DR Big Band
Encyclopedia
The Danish Radio Big Band (DR Big Band), often referred to as the Radioens Big Band is a jazz
big band
founded in Copenhagen
in 1964, when the Copenhagen jazz scene was particularly active, and the city was regularly visited by prominent jazz artists from the USA.
, Bob Brookmeyer
and Jim McNeely
, and guest soloists like Miles Davis
, Stan Getz
and Joe Henderson
– along with numerous Danish jazz musicians – were able to make the DR Big Band the institution that Ernie Wilkins
said was “probably the best band in Europe.”
In 1964 the Danish broadcasting corporation Danmarks Radio (later abbreviated to DR) had a monopoly of both radio and TV broadcasting in Denmark. When DR’s head of entertainment Niels-Jørgen Kaiser decided that DR had to have its own jazz band, it was without regard for economics, but to achieve artistic quality – he wanted national radio to reflect the fact that jazz was very much alive in the Copenhagen clubs. During the first few decades the New Radio Dance Orchestra – which later became the DR Big Band - was therefore able to develop on the artistic premises of jazz itself, which worked well. The band acquired such a reputation that it could attract the big names, whether they were bandleaders or guest soloists, and was able to lay the foundations for the succession of recordings that today consists of more than 60 albums.
For many years the big band worked like a marriage. Although its love of jazz remained intact, some things in and around the band had the feeling of routine, while at the same time the world around it was changing. With the fall of the radio and TV monopoly in the 1980s, and later when DR moved out to ‘DR City’ in the 2000s, the reality and economics that prevailed were different. The big band’s artistic reputation remained intact and artistic quality remained its major goal; but the jazz scene had changed, and behind the scenes the struggle for funding for DR’s large orchestra became fierce. It was against this background that the band’s new artistic director, Chris Minh Doky, decided in 2008 on a shift in focus: not just to maintain the band’s high artistic standard but also to expand its field of work so that it could handle a wider range of public-service tasks for DR, while at the same time intensifying collaboration with international artists. For Doky artistic integrity was the crucial factor, and what he called “the musical scenography” was secondary. Regardless of the character of the task he had one goal: to ensure that the DR Big Band remained “the best band in Denmark.” This meant that the band had to epitomize experience and also renew itself.
Since then the DR Big Band had recorded a number of albums with stars including Randy Brecker
, Chris Potter
and Mike Stern
. But it has also appeared in the Danish version of the talent show X Factor
, in the family series Sigurd & the Big Band, in the show Circus Summarum, etc.
The factors that make the big band a great experience for audiences are its high technical standard, its living artistic expression and its mixture of tight choreography and relaxed humour. Today the DR Big Band emerges as trim, highly capable and deeply committed. It has been able to develop the big jazz sound while at the same time embracing a wider field.
Trumpet:
Trombone:
Saxophone:
Rhythm group:
Trumpet:
Trombone:
Bass:
Drums:
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...
big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
founded in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1964, when the Copenhagen jazz scene was particularly active, and the city was regularly visited by prominent jazz artists from the USA.
Band history
Originally called The New Radio Dance Orchestra, in the early years the band was led by Ib Glindemann. But over the next few decades many new faces joined – a succession of striking bandleaders, musicians and guest soloists such as Chris Potter - all of whom helped to develop the band into the experienced ensemble whose record releases and concerts have a devoted following all over the world. Leaders like Thad JonesThad Jones
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
, Bob Brookmeyer
Bob Brookmeyer
Robert Brookmeyer is an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer.-Biography:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre...
and Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely is a Grammy award winning jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.Jim was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 1975. In 1978 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band...
, and guest soloists like Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than forty years Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.-Early life:From a very large family with five sisters and nine...
– along with numerous Danish jazz musicians – were able to make the DR Big Band the institution that Ernie Wilkins
Ernie Wilkins
Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. was a jazz arranger and writer who also played tenor saxophone. He might be best known for his work with Count Basie. He also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie...
said was “probably the best band in Europe.”
In 1964 the Danish broadcasting corporation Danmarks Radio (later abbreviated to DR) had a monopoly of both radio and TV broadcasting in Denmark. When DR’s head of entertainment Niels-Jørgen Kaiser decided that DR had to have its own jazz band, it was without regard for economics, but to achieve artistic quality – he wanted national radio to reflect the fact that jazz was very much alive in the Copenhagen clubs. During the first few decades the New Radio Dance Orchestra – which later became the DR Big Band - was therefore able to develop on the artistic premises of jazz itself, which worked well. The band acquired such a reputation that it could attract the big names, whether they were bandleaders or guest soloists, and was able to lay the foundations for the succession of recordings that today consists of more than 60 albums.
For many years the big band worked like a marriage. Although its love of jazz remained intact, some things in and around the band had the feeling of routine, while at the same time the world around it was changing. With the fall of the radio and TV monopoly in the 1980s, and later when DR moved out to ‘DR City’ in the 2000s, the reality and economics that prevailed were different. The big band’s artistic reputation remained intact and artistic quality remained its major goal; but the jazz scene had changed, and behind the scenes the struggle for funding for DR’s large orchestra became fierce. It was against this background that the band’s new artistic director, Chris Minh Doky, decided in 2008 on a shift in focus: not just to maintain the band’s high artistic standard but also to expand its field of work so that it could handle a wider range of public-service tasks for DR, while at the same time intensifying collaboration with international artists. For Doky artistic integrity was the crucial factor, and what he called “the musical scenography” was secondary. Regardless of the character of the task he had one goal: to ensure that the DR Big Band remained “the best band in Denmark.” This meant that the band had to epitomize experience and also renew itself.
Since then the DR Big Band had recorded a number of albums with stars including Randy Brecker
Randy Brecker
Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
, Chris Potter
Chris Potter
Christopher or Chris Potter may refer to:*Chris Potter *Christopher Potter *Chris Potter *Chris Potter *Christopher Potter, English academic and clergyman*Chris Potter , Dean of St Asaph...
and Mike Stern
Mike Stern
Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums...
. But it has also appeared in the Danish version of the talent show X Factor
X Factor (Denmark)
X Factor is the Danish version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom and is created by talent show judge and record and TV producer Simon Cowell.-Series summary: "Under 25 boys" or "Under 25s" category "Under 25 girls" category...
, in the family series Sigurd & the Big Band, in the show Circus Summarum, etc.
The factors that make the big band a great experience for audiences are its high technical standard, its living artistic expression and its mixture of tight choreography and relaxed humour. Today the DR Big Band emerges as trim, highly capable and deeply committed. It has been able to develop the big jazz sound while at the same time embracing a wider field.
Current members
Current members are:Trumpet:
- Thomas Kjærgaard
- Anders Gustafsson
- Christer Gustafsson
- Mads La Cour
- Gerard PresencerGerard PresencerGerard Presencer is an English jazz trumpeter who has also made a name as a session player in pop-music contexts, and as a jazz educator. He currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Biography :...
Trombone:
- Vincent Nilsson
- Steen Nikolaj Hansen
- Anette Huseby Saxe
- Jakob Munck Mortensen
- Peter Jensen
Saxophone:
- Nikolaj Schultz
- Peter Fuglsang
- Uffe Markussen
- Lars Møller
- Anders Gaardmand
Rhythm group:
- Søren Frost (dr)
- Kaspar Vadsholt (b)
- Henrik Gunde (p)
- Per Gade (g)
Former members
Saxophone:- Bent JædigBent Jædig- Discography :Original albums*Bent Axen - Bent Jædig: Let's Keep The Message *Danish Jazzman *Egon Denu & Bent Jædig *Sizzlin’ Compilations*From Jædig's Galaxy - Discography :Original albums*Bent Axen - Bent Jædig: Let's Keep The Message (Danish Debut, 1960)*Danish Jazzman (Debut, 1967)*Egon Denu...
- Jesper ThiloJesper ThiloJesper Thilo is a Danish jazz musician, mainly known as a tenor saxophonist, alto saxophonist and clarinetist. He is considered to be one of the top European straight-ahead jazz musicians of the post-1970 period...
(1966–1989) - Per Carsten
- Hans Ulrik
Trumpet:
- Benny Rosenfeld
- Palle Bolvig
- Idrees SuliemanIdrees SuliemanIdrees Sulieman was a bop and hard bop trumpeter. He studied at Boston Conservatory, and gained early experience playing with the Carolina Cotton Pickers and the wartime Earl Hines Orchestra...
- Jens WintherJens WintherJens Winther was a Danish jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader. He composed for and played in a long line of European big bands and other orchestras. His work includes compositions for symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles and choirs...
(1982–1989) - Thomas FrylandThomas Fryland-Biography:Thomas Fryland was born in a small town in southern Jutland in 1969. In 1990 he was admitted into the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in The Netherlands, graduating two years later. Among his teachers were Frans Elsen, Barry Harris, John Ruocco and Ack van Rooyen.His first album as a...
(1998–2005) - Henrik Bolberg
Trombone:
- Vincent Nilsson
- Erling Kroner
- Richard Boone
Bass:
- Niels-Henning Ørsted PedersenNiels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen- Discography :* My Name Is Albert Ayler 1963 * Kirk in Copenhagen 1963 * Ben Webster in Denmark 1965-1971 Live at Danish Radio studios, Jazzhus Montmartre and Odd Fellow Palæet - Universal Music Denmark*One Flight Up 1964 *Sunday Walk 1969 - Discography :* My Name Is Albert Ayler 1963 (with...
- Bo StiefBo StiefBo Stief is a Danish jazz and rock bassist, composer, and arranger born in Copenhagen.He has worked or recorded with Don Cherry, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Jackie McLean, George Russell, Kenny Drew and Ben Webster, among many other prominent jazz...
- Mads VindingMads VindingMads Vinding is a Danish jazz double-bassist.He is a Danish jazz musicians, and one of the 'aces of basses' with more than 600 recordings to his credit. Professional at age 16, Vinding became the house-bassplayer at Café Montmartre, the legendary jazz club in Copenhagen...
- Jesper LundgaardJesper LundgaardJesper Lundgaard is a Danish jazz bassist, bandleader, composer and recording studio. Since his debut in the mid 1970s, he has been among the most prominent bassists in Danish jazz and as a sideman he has appeared on more than 400 albums both with Danish and leading American jazz...
(1989–1991)
Drums:
- Bjarne Rostvold (?–1978)
- Lennart Gruvstedt (1978–?)
Chief conductors
- Ib GlindemannIb GlindemannIb Glindemann is a Danish jazz musician, the big band leader of the Ib Glindemann Orchestra . When in Europe, saxophonist Stan Getz was a frequent guest star of the orchestra.-External links:*...
(1964–1968) - Various guest conductors, including Oliver NelsonOliver NelsonOliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
, Frank FosterFrank Foster (musician)Frank Foster was an American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer. Foster collaborated frequently with Count Basie and worked as a bandleader from the early 1950s.-Biography:...
, Robert Cornford, Jimmy HeathJimmy HeathJames Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
, Clark TerryClark TerryClark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, Mary Lou WilliamsMary Lou WilliamsMary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
, Michael Gibbs and Mike WestbrookMike WestbrookMichael John David 'Mike' Westbrook is an English jazz pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces.-Early work:Mike Westbrook grew up in Torquay... - Ray Pitts (1971–1973 )
- Palle MikkelborgPalle MikkelborgPalle Mikkelborg , is a Danish jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and record producer. He started playing professionally in 1960, and has since been a dominant figure on the Danish and international progressive jazz scene...
(1975–1977) - Thad JonesThad JonesThaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
(1977–1978) - Ole Kock Hansen
- Bob BrookmeyerBob BrookmeyerRobert Brookmeyer is an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer.-Biography:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre...
(1996–1998) - Jim McNeelyJim McNeelyJim McNeely is a Grammy award winning jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.Jim was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 1975. In 1978 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band...
(1998–2002)
External links
- Official website
- :da:Radioens Big Band