Prize-winning jazz from Denmark

Roy Haynes: My Shining Hour

Roy Haynes, drums
Tomas Franck, tenor sax
Thomas Clausen, piano
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, bass

This album is from a concert in Copenhagen on the occasion of Roy Haynes winning the 1994 Jazzpar Prize. The prize, organized by trumpeter Arnvid Meyer from 1990 to 2004, came with 200,000 Danish Kroner (worth then, I believe, around $30,000), from the sponsorship of the Scandinavian Tobacco Company. Haynes is in fine form here, obviously enjoying the attention, and the spirited playing of his Scandinavian side-men. All three are standouts, with impressive playing from Swedish tenor player Tomas Franck, sensitive work by one of the top Danish pianists, Thomas Clausen, and most importantly, the superb bass support of Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, known to many jazz lovers as NHØP.

Europe has been a major destination for American jazz greats for a long time. It was a welcome respite from Jim Crow for African-American musicians, and from the 1960s on, a return to what it was like when jazz was truly a popular music. You can tell from the audience response at the end of the final track that these are dedicated, even rabid, fans. It's great to have such an important concert easily available, very well mastered, and documented with Storyville's usual thoroughness.



This album will be released on March 13, 2020, which just happens to be Roy Haynes' 95th birthday!