College Jazz, 1968 – 69
When I was a 2nd grade student at Kalundborg Gymnasium (‘sixth form college’) I started a jazz band together with 5 fellow students. The band performed at school dances and concerts and consisted of Knud Astrup Jørgensen on piano, Jørgen Flensted-Andersen on alto saxophone, Hans Jacob Madsen on guitar, Jan Engdal Nielsen on drums, Gustav Marquard Christensen on vocal and me on bass guitar.
Swing Service, 1985 – 2005
After Birgit and I moved to Hørsholm in 1983 I began to play jazz in a local swing-jazz band called “Swing Service”, at first on bass guitar and from 1985 onwards on double bass. Over 20 years the band had numerous engagements in jazz clubs, private parties, corporate events, art exhibition openings, open-air concerts etc. until about 2005.
The band played in various constellations but usually featuring tenor saxophone, piano, guitar, drums and double bass. Besides Peter Wamberg on the tenor saxophone and me on the bass as regular members, the band has over the years enjoyed the skills of various other musicians – professionals and amateurs – on the other positions for shorter or longer periods of time.
Examples of engagements in 1988 – 1991
Swing Service played at a number of family events at the dance school “Jazz & Motion” in Hvidovre (a suburb of Copenhagen). On the images below we are playing at a party in May 1988, with Peter Wamberg on tenor sax, Jacob Christoffersen on piano, Kurt Hansen on guitar, Hans-Henning Hansen on drums and me on double bass.
Swing Service was engaged to perform at a party in the cultural venue “Trommen” in Hørsholm together with three other bands in September 1989.
In the summer 1991 we had a couple of corporate engagements where a company invited their customers and employees on a trip on one of the canal tour boats in Copenhagen where we played while the boat sailed on the canals. I had to lay down the bass every time we were about to pass under one of the low canal bridges. One tour took us out to The Little Mermaid where the guests were landed to continue with dinner in a restaurant.
Roskilde Festival, 1 July 1989
The Jazz Club “Moster Kloster” had decided in 1989 to have a jazz booth at the Roskilde Festival (a large Danish festival each summer which usually only features famous rock artists and bands such as the Rolling Stones, Stewie Wonder and other celebrities). Swing Service played in the jazz booth Saturday afternoon on 1 July from 16:45 to 20:45. The band consisted of Peter Wamberg (tenor saxophone); Jacob Christoffersen (keyboard); Kurt Hansen (guitar); Hans Henning Hansen (drums), Christian Christiansen (trombone) and me on double bass.
Søllerød Jazz Club 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998
Swing Service performed on a number of occasions in Søllerød Jazz Club at the Nærumgaard School – first time in December 1989 where we played at the staff room while Fessor’s Big City Band performed in the main hall. The complement of players were Peter Wamberg on tenor sax, Clifford Hermann and Kurt Hansen on guitars, Jacob Christoffersen on piano, Hans Henning Hansen on drums and me on double bass.
In subsequent years we opened the club season by playing in the main hall alternating with one of the other ‘regular’ bands.
Restaurant Søpavillonen in Copenhagen, October 1990
Swing Service performed in Restaurant Søpavillionen in central Copenhagen on 13 Oct. 1990. The dinner-dance arrangement was for a large group of Italian Medical Doctors attending a congress in Copenhagen. The regular band members – Peter Wamberg (tenor sax); Jacob Christoffersen (piano); Kurt Hansen (guitar); Hans Henning Hansen (drums) and me on double bass – were for this occasion extended with the singer Macel Wilson and Bjarne Stauning on trumpet.
Skovhuset in Værløse, april 1994
Birgit Palmberg had an art exhibition in the art gallery “Skovhuset” in April-May 1994. Peter Wamberg, Kurt Hansen and I played at the opening.
Open-air summer concert at Vejlesø in Holte, Aug. 1996
The manager of Holte Harbour some times arranged a jazz concert at the edge of lake Vejlesø in the summer. We played an evening in August in 1996 with Peter Wamberg on tenor sax, Morten Højring on guitar, Jacob Christoffersen on keyboard, Hans-Henning Hansen on drums and me on double bass.
Concert in Nivå Harbour, 1997
Peter Wamberg had his sailing yacht in Nivå Harbour on the North Zealand coast. He arranged a summer party where the band was on the deck together with family and friends while the other guests in the harbour were listening from their boats or from the pier. Jacob Christoffersen on keyboard, Peter Wamberg on tenor sax, Jakob Helmer Mørck on drums and me on the double bass.
Skovhuset in Værløse, nov. 2000
Birgit Palmberg had another exhibition in the art gallery “Skovhuset” in November 2000. This time we formed a jazz trio comprising Peter Wamberg on tenor sax, Niels Raae on piano and me on double bass.
Swing Service re-united in Italy, May 2018
Saxophone player Peter Wamberg temporarily gathered Swing Service after about 15 years, together with family and friends, for a week’s stay in his large B&B in the village Bruno in Piemonte, Italy. Programme included musical workshops with intermittent sightseeings and culminated with an informal concert for the villagers and local friends.
The band, Nils Raae on piano and chromatic harmonica, Torsten Gislason on guitar, Peter Wamberg on tenor saxophone and vocal, and me on electric upright bass, was joined for the concert by local trumpet player Felice Reggio on some of the numbers.
Please find a YouTube video from the visit and the concert under the tab ‘Videos”.
Other jazz engagements
In 2010 I played for some time with the jazz group “Sophisticated Five” featuring the singer Christina Hanghøj and with Max Bæhring (sax/clarinet); John Jacobsen (guitar); Gorm Holsteen Jessen (drums); and me on the double bass.
I played at the opening of an art exhibition in Gilleleje 21 July 2012 together with Max Bæhring on tenor sax/clarinet and Carsten Odd Jensen on guitar.
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