Fessor and The Great Ones

Next to Papa Bue, Fessor is the most famous bandleader in Denmark. Ole “Fessor” Lindgreen will be 75 years old on May 16th, and Storyville Records is releasing a double CD to mark the occasion. Fessor, like Papa Bue, plays the trombone. His Big City Band featured some of Denmark’s best musicians and was on the scene for decades, (1968-2003), playing 230 gigs a year and performing many places around the world – from Copenhagen to New Orleans.

Fessor has also recorded, played and toured with a number of famous American jazz musicians, like Wild Bill Davison, Ralph Sutton, Sammy Price, George Kelly, Gene “Mighty Flea” Connors, Jay McShann, Doc Cheatham, Herb Hall, John Williams, Al Casey, Claude Williams and Champion Jack Dupree. His love of New Orleans – and the respect he earned from musicians there – resulted in two recordings made with these artists in “the birthplace of Jazz”. Both of these sessions can be heard on CD 1.

On CD 2 are previously unreleased live recordings from Denmark. One is with Fessor’s Riverboat Stompers from the Riverboat Festival on June 26, 2010; the other is a club gig with Fessor’s Jazz Kings in Køge on March 24, 2012.