Svend Asmussen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Svend Asmussen (born February 28, 1916 in Copenhagen ; † February 7, 2017 ) was a Danish jazz musician ( violin , also vibraphone , vocals ) and actor .

Life

Svend Asmussen grew up in a musical family and received violin lessons from the age of seven. At the age of 16 he listened to Joe Venuti with Eddie Lang and dealt with their style to begin a professional career a year later, first in Denmark, where he was part of the formation of Valdemar Eiberg ; he then also played on cruise ships, where he collaborated with Josephine Baker and Fats Waller , among others . He also performed in England, France and Germany, where his first record sold well. He accompanied the Mills Brothers on their European tour; in Paris he jammed with Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli . In 1943 he was arrested by the Nazis and held for several months without explanation.

Asmussen was later significantly influenced by Stuff Smith , with whom he worked in Denmark. In the late 1950s he founded the Swe-Danes trio with singer Alice Babs and guitarist Ulrik Neumann . This group became very popular in Scandinavia and also toured the United States.

Asmussen also worked with Benny Goodman , who wanted to bring him permanently into his band. Hazy Osterwald based himself on his appearances. He also played with Lionel Hampton , Toots Thielemans , Putte Wickman , John Lewis , Kenny Drew , Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and on very different occasions with Duke Ellington ; In 1963 he was invited by Ellington to record the Jazz Violin Session with Stéphane Grappelli and Ray Nance as well as to a session with Sathima Bea Benjamin . In 1966 there was a Violin Summit with Asmussen, Grappelli, Stuff Smith and Jean-Luc Ponty , which is documented as a live album. Asmussen worked for a long time on the revue stage in Scandinavia, but also played with the Indian violinist L. Subramaniam in 1978 (CD Garland ).

From 1974 he took part in productions of the Danish pop group Shu-bi-dua , in which his son Claus Asmussen was first a sound engineer and later a member of the band. Svend Asmussen can be heard as the violinist on the first LP, and he has contributed string arrangements to several of the band's later LPs.

Initially attached to the swing style , but also experienced in the bebop idiom, Asmussen was a very independent and musically open violinist with unusual leaps in intervals and idiosyncratic pizzicato . Since the death of Stéphane Grappelli, Asmussen has been regarded as the “ doyen of European jazz violinists” ( Jazz Podium ).

Discographic notes

literature

  • Ulrich Roth: Svend Asmussen. Fidelnder Vikings and music icon made in Denmark . Jazz Podium 6/2008: 5 - 11 (detailed interview)
  • Ellen Bick Asmussen: June Nights: Svend Asmussens Liv I Music . Gyldendal 2005. ISBN 9788702020618

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Emil Bergløv: The verdensberømte violinist Svend Asmussen he død . Politiken , 7 February 2017, accessed 7 February 2017 (Danish).
  2. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/artist/250431-Shu-Bi-Dua
personal data
SURNAME Asmussen, Svend
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish jazz violinist
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 2017