- We start off this episode of "FLY BROTHER" in what I like to call my "European hometown" -- Stockholm, Sweden.

My boy, Martin, takes us around Old Town before showing us a few fire tricks.

And my girl Germaine Thomas, chanteuse extraordinaire, serves up a little hot jazz in the Far North.

Let's get fly.

I'm Ernest White II... storyteller, explorer.

I believe in connecting across backgrounds and boundaries.

- I mean, look at us.

We're chasing the sunset.

- Join me and my friends... What's going on, boy?

♪ ...and discover that, no matter the background, no matter the history, the whole world is our tribe.

♪ Come with me.

Whoo!

"FLY BROTHER."

- Major funding for this program is provided by... Marie Roberts De La Parra -- personal coaching, executive leadership, and self-empowerment.

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation.

Promoting racial justice, interacial understanding, and human healing.

MetalShake by Sweden.

Additional funding provided by the following.

♪ - Stockholm.

The capital of Sweden is a city of understated style and unquestionable beauty.

♪ A city of bridges and water... ...of spires and streetscapes, of interminably golden afternoons.

♪ And this late afternoon, I find myself headed to Temple Bar in the Old Town of Stockholm, to see a few folks and hear a whole lot of funk.

♪ ♪ - Hey.

Oh!

How are you?

- I'm good.

It was great to see you earlier today.

- It was good to see you earlier today.

- Whenever I'm in the Swedish capital for one of my extended stays, this motley crew is my family.

The JamNation Band is a group of funkdafied soul, rock, jazz, and hip-hop musicians from Sweden and abroad, who bring the house down every Thursday night.

Friendly, engaging, and talented, the band members create a welcoming community space for groupies like myself.

♪ ♪ In Stockholm, they know music.

Performers and producers, from Abba to Robyn to Swedish House Mafia spring from these Swedish streets.

But on a more intimate level, the musicians of JamNation bring creativity and soul to local venues on a weekly basis.

[ Funk music plays ] ♪ - ♪ Hold on, ♪ I'm on to something ♪ ♪ Hold on, I'm on to something ♪ ♪ Hold on, I'm on to something ♪ ♪ Hold on, I'm on to something ♪ ♪ Hold on, I'm on to something ♪ ♪ Hold on, I'm on to something ♪ ♪ Hold on, I'm on to something ♪ ♪ Hold on, I'm on to something ♪ - Yo.

[ Singing indistinctly ] - The members of the JamNation Band, with the trifecta of Karolina, Lova, and Germaine on the mics, and rotating musicians Christian, Karl, Svante, Sten, Labros, J-Bounce, form a loving community of like-minded, like-hearted folks who work their city jobs by day and jam by night.

♪ ♪ Originally from New York, my girl Germaine Thomas has been living in Stockholm for 20 years.

She's been singing for most of them, having gotten her start when she took a singing class on a whim.

And now she holds together the jammingest band in the nation.

♪ - ♪ That you will come by ♪ and be my rescue tonight ♪ ♪ I need you right here ♪ with me now ♪ ♪ Chase all the shadows away ♪ from this town ♪ ♪ 'Cause where I am ♪ is a no-man's land ♪ ♪ Where I need you to hold ♪ my hand ♪ ♪ Won't you ease my mind?

♪ ♪ Come on and ease my mind ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, ♪ our way to happy ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, ♪ our way to happy ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, ♪ our way to happy ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, ♪ yes, we've got to find our way ♪ - The beauty of this nation is its diversity.

An estimated 32% of Sweden's population is of immigrant background, and the JamNation brings that cultural mix to the stage and the audience in musical kinship.

- ♪ You've got to find your way ♪ ♪ We've got to find our way ♪ ♪ Our way ♪ ♪ I've got to find my way ♪ to happy ♪ ♪ You've got to find your way ♪ to happy ♪ ♪ We've got to find our way ♪ ♪ Our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, ♪ our way to happy ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ We've got to find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way, ♪ our way to happy ♪ ♪ Find our way, find our way ♪ ♪ Find our way ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] - Germaine and I met years ago, at a travel conference, but we've since developed a friendship across oceans.

We hang deep when I'm in town.

And we'll connect again later.

Situated astraddle some 14 islands between the lake and the sea, Stockholm is the largest city in the Kingdom of Sweden and the region of Scandinavia, with nearly 2.4 million people in its metro area -- almost a quarter of the country's population.

Stockholm is the political, economic, and cultural capital of Sweden, generating 30% of the national GDP with its technology, service, and tourism sectors.

Right in the middle of the city sits Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town, dating back to the 13th century, long after the Vikings had settled down.

Home to the Swedish royal family, grand palaces, and centuries-old restaurants, Gamla Stan is the axis around which Stockholm revolves.

The next morning, I head outside to take in the atmosphere of central Stockholm.

♪ - The first time I visited the city as a foreign exchange student, I was a wee young lad of 16, and stayed with a host family the summer between my junior and senior years of high school.

Way back then, the city's slogan was "Beauty on Water."

It's nice to see that over the, um, decades, not much has changed.

Today, I'm catching up with my buddy Martin Ingerby, teacher and sometime troublemaker, who was born and bred in Stockholm.

What's going on, boy?

- Ernest, my friend!

How are you doing?

- What's going on, my brother?

- Good, good.

- It's good to see you, man.

- Same.

- Alright, boy.

So, what are we gonna do today?

- Yeah, we're gonna take a walk in Old Town.

- Okay.

All right.

- One of my favorite places.

- Okay.

Well, let's do it.

- Yeah.

- How old is Old Town?

- Old Town is from 12th... 12th century?

No, 13th century.

♪ - On sunny days, tourists and locals alike enjoy the charms of Gamla Stan.

And we do, too.

♪ Gamla Stan is also a great place for an ad hoc Swedish lesson.

- Okay, so, "toys."

How do you say that in Swedish?

Leksaker.

Leksaker.

- Good, good.

- Okay.

- You're a natural.

[ Both laugh ] Right now, we're walking on kullersten.

- Okay, say that again, now.

- Right now, we're walking on kullersten.

How do I say "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts?"

- A lovely bunch of coconuts?

- Yeah.

- I don't know when you're using that phrase, but... - I use it when I go to the Swedish coconut store.

- Ah, okay.

Yeah.

- Okay.

Or no, actually, they say it to me.

And I want to know that they're saying it to me.

- "I have wonderful coconuts."

- Do you know the lyrics to "Let it Go" in Swedish?

That's, like, a national song, isn't it, for you guys?

Like, a theme song?

- "Let it go"?

- Yeah.

- ♪ Slapp dem loss, ♪ slapp dem loss ♪ You should do it.

- Okay.

♪ ♪ - Our tour of Gamla Stan continues, with Martin leading the way.

[ Gasps ] Dude... viking hat!

- It fits you perfectly.

- It fits me perfectly.

How do you say "Pippi Longstocking"?

- Pippi Langstrump.

- Pippi Langstrump.

That's a, what does "strump" mean, stocking?

- But hers were like this.

- Yeah, and they were red.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I mean, in lieu of red ponytail, we got blonde ponytail.

Ho jo to!

Okay.

♪ - Oh, here we have Pippi Longstocking.

- Pippi Longstocking, she's coming into your town.

- Yeah.

- Alright, so, uh, that's... they made a movie in the... a movie.

- She has, uh, Herr Nilsson... - Herr Nilsson.

- And the horse is Lilla Gubben.

- Lilla Gubben.

What does that mean, "Little Glue"?

- The Old Man.

- Oh, okay.

- For culture, history, or a respite in the midday sun, Gamla Stan is where you want to be.

♪ - Svenska Akademien.

What's that, Swedish school?

- Yes.

- Yes.

Okay.

- No, Svenska Akademien that's where they decide which words go into the Swedish dictionary.

- Okay, now, what kind of words go into the Swedish dictionary?

What does that mean?

- "Cheese slice-ner."

- Cheese slicer.

- A Swedish invention.

- That's very useful.

- Okay, so this is actually one of the most historical places in Sweden.

- Okay.

- This is where... - 'Cause it's old?

- Yeah.

But in the 16th century, the Danish king... - Okay.

- ...came here, and took over Stockholm.

- Hamlet!

The Danish king.

- Not Hamlet.

It's Kristian Tyrann.

- Okay.

The tyrant.

- The tyrant.

Christian the Tyrant, we call him -- but not the Danish.

- They call him Christian the Great.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- But he took over Stockholm, and he invited all the high-up emissaries here to a party.

And then, he chopped their heads off.

So, 80 heads in this square.

That's why they call it "Stockholm Bloodbath."

- The Stockholm Bloodbath.

- Yes.

- All the ambassadors from all the different countries just got chopped.

- No, no, no, Swedish, high-up.

- Oh, like, nobles.

- Yeah, nobles.

- Okay, okay, from all the different parts of the country.

- So, he shut all the entrances, and then he read a note that they had signed loyalty to the Swedish king.

- Okay.

- And he said, "This is treason to your new king."

- Mmm.

- 80 heads.

So, if you look at that building... - The red one?

- Yeah.

They say that every white stone on the building symbolizes a head.

- I've known Martin since 2009, when he was my CouchSurfing host on my first return trip to Stockholm after high school.

CouchSurfing was a popular way to see the world back then, when you'd connect with people online who had couch space, futon space, or sometimes floor space, for wayward travelers.

♪ ♪ Martin and his friends showed me an incredible welcome in Stockholm, and we've since become Afro-Viking soul brothers, or whatever.

- We'll also connect again, later.

Stockholm is a youthful city, a multi-faceted city, a city that balances -- with more success than most places -- a respectful worldliness with tradition.

Much of that balance is bolstered by a strong sense of what the Swedish call lagom -- not too much, not too little, just right.

That way, everybody gets a piece of the pie.

And what might be seen as slight pressure to fit in is made up for with, well, social security.

It's a high-wire act on a national scale, but it seems to work here.

[ Bells ring ] ♪ ♪ On the infrastructure side of that balance, the Stockholm metro -- the tunnelbana -- moves over 1.2 million people through the metropolitan area swiftly and efficiently every day.

And coming from a car-centric society like the United States, it's always a treat to hop on the underground, overground, anyground, which is always full of characters.

♪ ♪ I love it because the wind blows by you, and you get to look fly, especially if you're wearing a scarf.

♪ One of my favorite features of the city is the golden Nordic sunlight on spring and summer afternoons.

At just about the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, Stockholm in winter means almost total darkness all day.

But today, the color is gold.

Hi.

I'm Ernest White II.

You may know me from such films as "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" and "Eating Fire."

And fire might just be what's on the menu tonight.

As a teacher for children with hearing disabilities, and as a camp counselor for kids in Sweden and overseas, my buddy Martin developed his skills for performance and improv, sometimes as a clown, other times as a pirate or zombie.

Tonight, he's a pyrophile.

♪ Show-off.

♪ - Hey.

Welcome.

- I appreciate it, man.

Thank you for inviting me.

Thank you for inviting me, bro.

Now, put on some clothes.

I know you're cold, man.

You got me out here, freezing, and I'm supposed to be putting fire in my mouth?

- I'm going to teach you to eat fire.

- Okay, eating fire.

That's, uh, wow.

I know how to spit fire.

- Do you have life insurance?

Okay.

To each fire, it's truly easy.

- It's easy, he said.

- Yes.

You hold it as a pen.

- Okay.

- Like this.

And then, you stick it down.

You open your mouth, and you breathe out.

- Okay.

- So there's no air in the mouth.

And while you're breathing, you just close your mouth.

Like this.

- Wow.

Okay.

- Okay.

- It didn't even look like it hurt.

- Do you want to try?

- Do I have a choice?

- Okay.

I'll reframe it.

- Okay.

Pen.

- Are you ready?

- It was fine.

It was fine.

- Okay.

- So, pen.

- Yeah.

- Breathe out as I insert.

- Go like this.

- Okay.

- Then, you breathe out.

I'm sorry.

Hold it.

- Like a pen.

With my left hand, that I'm not used to?

- Open.

You have to put it down.

You can't hold it there.

You have to be distinct and... - Okay.

- And close your mouth.

You can do it.

- Okay.

Did it go in?

I can't see it.

- No.

- My eyes are here.

- Don't hold it there too long.

- Okay.

- Down, and close your mouth.

- Okay.

- You can't burn... - Okay.

- ...if you just close your mouth over it.

- Okay.

Stop yelling at me now, on camera.

Okay.

♪ Finally.

♪ - Close.

Yes!

Good.

- Bruh!

Whoo!

- You did it.

- Alright, man.

Whoo!

- You're an official... - Fire-eater.

- Fire-eater now.

- I'm an official fire-eater.

- Yes.

- In Sverige.

- In Sve... - Sweden.

Alright, man.

For me, eating fire is one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I never have to have again.

But I can't help but admire the precision, dexterity, courage, and passion that keeps Martin literally playing with fire.

Since we didn't get the chance to really catch up after the jam session, Germaine and I connect to talk about what she loves about her adopted hometown.

- Geez.

- Martin sends his regards.

- Geez.

- Yeah, fire shows and whatnot.

- I was parched, and I was waiting.

- Talk about parched, I had this doggone fire-eating session happening.

What's going on?

- Nothing much, just, you know, hanging out.

- Now, you were phenomenal last night.

- Thanks.

Let me take my hat off, so I can adjust.

- What do you love about living in Stockholm?

- Wow.

That's a loaded question.

I love the fact that there's trees and nature all around, even apartment buildings.

I mean, most people think in certain areas, it's "oh, you live in all those tall buildings.

Oh, there's not much there."

I'm like, there's tons of grass and greenery all over the place.

You know, you can walk a few blocks, and be near the water.

- Mm.

- And just going around all over the place.

I mean, it's very easy.

Transportation is very easy to get around, going from point to point.

And it's just, it's very...

I think the best word I can describe it as just "easy."

You know, you can ease into it, if you allow yourself.

- Okay, so Stockholm's like a Sunday morning all the time.

- More like a Wednesday afternoon.

- Easy like Wednesday afternoon.

- Easy like Wednesday afternoon, yes.

- What are your favorite places in Stockholm?

- My favorite places... music-wise, it's Stampen.

I go there for the afterworks on Friday night, to see one of my favorites.

His name is Derek January, the Voice of Soul.

And his band, absolutely amazing.

Of course, going to Temple Bar, and seeing the people that perform that I know, as well as our own gigs.

Culture-wise, the one -- I'm not...

I like museums, but the one museum that I really like going to is the Vasa Museum.

- Okay.

- I love seeing that ship, and the fact that they built a museum around the ship.

- That's kind of cool.

- Yes, that to me, alone, I don't even have to go inside.

- Okay.

- I just, like... ahh!

You know.

- So, tell me a little bit about the soul scene here.

Like, why is there a soul scene in Stockholm?

Isn't that a bit random?

- You would think.

But I guess not.

I think a lot of it started way back.

As far as I remember from hearing, even with gospel, a lot of it started, like, about the '70's.

'Cause they still had a lot of rock 'n' roll, and you know, they were into their dance back then.

And they had a lot of soul.

You know, even with Elvis, being soulful in his own way.

And Chuck Berry, and everyone else.

- Okay.

- So, they had all that.

The history was already there.

- They were coming here.

- They enjoy music.

They enjoy music.

Yeah, all these artists were coming here.

Aretha Franklin.

Oh, gosh, thousands.

- Gladys Knight.

- Yes, and the Pips.

- All of them.

All the Pips.

- All of them.

All the Pips.

Didn't leave a Pip behind.

- Nary a Pip behind.

- Nary a Pip behind.

Yeah, they all were coming here, and touring, and giving concerts.

And people were just loving that.

You know, and it just continued on.

And then, it went into a lot of the pubs.

They wanted to hear a lot of blues, and old R&B, and, you know, soul.

And that's what they listen to in a lot of the pubs that are in Gamla Stan, especially.

So, it just kept going.

- So, what was the name of the event that we went to last night?

- Oh, we call it "the JamNation."

Every two weeks, it's the JamNation.

- Okay.

- Yes, we're the JamNation band.

- JamNation, huh?

- JamNation.

Yes, JamNation Thursdays.

- Jam.

- Jam.

- Oh, jam.

Is that copyrighted?

I'm just glad to have you here.

- I'm kind of glad to be here, as well.

I'm glad to have you here.

- Hey.

We couldn't leave Stockholm without a recipe, and my girl Germaine, who isn't just a chanteuse but also a chef, recommends her favorite Swedish baked treat -- a springtime sweet bun called "semla."

- To make 8-10 buns, you'll need 1 50-gram package of yeast, 100 grams of butter, 2-1/2 deciliters of milk, 1 egg, 1 deciliter of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, and 8 deciliters of all-purpose flour.

For the filling, you'll need 100 grams of almond paste, 2 to 2-1/2 tablespoons of milk, 2 deciliters of whipping cream and confectioner's sugar.

Pour the yeast into a mixing bowl.

Melt the butter in a pot on the stove.

Pour the milk into the pot after the butter has melted.

And when the mixture is finger-warm, pour it into your mixing bowl with the yeast.

Attach your dough hook, and put in the rest of the ingredients.

Spoon in the flour, and let it mix thoroughly, until it pulls away from the bowl.

Take the dough, and place it into a clean bowl.

Cover it for 30 min.

Preheat your oven to 480°F.

Take the dough, and knead it until it is smooth and elastic.

Then, divide it into 8 or 10 smooth balls, and place them on a baking sheet with baking paper.

Cover, and let them rise again for about 10-15 minutes.

Take one egg, and give the buns a good egg wash. Then, bake the buns in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Place on a rack to cool.

Meanwhile, grate the almond paste into a bowl.

Add milk, and blend.

To fill the buns, slice off the top of each bun.

Dig out a hole similar to a soup bread bowl!

Blend together a little of the extra dough with the filling paste, and put a spoonful into the opening.

Whip the cream into a thick, stiff consistency.

Use a spoon or a piping bag, and apply to the roll.

Put the top back on the bun.

Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, and eat!

♪ ♪ What I love most about Stockholm, aside from a group of phenomenal friends -- family, really -- who accept me just as I am, is the fresh, cool calmness of the place.

Fire shows notwithstanding, if chill were a city, it would be Stockholm.

Beauty on Water.

♪ - ♪ It's you ♪ ♪ You make my world go round ♪ ♪ And I, I need you ♪ more than ever ♪ ♪ But if I lose you, ♪ I will lose myself ♪ ♪ And I, ♪ I would be lost forever ♪ - Major funding for this program is provided by... Marie Roberts De La Parra -- personal coaching, executive leadership, and self-empowerment.

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation.

Promoting racial justice, interacial understanding, and human healing.

MetalShake by Sweden.

Additional funding provided by the following.

To join the "Fly Brother" travel community or to order your own copy of this episode, visit flybrother.net.

♪