Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen was a Danish jazz upright bassist known for his impressive technique and innovative approach. By the age of fifteen, he had the ability to accompany leading musicians at nightclubs, working regularly at Copenhagen's Jazzhus Montmartre, after his debut there on New Year's Eve 1961, when he was only 15. When seventeen, he had already turned down an offer to join the Count Basie orchestra, mainly because he was too young to get legal permission to live and work as a musician in America.

"…the best in European jazz of 1975"(Record Collectors Journal)

"…(Drew) is now at the peak of his career. Duo Live In Concert is his third collaboration with bassist Niels Pedersen, and to hear those two solo voices together is a thrill…this album improves upon its excellent predecessors."(Transition, N.Y.)

Music in the early 20th century did pass from one medium to another, from late Romanticism into an unknown future. Refractions allows the listener to sample this transition through the choral music of four very different composers.

This work is a major late-career statement by composer Bent Sørensen, born in Copenhagen in 1958. In all likelihood, he will have the satisfaction of hearing it performed often in his old age, for it is an absolutely fascinating work. Much of Sørensen's music has been in smaller forms and closely explores extensions of the tonal repertory of choral singers, but here, he works on a larger canvas. Integral to the project is the text, which he designates as "Curated by Jakob Holtze." Words describing the Passion from Gospel According to St. Matthew are there, but they are interleaved with poetry, most of it in English (even the Danish poetry), by Edith Södergran, Anna Akhmatova, Emily Dickinson, Seren Ulrik Thomsen, Ole Sarvig, and Frank Jæger.

This rather memorable Pablo recording, his only album as a leader for Norman Granz's label (although he made several notable appearances as a sideman), features the great jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans in a sparse trio with guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels Pedersen. The four main numbers ("Blues in the Closet," "Thriving on a Riff," "Autumn Leaves," and "Someday My Prince Will Come") are pure bebop, and Thielemans' solo guitar rendition of "The Mooche" is also a highlight.

TOOTS THIELEMANS-JOE PASS-NIELS PEDERSEN - LIVE IN THE NETHERLANDS
Time: 42.30 | MP3 320 kbps | 101 MB | Covers Included
Genre: jazz | Year: 1980

This rather memorable Pablo recording, his only album as a leader for Norman Granz's label (although he made several notable appearances as a sideman), features the great jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans in a sparse trio with guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels Pedersen. The four main numbers ("Blues in the Closet," "Thriving on a Riff," "Autumn Leaves," and "Someday My Prince Will Come") are pure bebop, and Thielemans' solo guitar rendition of "The Mooche" is also a highlight.

Review by Scott Yanow