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Anecdotes It could be good fun to fill these pages with some of the many anecdotes circulating in the ‘trade’ about musicians – living and dead. It may well be that things have got a bit exaggerated, so if you know the true story, let’s have it.
In 1997, Olivier Messiaen was awarded the Sonning Music Prize. In the very abstract work that was to be performed at the presentation of the prize, at one point in Ole’s trumpet part it said, "For the next 32 bars - play whatever you like". All week Ole had done his best to play in an avant-garde style at rehearsals, but when the concert went on air, as he got to that point he thought: "Hmm – what’s actually wrong with H.C. Lumbye’s 'Britta Polka'? No sooner said than done :-) They say that on the tape of that sombre avant-garde work you can clearly hear a resounding solo trumpet playing H.C.Lumbye's 'Britta Polka'. Contributed by Jan Glæsel
About Ole Molin (legendary Danish jazz guitarist) The scene is the Danish Radio Concert Hall – a live broadcast of a Saturday matinée, with the Light Orchestra and the Big Band – conductor Stan Kenton, soloist Ole Molin. Of course Ole Molin didn’t turn up on time, and so the host of the programme, Erik Moseholm, had had to tread water for several minutes, as the live broadcast had already gone on air. Suddenly the door opened and in came Ole. He sauntered calmly across the stage, sat down and plugged his guitar into the amplifier – looked up at a furious Stan Kenton and said, "Are you ready?" Contributed by Jan Glæsel
About Jesper Thilo (Danish Saxophonist) The Danish Radio Big Band was to take part in the recording of one of Shu-Bi-Dua's many albums. The ‘Shubbers’ were very keen to hear their music interpreted by a Big Band, and somewhere along the line they came up with the idea that a tenor sax solo would put the finishing touch to the recording. They asked Jesper Thilo if he would go into the booth and have a shot at the solo. Of course he said a quick yes, but immediately pointed out that it would cost them a good Dkk. 1.200 plus overtime and transportation for this solo. "That’s fine," said the delighted ‘Shubbers’. Thilo went into the booth and fired off a solo. The tape was stopped and there was a long pause, during which he could see through the glass that the ‘Shubbers’ were discussing the matter. Suddenly Bosse (former drummer with Shu-Bi-Dua) pressed the talk back button and asked, "May we please hear a 3,000 kroner solo?" Contributed by Jan Glæsel
About Zoot Sims (American saxophonist) Immediately after the 2nd World War, it became very popular once again for American jazz musicians to come over and tour Europe. This brought the American saxophonist Zoot Sims to Germany, where he was to play with a German rhythm group. He arrived for a prior rehearsal with the group, and after they had practised the first number, everyone looked expectantly at the great master. Zoot Sims took his sax out of his mouth, gave the musicians a straight look, and announced, "Gentlemen - the war is over!!" Contributed by Jan Glæsel
About Ole Schmidt (Conductor) Ole was to conduct the Danish Radio Light Orchestra in a concert in honour of Stan Getz, who was also to be the soloist. Stan Getz cried off all the rehearsals, and they had to call on Jesper Thilo to stand in at rehearsals. Stan Getz turned up for the dress rehearsal on the day, went up to Ole Schmidt and introduced himself. Ole was not impressed and asked him to repeat his name. "Stan Getz – I’m going to be playing the solo part." To which Ole replied, "No, you aren’t!! The chap sitting over there (Jesper Thilo) has been here for all the rehearsals – HE’s playing the solo part!!" Contributed by Jan Glæsel About Jan Glæsel During a sound test for one of the never to be forgotten Meyerheim & Co talk shows, Bob Ricketts was standing testing his newly acquired Akai EWI Synth sax, better known as "The Screaming Stick". To say the very least, it sounded like a cross between a rutting cicada and a pig being castrated without anaesthetic. When this had been going on for a very long time and holding up the recording, a somewhat tense Glæsel burst out, "For goodness sake tread on it, man, it isn’t quite dead yet!" Contributed by Jan Lysdahl (20-07-05)
About Jan Glæsel During a tour with Jette Torp in 1999, the bass-player Dan Rasmussen had brought his faithful dog Stevie along to look after him. Whenever the opportunity arose – and that happened all the time – he showed off all the tricks he had taught the dog. After watching this spectacle for several weeks, Mr. Glæsel went out into the entrance hall of the Århus Musikhus concert centre. In the dressing room, outside Glæsel’s field of vision, a deeply-absorbed, Mussorgsky-playing Jesper Mejlvang was sitting at the upright piano playing his heart out. Just then Glæsel walked past the door and, seeing the rest of the band sitting listening admiringly to the brilliant piano-playing, he burst out, "Oh Dan, do stop showing off what your dog can do!!” Contributed by Dan Rasmussen (20-07-05)
About Flemming Rasmussen (engineer at Sweet Silence) John Tchicai was standing warming up on his soprano sax behind the Sweet Silence studio window. He was getting ready to dub a solo on a Beaver Service disc that Glæsel was also to be playing on. Flemming Rasmussen, whose musical preference is for heavy rock, was setting up the number on the desk. When he was ready, he turned on Tchicai's microphone. The avant-garde jazz sound that came bellowing out of the speakers made Flemming turn down the volume again at once. He waited a bit and then tried turning the microphone on again. The same abstract sound bellowed out into the control room again. Flemming resolutely pulled the master fader right down, turned round and said very curtly and firmly, "Get that junkie out of my studio!" Contributed by Hans Fagt (20-07-05)
About Freddy Hanson (owner of the old Sweet Silence Studio) Peter Bastian was to do a bassoon recording at Sweet Silence with Flemming Rasmussen as engineer. The whole of the first day went by without finding an acceptable sound for Peter’s bassoon – huge frustration. They carried on the next day, and the mood of misery was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Then Freddy Hanson appeared in the doorway and followed the problems from a distance for a time, until he burst out, "Bassoon, man! What a load of shit!" Contributed by Bjarne Hansen (21-07-05)
About Jazz-Kaj Sørensen (Legendary owner of the Jazzclub Montmartre) The legendary Jazz-Kaj Sørensen of the now defunct Jazzhus Montmartre, may not really have been all that keen on jazz – at any rate, not the advanced kind. One evening, Jazz-Kaj went up to the edge of the stage, where an American band was half way through the first number and was deeply into some very modern rhythms and burst out, "The sound test is over now, boys, the audience has arrived!"... Contributed by Jan Lysdahl (21-07-05)
About Joe Zawinul (who formed the group Weather Report) The guitarist Scott Henderson was in the studio with the Joe Zawinul Syndicate as their newest member. They were standing in the control room listening to a take. As Henderson could tell that this version was going to be it [not sure what ‘er vist købt’ menas] and he wasn’t totally satisfied with his guitar solo, he asked Zawinul if he could be punched into the last part of the solo to correct it. Zawinul looked at his new band member in disbelief and said, "If you don’t like it, why on earth did you play it like that?" Contributed by Hans Fagt (23-07-05) About Preben Kristensen Linie 3's Preben Kristensen had been given the honour of singing Solitaire – en pop-rock ballad. But being the musical star that he is, he loves to be as laid-back as he can get away with. One day in the dressing-room Glæsel said to him, "For God’s sake sing on the bloody beat. If it gets any worse you’ll end up getting a parking fine!!" Contributed by Anders Bircow (03-09-05)
About Jan Monrad Optimistically, Jan Monrad once tried to get together a team of musicians and the like to meet once a week in the Hermes-Hall to start the day with a morning badminton tournament. And believe it or not, they actually did it over a long period, though at a gentle pace.] Of course people cried off occasionally, but then they played with 'substitutes'. One of those who was a very good substitute was the guitarist Steen Svare. And one morning around half-past seven, when Monrad had just had someone cry off, he rang Svare straight away, saying: “It’s Jan Monrad. How do you feel, are you fit for a game of badminton in half an hour’s time?” But to his surprise, the answer was an emphatic: “I most certainly am NOT!!” The musician Monrad had rung by mistake was not the guitarist Steen Svare, but the clarinettist JØRGEN SVARRE. Contributed by Øyvind Ougaard (04-09-05) About Niels Ratzer (drummer in Glæsels band) The 'old', legendary drummer Niels Ratzer from Glæsel’s "1st Generation" had been engaged, along with yours truly, to play percussion on the American edition of "Nightwatch" with the much-used Prague Film Orchestra. We two Danes, and a huge Czech symphony orchestra. Niels was expecting to play a drum set but when he got to Prague, he discovered that he had actually been booked to play timpani, which is totally different from playing a drum set. Very uneasy about the situation but with his usual unfailing sense of humour, quaking with nerves, Ratzer sneaked over to me – because at that time he reckoned I was someone who knew about classical percussion – and softly whispered, 2 seconds before the red light went on, "Umm, I guess it’s just like playing 4 low-tuned drums?" Later on we heard a conductor laughing and saying a lot to the orchestra in Czech, and every so often using the word "danski"......that was us. Contributed by Peter Düring (03-10-05)
About Bernard Purdie (legendary drummer) During my stay in the USA years ago, I was at a session with the legendary and charismatic drummer Bernard Purdie. He "lied" and boasted about this and that, and handed me a copy of his solo disc. I looked at it and said thank you! To which he replied, "Thank you?! It´s eight dollars...!" Contributed by Lars Danielsson (15-11-05)
There is space for your anecdote here. Send it via the 'Notice Board', and I’ll see to it that it ends up here.
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