Svend Harald Christian Asmussen
Violinist, Violist, Vibraphonist, Pianist, Singer, Bandleader, Arranger, Producer, and Performer
MAN & MUSIC
February 28, 1916-Copenhagen, Denmark – February 7, 2017-Dronningmølle, Denmark
Classically trained, Danish jazz pioneer Svend Asmussen’s violin style is a swinging, breezy amalgam of Joe Venuti & Stuff Smith. Blessed with a great sense of humor, good looks (ala a young Orson Welles), and a twinkle in his eye, he brought his music (inspired by Joe Venuti, The Mills Brothers, Fats Waller, The Spirits of Rhythm, Stuff Smith, and Louis Armstrong) to a receptive Scandinavian audience in a most entertaining way by blending jazz, pop, novelty numbers, and theatre.
As a teenager in the early 30s, the records by Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang opened his ears to jazz and set his musical path. (Asmussen modeled his first group after Joe Venuti’s Blue Four: violin, guitar, piano, and bass saxophone).
His growth as a musician and performer benefited greatly by attending concerts of notable jazz musicians touring Scandinavia: Louis Armstrong (October 1933), Joe Venuti (September 1934), Fats Waller (September 1938), Oscar Aleman (December 1938), The Quintette du Hot Club de France (February 1939), and The Mills Brothers.
Fats Waller & Svend Asmussen, September 1938
Louis Armstrong & Svend Asmussen
Leo Mathisen, Bibi Miranda, Svend Asmussen, Oscar Aleman, December 1938
August 21, 1934: Copenhagen, Denmark
JEG HAR MIN CHANCE I MAJ
Lulu Ziegler & Asmussen Kvartetten
Lulu Ziegler-vocal; Svend Asmussen-violin; Knut Knutssøn-tenor saxophone; Kjeld Nørregaard-piano; Niels Foss-guitar.
NOTE: Svend Asmussen’s first recording session.
SOURCE: HMV X.433
Jazz records imported from America, especially those by Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys, Benny Goodman, Fats Waller, and The Spirits Of Rhythm, profoundly influenced Asmussen's ensemble's design, repertoire, and performance. The success of his little band as a recording and performing group, together with Asmussen's appealing persona, was such that by the end of the decade, he was Scandinavia's leading jazz figure.
March-April 1940: Copenhagen, Denmark
JUNE NIGHT
Svend Asmussens Skandia Trio
Svend Asmussen-violin, vibraphone, vocal; Helge Jacobsen-guitar, vocal; Chr. Jensen-bass, piano, vocal.
SOURCE: The Extraordinary Life And Music Of A Jazz Legend, Shanachie, 2009
June 26, 1940: Copenhagen, Denmark
HONEYSUCKLE ROSE
The Svend Asmussen Quintet
Svend Asmussen-violin, vocal; Svend Hauberg-guitar, trumpet, vocal; Kjeld Bonfils-piano, vibraphone; Helge Jacobsen-guitar, vocal; Christian Jensen-bass, vocal; Erik Frederiksen-drums.
SOURCE: Parlophone R. 2232
The country remained relatively normal during the occupation of Denmark (nearly five years). For the most part, the violinist’s recording schedule appears unaffected by the Second World War, finding him in the studio some forty times from November 1939 to April 1945. Arrested by the Germans in August 1943, he escaped long-term imprisonment and harm.
December 13, 1943: Copenhagen, Denmark
EXACTLY LIKE YOU
Svend Asmussen's Kvartet
Svend Asmussen-violin, vibraphone, vocal; Svend Hauberg-guitar; Johan Poulsen-bass; Erik Frederiksen-drums.
SOURCE: TONO SP 4322
Asmussen’s career is well documented on records, radio, film, and television across a remarkable eight decades. He remained active into his nineties, having performed and recorded with many of the top American and European artists, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Fats Waller, John Lewis, Josephine Baker, Oscar Aleman, Stuff Smith, Alice Babs, The Mills Brothers, Toots Thielemans, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lionel Hampton, and Stephane Grappelli.
September 1981: Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark
AFTER YOU’VE GONE
Benny Goodman-clarinet, Svend Asmussen-violin, Don Haas-piano, Harry Pepi-guitar, Peter Witte-bass, Charly Antolini-drums.
Svend Asmussen became a centenarian on February 28, 2016, passing away almost three weeks before his 101st birthday.
The Svend Asmussen archives are housed at the University Library of Southern Denmark.
Svend Asmussen kvintet, 1965
RING DEM BELLS
SOURCES
Svend Asmussen, The Extraordinary Life and Music Of a Jazz Legend, Shanachie 6334.
The Almost Complete Svend Asmussen Discography 1934 – 2008 by Hikaru Hasegawa, 2017.