A band swinging through generations

For over 25 years Dixieland Society has been performing widely around the world blowing their horns hot. The sound has developed throughout the years together with the spirit of the many great musicians that have been a part of the band. Today, Dixieland Society has become a family band literally swinging throughout the generations, in- and outside the band.

It all started in 1981 when trombonist Peter Malton met together with trumpet player Peter Kott. Both had been touring around the world for many years as they came across on the Swedish west coast. Peter Malton was an educated classical trombonist that played with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden and with the internationally touring Polish National Dance Ensemble SLASK. In the late 1970´s he performed in the horn section of known Swedish pop and funk bands such as Göteborgs Prima and played with artists like Sir Roland Hanna, Lena Horn and Dizzy Tunes.

Peter Kott was already considered legendary in the polish jazz scene, since he at the age of 16 became famous all over Poland as a leading dixieland trumpet player. Later on, he created own groups such as the Black Cats and played together with the Sigmund Wichary group all over the world. Playing and moving across borders, Peter started to play in Swedish bands such as the Beatmakers (late 1960´s), and later went on tour around Europe together with the legendary Swedish pop band ABBA.

The merge of two backgrounds
When Peter Malton and Peter Kott first met in 1973 playing jazz together in at Swedish jazz stages, they found they had a mutual vision of a future band. Both of them had an idea of maintaining the roots of dixieland music at the bottom line, with expressivity and swinging as catchwords, while developing their own musical ideas over that platform. Although their musical experiences and backgrounds were rather different, they were both fond of phrasing music like great artists such as Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden.

Dixieland Society was founded in 1981 and started touring and recording extensively around Sweden. They soon became frequent guests at jazz festivals and clubs around Europe and Russia. During this time, Dixieland Society cooperated with many vocalists, such as Jane Harrington and Joyce Hurley from the United States.

Dixieland Society becoming a family band
In 1997 Robert Malton, the son of trombonist Peter Malton, joined the band as saxophonist and lead singer. Being only 16 years old, he then became the youngest band member. The forthcoming years were devoted to evolving the band’s sound with a deeper focus on vocal arrangements. Dixieland Society continued touring in Sweden, Germany and Poland. They were also performing as artists on the German flagship of world wide cruises M/S Europa, at that time swinging far up north to Spitsbergen and the North Cape.

In 2004, Dixieland Society were invited to represent Sweden at the International Dixieland Festival in Dresden, Germany. That performance became the starting point for new member of the band, singer and trumpet player Mikael Malton, being the younger brother to saxophonist Robert Malton and the son of trombonist Peter Malton.

Today, Dixieland Society is the family jazz band with the Malton brothers and their father blowing their horns hot and singing at the front, with a highly international and respected assembly of musicians at their back. It is of Dixieland Society's highest ambition to maintain the old traditions of jazz.
-"At the same time, we let creativeness and young interpretators to be an essential spice to the music", says band leader Peter Malton.