Lennart Axelsson (musician)

Last updated

Lennart Axelsson (born 11 July 1941) is a Swedish trumpet player who has spent a good part of his career in Germany.

Biography

Born and raised in Sweden, he began his career in a Swedish armed forces band. Disillusioned with military life, he quit to become a full-time musician, playing with various jazz bands in Sweden. In the early 1970s, he moved to Zürich, Switzerland to take a job in the big band of Swiss radio station Schweizer Radio DRS. In 1974, he joined the James Last Orchestra. He was one of the featured trumpet soloists on Last's 1975 album In The Mood For Trumpets, along with Rick Kiefer and Ack van Rooyen; this was notable as Last's record company Polydor usually did not credit the individual personnel on Last's studio recordings. In 1979, Axelsson left the Last band and joined the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk, or North German Radio) big band, where he eventually became the featured trumpet soloist. He retired from the NDR band in 2005. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bunny Berigan</span> American jazz trumpeter and bandleader (1908–1942)

Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the age of 33 from cirrhosis. Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Ellis</span> American musician (1934–1978)

Donald Johnson Ellis was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his life he worked as a film composer, contributing a score to 1971's The French Connection and 1973's The Seven-Ups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thad Jones</span> American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader

Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim McNeely</span> American jazz pianist, composer, conductor, and educator

Jim McNeely is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger and faculty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idrees Sulieman</span> American bop trumpeter

Idrees Sulieman was an American bop and hard bop trumpeter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Anthony</span> American bandleader and trumpeter (born 1922)

Ray Anthony is a retired American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor. He is the last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Mantler</span> Austrian jazz trumpeter and composer

Michael Mantler is an Austrian avant-garde jazz trumpeter and composer of contemporary music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Last Orchestra</span> German big band orchestra

The James Last Orchestra was a German/multinational big-band orchestra. The orchestra was established in 1964 as a studio orchestra, led by jazz musician Hans Last. The orchestra started touring in 1968 and has been very popular worldwide. From 1965, Polydor Records named him 'James Last', as they thought the name 'James' would be more suitable for the international market.

Manfred Moch was a German trumpet player. He made a name for himself in the 1960s as the featured solo trumpet player for the Bert Kaempfert orchestra, contributing memorable and melodic solos to many of Kaempfert’s hits; such songs included "Bye Bye Blues", "Strangers in the Night”, "L-O-V-E" and "A Swingin' Safari" His association with Kaempfert ended in 1968 over a pay dispute, but by the late 1970s he was again playing sessions and concerts with Kaempfert, although not as a soloist. During the late 1960s, Moch recorded some trumpet duet albums with fellow Last/Kaempfert bandmate Heinz Habermann, which were released on the Decca label under the name The Tattoos.

Günter Platzek was a German keyboard player. He became known for his longtime work with the James Last Orchestra, of which he was a member from 1965 up until his death. He was also a member of the NDR big band, the Alfred Hause tango orchestra and the Bert Kaempfert Orchestra. An accomplished keyboard, accordion and xylophone player, he formed an accordion duet group called The Pop Kids with fellow Last bandmate Harald Ende. His work with James Last featured his unique improvised piano phrases, which drew on jazz, blues and rock influences and were played with a distinctively dry staccato tone. During the 1980s, his accordion duet with Jo Ment on the song "Biscaya" became a highlight of James Last's live concerts. He died in Hamburg from a heart attack on 29 November 1990.

Rick Kiefer is an American trumpet player who has spent most of his career as a professional musician in Germany. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, he first attracted notice in the early 1960s as a member of the Maynard Ferguson big band. In the mid-60s, he moved to Germany and became a member of the Max Greger band, and by the end of the decade, he had joined the Kurt Edelhagen orchestra in Cologne. He spent the first half of the 1970s as a member of the James Last Orchestra, as well as with the Peter Herbolzheimer band, and from the late 70s onwards became a permanent member of the WDR big band. Kiefer is notable for being part of a group of Cleveland natives who played trumpet for James Last, the others being Bob Lanese, Chuck Findley and Bob Findley.

Bob Lanese is an American trumpet player who has spent most of his career as a professional musician in Germany.

Harald Ende, was a German saxophone, flute and accordion player who was active in the Hamburg music scene from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Joachim "Benny" Bendorff was a German bass guitarist, vocalist, trumpeter and composer, best known for his long tenure as bassist for the James Last Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Axelsson</span> Swedish ice hockey winger (born 1987)

Dick Axelsson is a Swedish former professional ice hockey winger. He last played for Väsby IK in the Hockeyettan. He was drafted 62nd overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Axelsson won the Swedish Championship with Färjestads in 2009, and 2011 when he also made the Elitserien All-Star team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herb Geller</span> American saxophonist (1928–2013)

Herbert Arnold Geller was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He was born in Los Angeles.

Michael Philip Mossman is an American jazz trumpeter.

Barrie Lee Hall Jr. was an American trumpeter, music director, and band leade of the Duke Ellington Small Band. He was known for his use of the plunger mute to affect the tone of his trumpet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgi Kornazov</span> Bulgarian jazz musician

Georgi Kornazov is a Bulgarian jazz trombonist and composer, who lives in Paris, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Secara</span> German singer and recording artist (born 1976)

Marc Secara is a German singer and recording artist known for jazz, American pop music, and German popular repertoire. He is also a member of the German singing group the Berlin Voices.

References

  1. Bob Willox, "James Last", 1975