Åke Persson was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 bebop

Bebop

Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 trombonist.

Persson, known as "the Comet", moved from southern Sweden to Stockholm in 1951, where he played in Simon Brehm

Simon Brehm

Simon Brehm was a Swedish double-bass player and, later in life, a record producer and owner of Karusell Records. He was the manager of the singer Lill-Babs and was the leader of the orchestra that played in the TV show Hylands hörna from 1962.-References:...

's quintet (1951-54). Following this Persson worked with Arne Domnérus

Arne Domnérus

Sven Arne Domnérus was a Swedish jazz alto saxophonist and clarinetist, popularly nicknamed Dompan....

, Hacke Björksten, Harry Arnold

Harry Arnold

Harry Arnold was a Swedish jazz saxophonist and bandleader.Arnold led his first big band in 1942, playing saxophone initially but eventually ceasing performance work primarily as an arranger...

's Radio Band (1956-61), Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones

Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...

, Lars Gullin

Lars Gullin

Lars Gunnar Victor Gullin was a Swedish jazz baritone saxophone player, occasional pianist and composer closest in playing style to United States Cool school players, with a full tone, but also a lightness uncommon with baritone saxophonists and an influence from Swedish folk music, which helps...

, the RIAS Berlin

Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor

RIAS was a radio and television station in the American Sector of Berlin during the Cold War. It was founded by the US occupational authorities after World War II in 1946 to provide the German population in and around Berlin with news and political reporting and was initially only broadcast on...

 band (1961-75), and the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band (1963-71). Persson played with many noted American musicians, including George Wallington

George Wallington

George Wallington was a highly regarded American bop pianist and composer....

, Roy Haynes

Roy Haynes

Roy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...

, Benny Bailey

Benny Bailey

Benny Bailey, born Ernest Harold Bailey , was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz trumpeter.-Biography:...

, Count Basie

Count Basie

William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...

, Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

, and Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

. He led several sessions for labels such as Metronome, Philips

Philips Records

Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...

, and EmArcy in the 1950s.

Persson was found dead in his car in the Djurgårdsbrunn channel in February 1975.