-blues, and propagated roots that evolve and seep, roar and weep, and remind you that the next time someone tells you the blues and its permutations are tired and gone, you can tell them to shut it and listen to this. An absolutely brilliant album.” - Rick Saunders, Real Deep Blues Blog.

“Jag är stum av beundran inför Bror Gunnar Jansson och hans skiva. Så pass att jag inte lyckas få alla lovord på pränt. Det här hör nämligen till det bästa jag någonsin hört. Jag lyfter på hatten och önskar Jansson all lycka och välgång. Fast det gör jag mest av egoistiska skäl eftersom jag vill ha fler skivor av honom. Och det genast!” - Daniel Gustavsson, Lira Musikmagasin.

“[...] bound to inspire the scores to many horror movies.” - Boston Blues Society.

Song "One For Earth" featured in Netflix movie "The last days of American crime" (2020).

Song "Moan Snake Moan, Pt. I" featured in SyFy's TV series "Happy" (2019).

Song “Ain't No Grave” featured in USA's TV series “Damnation” (2017).

Album of the week (Album de la Semaine) in Canal+

Produced by Christoffer Johansson & Bror Gunnar Jansson.
Bror Gunnar Jansson vocals, electric, acoustic & baritone guitars, drums, percussion, tenor saxophone, zurna, banjo, whistling, sticks, cage & chains. Christoffer Johansson percussion. Emanuel Svensson drums & percussion. Kristin Nordén organ. Emma Augustsson cello. Max Lindahl trumpet. David Edefors bass tuba. Design by Anton Andersson. Photograph by Johan Lund. Artwork by Feni.

This release has both specific sound and design. Recorded live, by the great Jonas Olpers, just before a gig at Jonssons fik & butik in Enviken, Sweden 2013. It was recorded using only one microphone and directly onto the tape of an old 1930s or ‘40s tape recorder. The record is a wax dubplate, which means they aren‘t pres­sed, but cut in real time on thick black wax. The cover is handmade and this EP was only released in 49 numbered copies, that sold out the same day as it was released.

Performed by Bror Gunnar Jansson on vocals, guitars & drums. Recorded by Jonas Olpers. Photos by Per Buhre. Design/artwork by Nils Trash. Released at Stencil Trash Records 2014.

His debut solo album. Six original songs, one traditional murder ballad and a version of Richie Hart’s rhythm and blues song “Heartaches and Troubles”. This was recorded live-in-studio by Christoffer Johansson during a weekend in 2012.

Bror Gunnar Jansson vocals, guitars & drums. Produced by Christoffer Johansson & Bror Gunnar Jansson. Design by Anton Andersson. Except for The Greatest Records release, design by Marcus Lundquist. Photographs by Nettan Kock.

"I don't know how well known Bror Gunnar Jansson is in the States, but from listening to this album, I think he deserves to be at the top of the heap of Dark Blues interpreters today. He certainly won't be stuck in the frozen North of Sweden for long. Not with songs this hot! Seriously, people, book this dude in the States. I want to see him play live!" - Steven P. Wallace, Hearth Music/No Depression.

"Hade Bror Gunnar Jansson varit amerikan hade han blivit utgiven av Fat Possum Records jämte T-Model Ford, R.L. Burnside och Junior Kimbrough. Och tro mig, det är den nivån han ligger på. [...] en av årets bästa skivor." - Peter Sjöblom, Tidningen Kulturen.

Song "William Joseph Dean" featured in Netflix movie "The last days of American crime" (2020).

2012 Bror Gunnar Jansson - S/T, The Greatest Records

2012 Serve You Right To Suffer - S/T, Imogena Records

2013 Various - Sounds of Woody, MCV

2014 Bror Gunnar Jansson - 8" EP, Stencil Trash Records

2014 Bror Gunnar Jansson - Moan Snake Moan, Normandeep Blues Records

2015 Various - 40 Years, Bear Family Records

2016 Det Blev Handgemäng - Bugalú, Imogena Records

2017 Bror Gunnar Jansson - And The Great Unknown Part I, Normandeep Blues Records

2017 Bror Gunnar Jansson - And The Great Unknown Part II, Normandeep Blues Records

2019 Bror Gunnar Jansson - They Found My Body in a Bag, Playground Music

2020 Bror Gunnar Jansson - The Cotton-Eyed Joe (Single)

2020 Bror Gunnar Jansson - Breathe (Single)