Torben Kjær

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Projects:

Torben Kjaer’s first band, The Glostrup Trio
Torben Kjaer, piano, Henrik Dhyrbye, bass, Ole Streenberg, drums

Three boys, sons of a bookbinder, a toolmaker and a bank manager met in 1960 and discovered that they had a common and deep fondness of modern jazz. they got instruments and at the age of sixteen they entered the jazz scene in Copenhagen. They also listened to the american musicians in the world-famous Jazz club Montmartre and soon they were playing there with international jazz stars as Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Stuff Smith, Brew Moore, Idrees Sulieman, Ray Pitts, Kenny Drew, Bent Jaedig, NHØP to mention a few .


Three boys met who at the age of 12 began to play jazz and who today in their mid sixties are still playing with the same intuition and the skills and experience which a long life with music as pivoting point has given them.

in 2011 they released the CD, SHADOW OF ELVI and got among others great reviews in JazzSpecial (DK), Orkesterjounalen (SE) and in Finland. Currently the CD has great success in Japan.



The Glostrup Trio works all over Scandinavia, as a trio or together with singer Alice Carreri, tenorplayer Uffe Markussen and in SOUNDBRIDGE, a quintet with Swedish trumpetplayer Anders Bergkrantz and Swedish tenorplayer Tomas Franck.


 

Blue – Slow Down

A very unusual, melodic and speed-reducing meeting of two musical minds, a rock n’ roll-singer/composer and a jazzpianist/composer with a classical twist. Together they have written more than two handfulls of beautiful blue ballads, swinging Blue Marie, mysterous Hangin’ Hands and city-slick Fancy -Nancy. Listen to the CD’s  BLUE - SLOW DOWN  or BLUE - LIE DOWN (coming up soon)

 - Emotional blue ballads....Negrijn croons like another Brian Ferry and the acoustic backing are played as a held breath            (Henrik Quitch, Ekstra Bladet)

- I imagine they could seduce a nun vith this CD                                       (Erik Andersen, Vejle Amts folkeblad)

The other musicians are Claude Marc Davis, Ole Skipper, bass, Ole Bo, drums, Jens Winther, trumpet and Studio Strings.

Listen to soundclips:

Since When, What Can I Do, Fancy Nancy, Once There Was A Voice.


Rasheema
(”she’s the total end!” Sammy Davis Jr.)

I met Rasheema in 1988 were we were touring in Denmark and Germany. And we loved each other from the first note! Rasheema is my musical sister (her own expression)

Rasheema is the last jazzsinger of her generation. She knew Ella Fitzgerald personally and they both had their debute at “The Apollo Theatre” in Harlem, NY and won the award“Amateur’s Night”.

Rashhema recorded  with Count Basie under her maiden name Gloria Smyth (“Little Miss Muffet”) Later she sang with Chico Mendoza, Les McCann and Dizzy Gillespie. She’s got her name from Muammed Ali.

For many years Rasheema has been a guest on the Danish and European Jazzscene and at The Copenhagen Jazzfestival. She is, to quote the famous Danish bassplayer Hugo Rasmussen “The real thing”.

Today Rasheema lives in New Jersey. Together we wrote WE’LL TRY AGAIN TOMORROW NIGHT on the  CD Stolen Moments. A new CD: A Time For Love, with danish musicians as Christina Von Bülow ,Jesper Lundgaard, Ole Streenberg and Torben Kjaer will be released soon.