Lars Erstrand was a Swedish vibraphonist

Vibraphonist

Notable players of the vibraphone include:* Peter Appleyard* Roy Ayers* Karl Berger* Jeff Berman* Jack Brokensha* Larry Bunker* Christian Burchard* Rusty Burge* Gary Burton* Joe Chambers* Teddy Charles* Salem Chiles* John Cocuzzi* Monte Croft...

. Being rooted in the golden Swing era, Erstrand's playing is much influenced by the style of Lionel Hampton

Lionel Hampton

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...

. During the 1960s Erstrand met clarinetist Ove Lind, with whom he enjoyed a forty-year collaboration.

Erstrand played with Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

 in Paris 1972, who also joined Erstrand when playing at Michael's Pub in New York on several occasions. In 1991 the Swedish vibraphonist recorded an album Two Generations together with Lionel Hampton.

Other musicians Erstrand has played with include Alice Babs

Alice Babs

Alice Babs is a singer and actor from Kalmar in Sweden. While she has worked in a wide number of genres - e.g. Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera - she is best known internationally as a jazz singer...

, Svend Asmussen

Svend Asmussen

Svend Asmussen is a jazz violinist from Denmark, known as "The Fiddling Viking". Asmussen grew up in a musical family, starting violin lessons at age 7. At age 16 he first heard recordings by jazz violin great Joe Venuti and began to emulate his style...

, Arne Domnérus

Arne Domnérus

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

, Bob Wilbur, Scott Hamilton, the Swedish Swing Society and Antti Sarpila

Antti Sarpila

Antti Sarpila is a Finnish jazz musician .He formerly performed in a Benny Goodman-inspired style, and studied under Bob Wilber, and he was part of the «Tribute to Benny Goodman» , and later figured in six tours of the USA. Later, he performed at the Oslo Jazzfestival 2006, together with...

. Many contemporary musicians have worked with Erstrand when visiting Sweden, such as clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski

Ken Peplowski

Ken Peplowski is a jazz clarinetist born in Cleveland, Ohio, known primarily for playing in the swing music idiom. He is sometimes compared to Benny Goodman in terms of tone and virtuosity...

 and guitarist Frank Vignolia.