Kaspersen, Jan

Jan Kaspersen Pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader Born 22 April 1948 in Copenhagen. Studied piano with Duke Jordan, Kjell Olson, and Herman D. Koppel, and jazz theory with George Russell. Study trips to The Gambia, West Africa, in 1983 and 1985. Active on the jazz scene since 1969, primarily in Denmark, but also in Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the USA, and Russia. Awarded DJBFA's composer prize in 1987, the JASA prize in 1988, Statens Kunstfonds 3-year work grant in 1993 and lifelong grant from 1998. Kaspersen has played with such groups as "Blue Sun" 1969-72, "Alif" 1976-78, and "Nada" 1978-80. He has worked with Lone Kellermann and with Dan Turell during the 1970s. He has led his own groups since 1979, often under the name of "Space and Rhythm Jazz": from trio, quartet, quintet, and septet to the "Special Occasion Band" (12 musicians) and "Space and Rhythm Big Band" (16 musicians). From mid-1980s, he has worked in duos with Bob Rockwell, Simon Spang-Hanssen,Pierre Dorge, Horace Parlan, and as solo pianist. Formed in 2004 a sextet w. Christina von Bulow, Jakob Dinesen and Peter Dahlgren, that plays Kaspersen,s arrangement of the music of Abdullah Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand. Kaspersen's name was established in the 1980s as one of the most distinctive and original profiles in jazz - as pianist, composer, and especially as bandleader. Time and again he has demonstrated his skill in bringing out the very best from his fellow musicians. The music on the repertoire is mainly written and arranged by Kaspersen - music that has its roots in the jazz and blues traditions created by Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus, and Horace Silver. Arrangements by Monk and Ellington/Strayhorn's music are also on the repertoire.Recorded as the first danish jazzmusician a whole album with Thelonious Monk compositions ("Memories of Monk" 1986).Furthermore Kaspersen has studied and recorded the music of Erik Satie. He has composed works for his own ensembles since the beginning of the 1970s - around 400 pieces arranged for large and small groups. He has written music for the New Music Orchestra, New Jungle Orchestra, The Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, Radiojazz Gruppen, Klyvers Big Band, the Orchestra of The Royal Theatre, Ny Dansk Saxofon Kvartet, Strange Party Orchestra,Toneart Ensemble, T.S. Hawk's Somesax,Copenhagen Police Orchestra and music for more than 26 films and theatrical performances. Numerous recordings with his own groups, as solo pianist, and in duos with Simon Spang-Hanssen, Pierre Dorge, Horace Parlan, and Bob Rockwell.

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