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Jens Jefsen

Lyrical bass player

About Me

Acknowledged as being among the elite bass players in Denmark, Jefsen has with his wide ranging stylistic background, reaped kudos for his lyrically attentive personal style of playing.

Since the 70’s Jefsen has had an infinite number of gigs in Denmark with American jazz musicians living in Denmark and abroad. Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Ben Webster, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Clark Terry, Zoot Zims and Al Cohn are just a few of the people he has performed with.

Jefsen has also, during the last 30 years, played with many trendsetting Danish groups.

Most recently he has performed on the Danish scenes with musicians such as Bob Rockwell, Thomas Clausen, Alex Riel, Bob Mintzer, Jerry Bergonzi, Dave Samuels, Paquito D’Rivera, Lars Jansson, Deborah Brown, Carmen Bradford, Matt Harris, Kenny Werner, Joe Lovano, Dennis Mackrel, John Abercrombie, Lars Møller, Adam Nussbaum, Phil Markowitz, Jukkis Uotila, Bill Warfield, Ken Peplowski and many others.

Besides performing, Jefsen teaches bass at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s department of non-classical music in Aarhus.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because of the possibility to play with a free approach and tell your own story. I was first exposed to jazz...in 1963. From 1969 and during the 70s and 80s I played with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Brew More, Zoot Simms, Al Cohn, Roy Eldridge, Clark Terry and many others. - As well as a bunch og danish trendsetting groups and outstanding musicians. The best show I ever attended was.. — Can't tell which. All shows have some quality. The first jazz record I bought was...Masquerade (Duke Ellington). My advice to new listeners...keep cool and listen to what the music tells you.