|
|
Basically led by his life-long
passion for jazz, there would be (I guess) a few things that had stood out over
the year in Knudsen’s mind: ” Well, of course it’s not everything that’s equally
close to my heart” Knudsen says, his tone suggesting that he wouldn’t like to
put anything down at the expense of anything else. ”But I guess it’ll come as no
surprise to you when I mention the series of
American Music recordings (Bunk Johnson, George Lewis, et al) as a favourite of
mine not the least because of the efforts to persuade Bill Russell which took
several years and many visits to New Orleans.
Also when I met Mezz Mezzrow and made a deal with him so I could release the
King Jazz label from 1945-47 with Sidney Bechet and himself. Actually, his
little spoken reminiscences on the records were made in Copenhagen, just prior
to the LP-release…… and Big Bill
Broonzy, when he was here, back in ’56, he was stayin’ at my apartment for a
month…. Oh yeah, Sonny Boy Williamson, too. A unique harmonica player and
singer…..
Of course I must not forget Duke
Ellington. His music is in my opinion, to use Duke’s own words, ’beyond
category’. You never get fed up with Ellington. No matter how often you’ve heard
a particular tune, there are always little surprises to come up…..Unfortunately
I never had a chance to record Johnny Hodges on his own. He’s always been a
particular favourite of mine, but I did record Benny Carter (whom I also have
been very fond of from my youth) on one of his visits to Copenhagen. And I could
easily label him ’The ultimate gentleman of jazz’. Personally as well as
professionally, he was a pleasure to work with”.
Talking about the
’home boys’, did anything happen during this half-century that Knudsen feels has
left a mark not easily erased ….?
”Well, yes, then I’d single out Papa Bue’s Viking Jazzband. Not only for
their music, but also because of the fact that the success that they had during
Storyville’s ’adolescence’ in the late 50’s really was a great boost to us,
economy-wise”.
“And digging into archives,
finding old tapes, transcriptions and the like, and making agreements with
estates of musicians long gone so that the stuff can be made available, I gladly
admit that it still gives me a thrill......................”
Mike Hennessey &
50 YEARS ANNIVERSARY And of course the actual 50th anniversary of Storyville Records (the oldest independent European jazz label, actually) should be celebrated, though it is no secret that Knudsen is less given to celebrations than to his daily work: an anniversary CD, containing a variety of examples of what the company has released over the years (though nothing ‘traditional’, just swing and modern jazz) will be produced, tracks selected by Italian critic and jazz writer Filippo Bianchi, and included with the October issue of the Italian magazine Musica Jazz.
STORYVILLE
The aim of the label and its founder
has always been to show the diversity of jazz & blues in Denmark, Europe and the
World.
Although, basically, the entire
world is Storyville’s market, Knudsen confesses to a certain loyalty to the
local Danish market and its many excellent musicians. The attraction Copenhagen
and its jazzclubs such as Montmartre & Slukefter have had on US jazzmen was
responsible for the colony of jazzmen such as Stan Getz, Oscar Pettiford, Kenny
Drew, Dexter Gordon, Ben Webster, Horace Parlan, Duke Jordan, Ed Thigpen, Doug
Raney, Bob Rockwell, Chuck Israels, Thad Jones, Ernie Wilkins etc. etc.
Many of the recordings we have done
through the last 40 years show this coexistence of and interaction between
these US residents or visitors and the Danish elite.
It’s no secret that Denmark has
produced an amazing number of bass players of international renown, and artists
like Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Mads Vinding, Jesper Lundgaard, Hugo
Rasmussen, Bo Stief etc. are among the ones that most anybody would like to
share the stage with.
THE FUTURE
One thing, however, has been
troubling Karl Emil Knudsen in recent years (well, apart from the economic
hardships that anybody working with jazz will be familiar with): a severe
distortion of his hearing makes listening painful and difficult. Not the easiest
thing to cope with (or to face) for a man, to whom jazz has, for his entire
life, been a vital necessity, literally a sine qua non. And he sees no reason
not to be frank about it: “Of course it raises the question of when to retire or
when to sell the company. I’ve had great help in recent years from people like
Anders Stefansen, Per Møller Hansen, and Arild Widerøe, to name a few. But I
admit that I’ve started looking around to see whether there might be any
potential buyer - one who should also be interested in carrying on the
Storyville spirit. So we’ll see. But fifty years is a milestone and should of
course be celebrated, giving us a chance to emphasize that we are, after all,
the oldest independent jazz label in Europe and that we’re still able to come up
with some exciting releases”.
|