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Benita Haastrup

Groovy and joyful drumming.

About Me

Benita Haastrup: Drums, Percussion, Composer, Bandleader. Benita has played everything from swing to avant-garde, African drumming, soul, folk music, and Latin American music, drawing inspiration from all over in her vibrant and colorful drumming style. Over the years, she has performed, toured, and recorded with a multitude of inspiring musicians from Denmark and abroad, including:

Andy Sheppard, Marie Bergman, Anders Jormin, Tore Brunborg, Marilyn Mazur, John Tchicai, Teddy Edwards, Richard Boone, Leo Wright, Fred Hopkins, Bob Moses, Jesper Thilo, Buster Cooper, Daimi, Jytte Abildstrøm, Fuzzy, Muhal Richard Abrams, Fred Hopkins, Finn Ziegler, Pierre Dørge, Irene Becker, and many more. She has toured most of Europe and performed at festivals in the USA, South Africa, Kenya, and China.

Awards and Achievements: 1992 – Graduated from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory. 1998 – Received the Ben Webster Prize. 2006 – Released her solo album Sunrise. 2007 – Awarded the Sunset Hornbæk Jazz Prize. 2012 – Won a Danish Music Award (DMA) for Best Children's Jazz Artist of the Year. 2017 – Received the Walther Klæbels Memorial Grant. 2017 – Released the album Going North with Benita Haastrup Trio, nominated for two DMAs for Jazz Album of the Year and Best Compositions. 2018 – Released the album Mørkefjell with Benita Haastrup Trio. 2021 – Released the album Hvælv with Benita Haastrup Trio. 2022 – Included in Krak's Blue Book (Denmark's Who's Who). 2025 - Released the album Tárogató with Music for Bees.

Compositions for Theater: 2018 & 2019 – Composed music for Holberg teatret's productions of Kildereysen and Olysses. 2020 – Composed music for the theater production Kind regards, HC Andersen. 2022 – Composed and produced the music for Sjællands Teater's production of Ludvig Holberg - De Usynlige.

Own Bands & Projects: Benita Haastrup Trio / Going North. Drumdrum. Music for Bees. Sophisticated Ladies. She Trio. The Cosmic Trio (with Pierre Dørge and Irene Becker). Since 2015, Benita has led Drumdrum, a large-scale community music project touring throughout the Nordic countries. Drumdrum performs interactive concerts in schools and cultural centers, inspiring children and young people to play and improvise together.

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Theme Song

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because...of the freedom in the music to express yourself and let your inner feelings out through the music. I feel alive most of all when I play the drums. I was first exposed to jazz...as a child - my dad played the trompet and my mother loved jazz. I listened to jazz even before I was born. I met many great jazz musicians that came to our house, as my dad had band rehearsals in the basement - fx Ray Nance from the Ellington band was at our house for dinner. When I got in the conservatory in Copenhagen we had some great teachers: Ed Thigpen and Aage Tanggaard was my drum teachers. We had very different combo teachers such as singer and trombone player Richard Boone from the Basie band and avantgarde saxophonist John Tchicai. Both of them took me in their bands and I played with them for many years. I also met the great danish violin player Finn Ziegler whom I played with for many years. The best show I ever attended was..maybe some of the concerts I have heard with Roy Haynes and many concerts with the danish pianist Jan Kaspersen Quintet. The first jazz record I bought was...I don't remember. But our favorite album when we were small children was Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers. My advice to new listeners...Just relax and go with the flow - don't try to figure out what's happening. Music is my way of communicating – playing with and listening to fellow musicians and the audience – a flow of music that is created and exchanged between people and transformed into moods and feelings. I believe that music can heal us and penetrate where words and concepts cannot reach.