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Aalborg 1954 |
"DEMS Bulletin 03/03 DEMS 2 -
December 2003 - March 2004".
Karl
Emil Knudsen
03/3 DEMS 2
Karl Emil Knudsen passed away yesterday, Friday, September 5th. Death
caused
by a coronary thrombosis after only two weeks in hospital.
Karl
Emil was the long time owner and producer of Storyville Records and the
publishing company Jazz Media Aps. Throughout his career he owned
several
other record labels, and was heavily involved in jazz
reissues.
Doug Pomeroy
Truly depressing news from Doug
Pomeroy - the passing of Karl Knudsen in
Copenhagen. Karl was the
last remaining super-champion of traditional jazz
in Europe.
It
was he who released the latest great body of Ellingtonia, and let us not
forget the enormous contributions of his Jazz Media Books.
Losing
Karl and Henri Renaud in the same year is a bitter blow. Thank you,
Karl, for a lifetime of good works.
George Avakian
I am
stunned. I met with Mr. Knudsen only two months ago and we were talking
about future projects. What a loss. He had some great things planned for
Ellington listeners.
I thank "Papa" for the opportunity to write
about my favorite subject - and
for all the great recordings he made
available for us.
Ken Steiner
Mr. Knudsen intervened
when the Storyville CD "Duke in Munich" almost got
shelved. He
personally saw to it, early this year, that the CD was produced.
He
called me to make sure the liner notes were all in order and even though
he had a hearing problem, he was patient enough to listen to my detailed
corrections. And had them all done.
He leaves a treasure, and we
should all be very grateful.
Loek Hopstaken
I knew Karl
Emil Knudsen slightly while with the American Embassy in
Copenhagen
(1965-70). He was an amiable, efficient Danish businessman with a
passionate interest in jazz. I fully agree that the scope of his
contributions is irreplaceable.
Ernie Nagy
A discreet, but influential
personality in Danish Jazz history has passed
away, all too soon. Karl
Emil Knudsen's major effort to document Danish jazz
through his record
and film label SONET/STORYVILLE cannot be appreciated too
much. Some
of the biggest names among the Jazz, Blues and Gospel artists
were to
be found in his catalog. He could come around as very edgy, and
drive
a hard bargain, but beneath all of this, he was a very kind and
generous person. To share everything in his invaluable collection of
records, movies, and books with fellow jazz lovers, was only one way
to show
his generosity. To me, it was like stepping into Aladdin's
cave and it has
given me many exciting and instructive musical
experiences. I hope this
collection will be treated in the best
possible way.
Illness was unfortunately a severe part of his life, but
his unfailing
energy was always the winner in the end, until he had to
give up. In jazz,
one does not get rich on mammon, but in so many
other ways, jazz enriched
Karl Emil's life, the same way it has done
for many others. Danish jazz has
lost a cornerstone, and I will miss
his friendship and our small
conversations between the thousands of
records in his collection.
Ole '"Fessor" Lindgreen
For those who
didn't have the pleasure of knowing him: Karl Emil Knudsen was
a man
who truly loved the music and dedicated his life to discovering,
recording and disseminating it, first in sound, then also in sight.
Later,
he also became a publisher of discographies of the highest
quality, and,
after years of laborious organization, Bill Russell's
epic "Oh, Mister
Jelly." KEK, as he was fondly known, began as a
collector and remained one
at heart all his life. Nothing pleased him
more than unearthing some
hitherto unknown performance, on disc, tape
or film, and then (unlike some
of the collecting ilk) sharing his
discovery with the public, but this
always only after having found,
more often than not through diligent
digging, who had rights, and
coming to terms with the owners. He did so even
after everything in
recorded music seemed to become fair game for anyone
able to produce a
CD, and paid good money (which he could ill afford) to
issue
legitimate, quality product even when bootleggers had already issued
it in shoddy form. Karl Emil started as a lover of traditional jazz,
and
kept a place in his heart for that music. It was a great pleasure
for him to
be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his label with
a bonanza survey
of classic Danish Trad, larded with a soupcon of
visitors, such as a still
young Chris Barber.
But his musical
horizon broadened with the years, and he became responsible
for some
great nuggets of Warne Marsh, Dexter, Monk and others who never
came
near a banjo or washboard. Typically, he was at the end embarked on a
truly major Ellington project (the Treasury Broadcasts) and a
marvellous
series of Live Tatum material. And on his publishing
schedule was a
definitive discography of Louis Armstrong. In later
years, he called himself
Doctor in Jazz Archaeology-a just title. The
future of his legacy is now in
the hands of fate. Aside from jazz,
Karl Emil loved football (what Americans
call soccer), the main reason
for his big-screen satellite TV. And as, alas,
he lost his ability to
properly listen to music, watching games (and finding
jazz on film or
video that he at least could see) became his great pleasure
in life.
He also loved modern art and was a connoisseur in particular of
graphic arts and had a fine collection of prints and books. But not
only
books on art, and jazz, but also on Danish humor (not an
inconsiderable
subject, as Danes happily know), theatre, film and
other things. But with
all his interests, he was the most
unpretentious and straightforward of men,
as well as the most helpful.
Some of you will have experienced his generous
hospitality at first
hand, and I think that when he lost that great big
beautiful apartment
of his, due to a change of landlords, his biggest regret
was that he
could now only accommodate one guest at the time. I first met
Karl
Emil well before the advent of Jazzpar, and had already experienced his
hospitality to me and my family (fortunately, my boys behaved well and
didn't break or dislodge anything) before then, but for the past l5
years in
a row, no annual visit to Denmark was spent without at least
a few days as
Karl Emil's guest. No matter how bad he might be
feeling, and in later years
his energy, while still greater than that
of most people half his age, was
running down, he would insist on
driving me to the airport. We were almost
exactly the same age, and
for next year, which may be the final Jazzpar, I
had planned to take
him to one of the best restaurants in Copenhagen to
pre-celebrate our
upcoming 75th, in spite of what I knew would have been his
protestations. Now I will have to drink a solitary skaal to one of the
kindest and most decent men I've had the good fortune to know. Dear
Doctor
in Jazz Archaeology, we will cherish the treasures you've left
us and think
of you when we do.
Dan Morgenstern
Farewell
Good Friend
I first met Karl-Emil some thirty-five years ago in a jazz
record shop in
Manhattan. We became very good friends and over the
years he was a house
guest at my homes on LongIsland, Florida, and
most recently in the
Berkshires of Massachusetts. I would help him
plan his visits to the States,
picking him up at airports and driving
with him to IAJRC conventions and
Ellington conferences. One of the
highlights of our visit to Europe in 1997
was a trip to Denmark. Karl
picked up my wife Barbara and myself at the
Copenhagen railroad
station and took us to his home. We spent the next three
days enjoying
the beauty of Denmark, visiting the Storyville studios,
looking at
Karl's fantastic collection of records, books and films, and
spending
a few late nights in his apartment watching TV and videos.
On one of
his Florida visits he arrived Thanksgiving Day on crutches. We got
him
home for a fine turkey dinner.
I remember that at the New Jersey record
bash, Karl stayed in his hotel room
to watch the games of the World
Soccer Cup. We drove him to Pittsburgh from
North Adams to attend an
Ellington conference. Another time at an IAJRC
convention in New
Orleans I went with him to visit his good friend Bill
Russell who was
close to death. On the way back to our hotel Karl could not
hold back
the tears. Among the happiest moments with him were the ones we
spent
in my basement in Plainview and the hours on my Florida porch room
just conversing and listening to good music.
Saying goodbye is very
hard. It is, even now, hard for me to realize that he
is gone. I hope
that somewhere in the eternity of this universe he is now
relaxed and
enjoying good music. God rest your soul good friend.
Jerry
Valburn
Some Footnotes
Karl Emil was born in the town of
Dianalund Zealand in Denmark on 16Jun29.
His first record release was
in the 1950's on the Memory label by Chris
Barber and the Ramblers.
His many wonderful labels include
Collector's Classics, Jazz Unlimited,
Jubilee, Nostalgia Arts and
Storyville. His video and publishing wing,
Jazzmedia has released
approximately 50 books and 90 videos.
The
DVD section has now been sold to Salut Audio & Video and they will be
releasing the DVDs.
Jerry
Valburn
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