[78-L] An AMAZING Jzz DVD by a guy you (probably) never heard of

[Ate van Delden]

Thank you, Steve, for pointing us to Sven Asmussen's Youtube performance of 
Minuet in G, with his partner, guitar player Ulrik Neumann. This came from a 
Dutch TV show in the early 60-ies which I saw at the time. I never forgot 
this superb act and did not know that it had been saved. It was even better 
than I remembered and seeing it again after so many years is great!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Ramm" <steveramm78l at hotmail.com>
To: "78-l 78-l" <78-l at 78online.com>
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 6:33 PM
Subject: [78-L] An AMAZING Jzz DVD by a guy you (probably) never heard of



The following review from my January column in "In The Groove" didn't make 
it but this is too good a DVD not to tell everyone about. The Webster one is 
interesting but the other is a "must havwe" in my opinion.

So here it is:


The most incredible jazz musician you’ve never heard of – Collectors Rich 
Nevins and Sherwin Dunner at the independent Shanachie record label have 
issued some fascinating DVDs in recent years – including the rare Flatt & 
Scruggs TV Show series. In November they released two jazz DVDs of 
performances recorded in Europe. As I pointed out in reviews of the Jazz 
Icons DVDs, European television stations, usually government run, captured 
and saved filmed performances. Three rare concerts starring tenor sax 
genius – and Ellington band staple - Ben Webster from the 1960s, captured by 
Danish TV, are featured on Ben Webster: Tenor Sax Legend, Live and Intimate. 
The DVD also includes a 48-minute Danish produced documentary (with 
performances) on Webster from 1971. The second DVD – Svend Asmussen: The 
Extraordinary Life and Music of a Jazz Legend – was the real surprise for 
me. You’ve probably never heard of Asmussen, and neither had I, but now I’m 
a huge fan. From the mid-1930s through the 1950s, this violin player was a 
major musical star in his native Denmark but, because he never traveled to 
the US, he is virtually unknown here. He was more than just a great 
musician; he was a total entertainer and added humor to performances with 
his Trio and Quintet. To get you orientated, the DVD contains a wonderful 
feature-length documentary with Asmussen reminiscing (in Danish, with easy 
to read subtitles) and full length clips of performances taken from films 
and TV. Then there are three hours of bonus musical performances in superb 
video transfers. In some of these Asmussen comes off as the Danish Ernie 
Kovacs or even Spike Jones. I searched for a sample to share with you on 
Youtube. Check out his take on “Minuet in G” at http://tinyurl.com/cqm6jy 
and see if you aren’t convinced. Then run out and buy this DVD! There is a 
companion album of his recordings but its only available as a download on 
iTunes.

Steve Ramm
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