Jesper Lundgaard
Encyclopedia
Jesper 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 musicians.
, Denmark. After first playing guitar for a few years, he started to play bass at age 16. In 1976 he began to study music at Århus University and the same year he became part of Århus' jazz scene when he joined Bent Eriksen's trio. There he met Danish jazz musicians such as Thomas Clausen, Alex Riel
, Niels Jørgen Steen, Finn Ziegler, Jesper Thilo
, Jørgen Emborg
and Jan Zum Vohrde as well as many American musicians, including Dexter Gordon
, Harry Sweets Edison, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Joe Newman
, Benny Waters
, Hal Singer
, Thad Jones
, Mel Lewis
, Pepper Adams
, Howard McGhee
, Roy Eldridge
and Doug
and Jimmy Raney
. Lundgaard soon established himself as one of the leading jazz bassists on the Danish jazz scene.
In 1978 he became a member of the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra and went on a 3-month European tour which would become its last before Thad Jones
left the band and it changed its name simply to the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.
After the tour both Thad Jones and Jesper Lundgaard settled in Copenhagen
. Lundgaard became bassist-in-residence at the La Fontaine Jazz Club and also played in other venues such as Jazzhus Montmartre and Slukefter, accompanying musicians such as Benny Carter
, Teddy Wilson
, Jay McShann
, Dorothy Donegan
, Phineas Newborn
, Mose Allison
and Stanley Turrentine
. In 1979 he also started recording for SteepleChase Records
, appearing on around 40 albums from this label. He was also a sideman for musicians such as Benny Carter
and Teddy Wilson
on albums released on Storyville Records
. He has also recorded with Chet Baker
and Duke Jordan
for some albums released by Japanese labels.
Up through the 1980s, Lundgaard was a member of the Radiojazzgruppen, Ernie Wilkins
' Almost Big Band
and Thad Jones' Danish big band Eclipse, Parallel to this he went on numerous tours with American musicians. These included lengthy tours with Doug
and Jimmy Raney
to the Netherlands, France and Germany and others with Tommy Flanagan
and Ed Thigpen
. In the mid 1980s he also became a member of Bob Rockwell
's quartet after Rockwell had become the third former The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra-member to permanently move to Copenhagen in 1984.
From 1989 to 1991 he was a member of the DR Big Band
and in 1993 he joined Svend Asmussen
's quartet in which he still plays.
In 1994 he formed the Repertory Quartet which released six albums before it was dissolved in 2000.
He has also taught and conducted master classes at educational institutions in Denmark as well as at conservatories in Rotterdam
, Zürich
and Helsinki
.
. Since 1991 he has operated his own recording studio
, the Loft Studio, in which he has produced some 40 albums for other artists.
for double bass and electric bass which is small, lightweight, and very powerful and in 2007 he established a small company, ARCO-amplification, which sells it.
With Thad Jones
With Horace Parlan
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
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...
bassist, bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
. Since his debut in the mid 1970s, he has been among the most prominent bassists in Danish jazz
Danish jazz
Danish jazz goes back to 1923 when Valdemar Eiberg formed a jazz orchestra and recorded what are thought to be the first Danish jazz records in August 1924 . However, jazz in Denmark is typically first dated to 1925, when bandleader Sam Wooding toured in Copenhagen with an orchestra...
and as a sideman
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
he has appeared on more than 400 albums both with Danish and leading American jazz musicians.
Biography
Jesper Lundgaard was born in 1954 in HillerødHillerød
Hillerød Kommune is a municipality in Region Hovedstaden . The municipality covers an area of 191 km² , and has a total population of 46,568...
, Denmark. After first playing guitar for a few years, he started to play bass at age 16. In 1976 he began to study music at Århus University and the same year he became part of Århus' jazz scene when he joined Bent Eriksen's trio. There he met Danish jazz musicians such as Thomas Clausen, Alex Riel
Alex Riel
Alex Riel, , is a Danish jazz and rock drummer. His first group Alex Riel/Palle Mikkelborg Quintet won Montreux Grand Prix Award at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968 and it was published in Billboards June 1968 edition.-Biography:Riel has recorded with, among others, Kenny Drew, Kenny Werner, Bob...
, Niels Jørgen Steen, Finn Ziegler, Jesper Thilo
Jesper Thilo
Jesper 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...
, Jørgen Emborg
Jørgen Emborg
Jørgen Emborg is a Danish jazz pianist and composer.-References:*...
and Jan Zum Vohrde as well as many American musicians, including Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
, Harry Sweets Edison, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Joe Newman
Joe Newman (trumpeter)
Joseph Dwight Newman was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator, best known for his time with Count Basie....
, Benny Waters
Benny Waters
Benny Waters was a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist known, in part, for the longevity of his career....
, Hal Singer
Hal Singer
Harold Joseph "Hal" Singer is an American R&B and jazz bandleader and saxophonist.-Biography:Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Singer studied violin as a child but, as a teenager, switched to clarinet and then tenor saxophone, which became his instrument of choice...
, Thad Jones
Thad 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...
, Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis
Mel Lewis was an American drummer, jazz musician and band leader. He was born Melvin Sokoloff in Buffalo, New York to Russian immigrant parents....
, Pepper Adams
Pepper Adams
Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
, Howard McGhee
Howard McGhee
Howard McGhee was one of the very first bebop jazz trumpeters, together with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for lightning-fast fingers and very high notes...
, Roy Eldridge
Roy Eldridge
Roy David Eldridge , nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a...
and Doug
Doug Raney
Doug Raney is an American jazz guitarist. He is the son of Jimmy Raney.Raney began his career in his father's band, with Al Haig, at the age of 18. He later played in a duo with his father...
and Jimmy Raney
Jimmy Raney
Jimmy Raney was an American jazz guitarist born in Louisville, Kentucky most notable for his work from 1951–1952 and 1962–1963 with Stan Getz and for his work from 1953–1954 with the Red Norvo trio, replacing Tal Farlow. In 1954 and 1955 he won the Down Beat critics poll for guitar...
. Lundgaard soon established himself as one of the leading jazz bassists on the Danish jazz scene.
In 1978 he became a member of the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra and went on a 3-month European tour which would become its last before Thad Jones
Thad 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...
left the band and it changed its name simply to the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.
After the tour both Thad Jones and Jesper Lundgaard settled 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...
. Lundgaard became bassist-in-residence at the La Fontaine Jazz Club and also played in other venues such as Jazzhus Montmartre and Slukefter, accompanying musicians such as Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
, Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
, Jay McShann
Jay McShann
Jay McShann was an American Grammy Award-nominated jump blues, mainstream jazz, and swing bandleader, pianist and singer....
, Dorothy Donegan
Dorothy Donegan
Dorothy Donegan was an American classically trained jazz pianist primarily known for performing in the stride piano and boogie-woogie style. She also played bop, swing jazz, and classical music.-Life and career:...
, Phineas Newborn
Phineas Newborn
Phineas Newborn, Jr. was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell. Newborn came from a musical family with his father, Phineas Newborn, Sr., being a blues musician and his younger brother, Calvin, a jazz guitarist...
, Mose Allison
Mose Allison
Mose John Allison, Jr. is an American jazz blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...
and Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
. In 1979 he also started recording for SteepleChase Records
SteepleChase Records
SteepleChase Records is a jazz record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time...
, appearing on around 40 albums from this label. He was also a sideman for musicians such as Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
and Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
on albums released on Storyville Records
Storyville Records
Storyville Records is a large international record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specializing in jazz and blues music. Besides its original material, Storyville Records has licensed and reissued many vintage jazz recordings that previously appeared on such labels as Paramount Records,...
. He has also recorded with Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
and Duke Jordan
Duke Jordan
Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regular member of Charlie Parker's so-called "classic quintet" , featuring Miles Davis...
for some albums released by Japanese labels.
Up through the 1980s, Lundgaard was a member of the Radiojazzgruppen, 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...
' Almost Big Band
Almost Big Band
The Almost Big Band was a 13 piece jazz band formed by Ernie Wilkins in 1980 after his permanent move to Copenhagen, Denmark. Members included expatriate American such as Kenny Drew and Ed Thigpen as well as prominent Danish jazz musicians such as Jesper Thilo and Bent Jaedig.Mainly an arranger,...
and Thad Jones' Danish big band Eclipse, Parallel to this he went on numerous tours with American musicians. These included lengthy tours with Doug
Doug Raney
Doug Raney is an American jazz guitarist. He is the son of Jimmy Raney.Raney began his career in his father's band, with Al Haig, at the age of 18. He later played in a duo with his father...
and Jimmy Raney
Jimmy Raney
Jimmy Raney was an American jazz guitarist born in Louisville, Kentucky most notable for his work from 1951–1952 and 1962–1963 with Stan Getz and for his work from 1953–1954 with the Red Norvo trio, replacing Tal Farlow. In 1954 and 1955 he won the Down Beat critics poll for guitar...
to the Netherlands, France and Germany and others with Tommy Flanagan
Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered for his work with Ella Fitzgerald...
and Ed Thigpen
Ed Thigpen
Edmund Leonard "Ed" Thigpen was an American jazz drummer, best-known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965...
. In the mid 1980s he also became a member of Bob Rockwell
Bob Rockwell
Bob Rockwell is a jazz saxophonist. He was born in the United States but emigrated to Denmark in 1983, where he has lived since.-Biography:...
's quartet after Rockwell had become the third former The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra-member to permanently move to Copenhagen in 1984.
From 1989 to 1991 he was a member of the DR Big Band
DR Big Band
The Danish Radio 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.- Band history :Originally called The New Radio...
and in 1993 he joined 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...
's quartet in which he still plays.
In 1994 he formed the Repertory Quartet which released six albums before it was dissolved in 2000.
He has also taught and conducted master classes at educational institutions in Denmark as well as at conservatories in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
and Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
.
Loft Studio
Since 1986 Lundgaard worked with audio engineeringAudio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
. Since 1991 he has operated his own recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
, the Loft Studio, in which he has produced some 40 albums for other artists.
ARCO-amplification
Since 2004 he has developed a new amplifierAmplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
for double bass and electric bass which is small, lightweight, and very powerful and in 2007 he established a small company, ARCO-amplification, which sells it.
As sideman
With The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra- Body and Soul (West Wind RecordsWest Wind RecordsWest Wind Records was a jazz record label, releasing albums by many notable musicians during the 1980s.Some of these albums were previously issued on labels such as Circle Records .-Discography:*001 Anthony Braxton - The Coventry Concert 1980...
, 1979)
With Thad Jones
Thad 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...
- Live at Montmartre with 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...
, Allan BotschinskyAllan BotschinskyAllan Botschinsky is a Danish jazz trumpeter.Botschinsky's father played bassoon professionally. He began on trumpet at age 11 and at 14 began studying at the Royal Danish Conservatorium...
, 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...
, NHØPNiels-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...
(Storyville RecordsStoryville RecordsStoryville Records is a large international record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specializing in jazz and blues music. Besides its original material, Storyville Records has licensed and reissued many vintage jazz recordings that previously appeared on such labels as Paramount Records,...
, 1978) - Eclipse with Tim HagansTim HagansTim Hagans is a jazz trumpeter and composer.He has been nominated for Grammys for Best Instrumental Composition for "Box of Cannoli" from The Avatar Session ; and Best Contemporary Jazz CD for Animation*Imagination and Re-Animation .He grew up in Dayton, Ohio...
, Sahib ShihabSahib ShihabSahib Shihab was an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.-Biography:...
, Horace ParlanHorace ParlanHorace Parlan is an American hard bop and post-bop piano player.He is noted for his contributions to the classic Charles Mingus recordings Mingus Ah Um and Blues & Roots....
(Storyville RecordsStoryville RecordsStoryville Records is a large international record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specializing in jazz and blues music. Besides its original material, Storyville Records has licensed and reissued many vintage jazz recordings that previously appeared on such labels as Paramount Records,...
, 1979)
With Horace Parlan
Horace Parlan
Horace Parlan is an American hard bop and post-bop piano player.He is noted for his contributions to the classic Charles Mingus recordings Mingus Ah Um and Blues & Roots....
- Like Someone in LoveLike Someone in Love (Horace Parlan album)Like Someone in Love is an album by American jazz pianist Horace Parlan featuring performances recorded in 1983 and released on the Danish-based SteepleChase label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 4 stars.-Track listing:# "U.M.M.G...
(SteepleChaseSteepleChase RecordsSteepleChase Records is a jazz record label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time...
, 1983) - Glad I Found YouGlad I Found YouGlad I Found You is an album by American jazz pianist Horace Parlan featuring performances recorded in 1984 and released on the Danish-based SteepleChase label.-Reception:...
(SteepleChase, 1984)