Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Has Died

[Free For All]

I was just listening to "Chops", the duet recording he did w/Joe Pass. He was one of my favorites- he made everything he was involved in much, much better.

This is really sad news. Damn.

RIP, NHOP.

[Brad]

A terrible shame. I first became aware of him listening to Dexter and found his duo work with Kenny Drew tremendous. 58 is too too young. RIP and thanks.

[chris olivarez]

A well respected and rightly so bass player. RIP NHOP.

[CJ Shearn]

wow, sad news, I was listening to "One Flight Up" the other day. Such rich basslines on that album.

[doubleM]

This is really sad. What an incredible talent.

[Jazz Kat]

Oh man, I only have him on that Joe Pass album from circa 1982, but sad news. Was he working with Peterson right up to his death?

[Victor Christensen]

I became so sad today, when I heard about it (no circumstances given about the cause of death). I've have known him personally since he was 14 and a child prodigry playing bass with Bent Axen quintet in the since long gone jazzplace "Vingården" (The Vinegarten) here in Copenhagen in 1960.

He was always a very straight person, no booze or drugs, always just left after his gig was finished. Happily married for many years and had two daughters, lived out in the suburbs of Copenhagen (Ishøj) just opposite his childhood friend Ole Koch Hansen (Piano, Arranger, Composer). They grew up together in small village named Osted. Last time I've heard him live was last year at Finn Zieglers (danish violin and vibraharp player) Anniversary Concert together with Kenny Barron, NHOP. Alvin Quen.

I shall miss him so much. If it will not be a private burial, then I shall go to it.

Vic

[catesta]

Very sad news.

RIP

[mmilovan]

These are very sad news, I like Niels very much, no matter the setting. He really was great bass player.

R.I.P. NHØP

[Jazz Kat]

What a day!

[gslade]

The loss of another great jazzman

that helped spread the gosple of good music

very sad,

[Big Al]

I became so sad today, when I heard about it (no circumstances given about the cause of death). I've have known him personally since he was 14 and a child prodigry playing bass with Bent Axen quintet in the since long gone jazzplace "Vingården" (The Vinegarten) here in Copenhagen in 1960.

He was always a very straight person, no booze or drugs, always just left after his gig was finished. Happily married for many years and had two daughters, lived out in the suburbs of Copenhagen (Ishøj) just opposite his childhood friend Ole Koch Hansen (Piano, Arranger, Composer). They grew up together in small village named Osted. Last time I've heard him live was last year at Finn Zieglers (danish violin and vibraharp player) Anniversary Concert together with Kenny Barron, NHOP. Alvin Quen.

I shall miss him so much. If it will not be a private burial, then I shall go to it.

Vic

Thanks for sharing this, Vic. The warmth you describe was ever-present in NHØP's playing.

RIP NHØP

[EKE BBB]

http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/cult/20deabri...OR-2043710.html

http://actualidad.terra.es/cultura/articul...oliu_258203.htm

Edited April 20, 2005 by EKE BBB

[EKE BBB]

[Christiern]

The administrator of JC posted this on her BBS. It was obviously translated by a Gateway computer--NHØP deserved better.

• Copenhagen - the Danish jazz bassist Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen died
  in the age of 58 years, reported the press agency Ritzau on Wednesday
  in Copenhagen. On 26 May 1946 as a son of a church musician in the
  locality Osted born Dane and the technically outstanding bassists in
  the jazz, leading world-wide, applied for the sixties as one.
  
  Pedersen lived with its family in a suburb west of Copenhagen. It
  played already starting from its 14. Lebensjahr with prominent Danish
  jazz musicians together and participated in several hundred records as
  well as CD bringing in. He co-operated thereby with numerous legendary
  jazz sizes such as OSCAR Peterson, Dexter Gordon, Sonny roll in, Bill
  Evans, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, COUNT Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and
  Joe passport. 1990 were awarded to him the music price of the Nordi
  advice. For the nineties Pedersen played also in a Trio under own name
  with the Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius as well as changing guest
  musicians together.
  
  Because of its very long name Pedersen in its Danish homeland called
  itself NHOEP predominantly. In the English-language jazz world it often
  "The great Dane with the never endings name" ("the large Dane with the
  endless name") called. Pedersen completed a very intensive concert
  program with constant journeys abroad over decades.
  

[couw]

The administrator of JC posted this on her BBS. It was obviously translated by a Gateway computer--NHØP deserved better.

so, please amend if you will.

[Dan Gould]

Or delete, and let's post an intelligible obit when one appears in English.

[Dan Gould]

I've lined up in the player for tonite:

One Flight Up

Lullabuy for a Monster

Swiss Nights Volume 3

[alankin]

Wow, I'm shocked as well. Didn't realize that NHØP was only 58 -- and started playing professionally at 14!

I'll have to put on some of his music tonight...

RIP

[Sundog]

Truely sad news. His playing on Stephane Grappellis' Young Django is one of the things that got me into jazz in the first place. Something just resonated with me from the very first time I ever heard him play. RIP

Edited April 21, 2005 by Sundog

[Ted O'Reilly]

From a Swiss friend, who knew Niels well---

Famed Danish jazz musician Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen dies

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, one of Denmark's best known jazz musicians, who performed with legends such as Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie, has died at age 58.

Ørsted Pedersen, the bass player widely known by his initials NHØP, died Tuesday in Copenhagen, leading jazz experts and Danish media said. The cause of death was a heart attack.

His career as a bass player took off in 1962 when, at age 16, he played in Copenhagen's famed Montmartre jazz club, where American greats including Count Basie, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon and pianist Bud Powell performed.

However, his international breakthrough came in 1973, when he joined the Oscar Peterson trio produced by Norman Granz.

"In reality, he was Denmark's best know musician regardless of the genre," said Cim Meyer, the editor of Jazz Special, a Danish music magazine.

Meyer said Ørsted Pedersen was lucky to be a jazz musician in Denmark when famous U.S. musicians settled in the country believing they found refuge from racism, police harassment and musical obscurity in the United States.

Ørsted Pedersen appeared on hundreds of records and played with Toots Thielemans, Chet Baker, Lee Konitz and Martial Solal, among others.

Claus Vittus, a leading jazz expert with Denmark's public radio, dubbed Ørsted Pedersen "one of the world's greatest" jazz bassists.

From 1964 to 1982, he was a member of the reputed Danish Radio's Big Band and also has performed with trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and keyboard player Kenneth Knudsen, both Danes.

He is survived by his wife, Solveig and their two daughters Anna and Marie.

[swingj2]

Spinning one of my favs. Tete a Tete- Tete Montoliu Trio. Recorded Febuary 15&16, 1976. Have to pull all my Steeplechase with NHOP, Shepp,Kenny Drew,Dexter and Tete. What a great bass player. But his playing goes on.

SET

[Christiern]

I could not find the piece posted by Lois that was so poorly translated. This one is from the Copenhagen newspaper, Politiken. It is written by Boris Rabinowitsch, who was our best modern pianist back in the days when I first became interested in jazz, almost 60 years ago. I haven't seen Boris in decades and I hope my translation does his piece justice.

Bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen is Dead
With the death of bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Denmark has lost
one of its most internationally famous musicians.


Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen has written numerous
tunes and adapted Danish folk melodies.

By Boris Rabinowitsch

There are moment that remain as if etched in one's memory. Like that December evening 35 years ago when Thad Jones--then leader of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, scheduled to give a concert in Copenhagen on the following day--stepped into the old Jazzhus Montmartre in Store Regnegade and suddenly, as if struck by lightning, froze in his steps and stared in amazement at the band stand where a young bassist had just started a solo.

A brief whispered conversation between Jones and one of his musicians seemed to clear up the puzzlement, because Jones nodded as if to say, "now I understand."

The bass player was the 23-year-old Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, a musician whose name Jones apparently recognized, but had not heard perform. Even back then, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen had had more experience than most bassist ever have. That the bass became his instrument is, however, due to happenstance.

Began on piano
Back home, in Osted, he started out on piano, as did his playmate, Ole Kock Hansen, who also was better at it. Thus when it was decided to start an amateur band, it was suggested that Niels-Henning play bass, because that's what the band needed.

Wisely, he approached one of the country's leading teachers, Oscar Hegner, of the Royal Danish Music Conservatory's faculty. Under his tutelage, Niels-Henning quickly developed the talent that already at age 15 would make him, unquestionably, our leading jazz bassist . That same year, 1962, he made his first appearances on records, with, among others, Bud Powell.

In 1966, he was elected Danish Jazz Musician of the Year and, in 1968, he placed first in the "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" category of the American jazz publication, Down Beat's, annual critics poll. In 1990 he also was awarded the Nordisk Råd music prize.

Worldwide fame
The years spent as house bassist in Store Regnegade [Club Montmartre] set in motion a career that since made Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen one of jazzdom's world-renowned names. Here he met, among other musicians, the likes of Lee Konitz,, but it was especially his long-standing associations with Dexter Gordon, Ben Webster and Kenny Drew--all of whom lived here--that proved to be so enriching.

And, of course, NHØP, as one had begun calling him, also had for several years a permanent spot in the Radio's Big Band.

NHØP turned down an offer to become a member of Count Basie's orchestra, but in 1973, when Oscar Peterson offered him a job in his trio, he accepted. A strong gentleman who made high demands and expected them to be met, NHØP not only won his respect but also benefitted from his experiences. This stood him in particularly good stead during a period when he toured with Norman Granz's Jazz At The Philharmonic, where there sometimes was friction among the big boys.

While experiencing life on the road, NHØP also performed with his own and other leaders' groups, and participated in recording session with such names as Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Toots Thielemans, Dexter Gordon, Philip Catherine, Palle Mikkelborg, Finn Ziegler, Ole Kock Hansen, and many, many others. His and Kenny Drew's version of "In the Deep, Quiet Depth of the Forest" has almost achieved classic status here at home, but it was also a big seller in Japan. And unforgettable for those who experienced it is a Copenhagen concert with Sonny Rollins, Alan Dawson and NHØP, where the big tenor saxophonist almost could not tear himself loose to play.

Recordings of this concert exist, but were never officially released, heightening its value among collectors.

The Danish roots
The prolonged life on the road that for long periods kept NHØP away from his family, eventually made him decide to end his association with Oscar Peterson, a decision not graciously accepted. NHØP now freelanced with other musicians and and groups, as well as working with his own trio, in which his Danish background with time became increasingly prominent. But in recent years, NHØP had also renewed his collaboration with Oscar Peterson, following the pianist's stroke, which paralyzed his left side and made him need the support NHØP and regular trio member, guitarist Ulf Wakenius could give him.

With his virtuosity, NHØP set a standard in his time for the pizzicated (pizzicato?) bass style that almost seemed unattainable for others. He was later able to further refine it, but one cannot deny that it cost him some of the spontaneity that originally characterized it. However, that does not alter the fact that NHØP's death has robbed Danish jazz of its most internationally famous representative.

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen died in his home of a heart attack. He was 58.

[Chuck Nessa]

Thanks for that Chris.

I first met him when Ann and I spent 2 weeks in the Copenhagen area around 1980. We were staying with Nils and Mihoko Winther and they had NHOP and his lovely wife over for dinner and conversation one evening. What a delight they were.

A couple of years later he was in Chicago with Oscar Peterson playing at Rick's. One night I agreed to meet at the club after the gig and found Niels-Henning and OP enjoying beverages in the bar. After some conversation, NHOP and I agreed to go to Andy's the next day to hear Truck Parham playing with a band for "after work" Chicagoans. I'll never forget the joint pleasure of Truck ("thanks for bringing that giant by") and Niels ("It's great to hear one of the real old time bass players").

What a very personable guy and fantastic musician.

Never heard a soul say anything negative about him.

[John Tapscott]

Oh boy, just catching up on today's news. What a sad and shocking loss this is (and I just heard that drummer Stan Levey died today - not a good day for the jazz world.)

I know a lot of people here don't dig Oscar Peterson but if you can tolerate him, you should listen to the track "On Danish Shore" from Oscar's "If You Could See Me Now" CD on Pablo from 1983. I'm listening to it right now and has truly awesome playing from everyone esp. NHOP. Clear, fast, anchored, strong. All his strengths on display on this 8 minute plus track. (The tune was written by both Peterson and Pederson). Joe Pass and Martin Drew round out the quartet. This is a good album all round.

Our thoughts and prayers must be with Niels' family, but also with Oscar, as someone pointed out. How must he be feeling today? Not in the best of health himself and losing his two long-time bass players and close collaborators in the past couple of years.