Jörgen Ahlqvist – Melodeon & Accordeon

 Who are you?
I am a single father of 3 
semi-adult children and always try to find the positive in human misery!

How come that you started playing the accordion?
I was asked by a friend if I wanted to join an accordion course with him. Since I had listened a lot to Flaco Jimenez and did so when I got the opportunity to change my base against three-row diatonic accordion, it was only to strike!

I have heard that you have met Flanco Jiminez, how did the meeting go?
It was a short meeting after his gig
 at “the widow,” I think it was 1984. (Legendary venue in Visby Gotland). I bought his album, got his autograph on it, shook his hand and said thank you and goodbye. He was not a diva.

What melodeons are you playing at?
I use 
the Hohner brand because of its tone.

What is special about a Hohners tone?
The Hohners are having an “attack” that many other lack!

What music has inspired you over the years?
I have been inspired much of the 60’s and 70’s music and later by 
the blues.

What is it about the music that inspired you?
I’m grown up with the music. Everything was innovative and experimental as with strings, Indian instruments and much more. In the blues, there was 
the free and improvising parts.

What kind of music are you listening to at any time for yourself today?
Ry Cooder, Joe Cocker and swing 
music, like Django Reinhardt.

What do you like to do when you are not playing with Lazy Afternoon?
I have worked in the Botanical Garden for years and 
still find it pleasant to browse among all the species!

They told me that you have been hiking a lot?
That’s right. At a young age, I traveled several times by foot and hitchhiking through Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor.

What have your musical journey been like, up to where you are today?
I started playing the accordion when I was 8 years 
old but switched to guitar at age 13. I played in various pop bands until I was 20 and around 1990 I was offered to play bass in a dance band, then I bought a bass and that lasted for 10 years. After the melodeon course 7 years ago, it has become a lot of folk music.