Torben Kjaer born 1946

Jazzpianist, composer, arranger and conductor

It’s a privilege to be born in a musical home.  And with music as a  centre in our family life. My mother gave pianolessons in our home, my sister played as well  piano as the harp, and my father, my sisters and brothers played for fun. There was never a minute’s peace  in our home! As a child the music very early became the obvious choice for me.

I was bored at 4 – therefore I taught myself the boogie – woogie – and forgot playing piano again when I was 6 years old! 

The local organist taught me the music theory, I graduated from music high school and studied music history and - theory at The University Of Copenhagen.(1967-73)

All this along with a career as a jazzmusician. From the first band in school, I got to the chance of playing with jazzstars as Stuff Smith, Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon, before I was 20 eyars old. Soon after I played with Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Brecker, Rasheema, Bent Jaedig, Richard Boone and Ted Curzon, to name a few. 

Musical curiousity developed into a Kaleidoscopic career: musician, bandleader, composer, musical leader of The Danish Radio Jazz Group, Composer Of The Year, travels in Denmark and abroad: New York, New Orleans, Singapore, Nairobi in Kenya and Nuuk in Greenland, Sct. Croix, jazzfestivals in Poland, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, France and Spain.

Radio – and TV-programs, scores for films, cabaret, rock, performance, religious music, symphonic music, big band, cartoons – and still with jazz as the musical centre of creation.

I think I’ve written music for anything – even for the opening of ski-jumping in Norway!

My inspiration? J. S. Bach, Jaques  Brel, Leonard Bernstein, Bill- and Gil Evans, Richard Strauss, Chick Corea, Bud Powell, Glenn Gould, Igor Stravinsky, John Williams, Stewie Wonder to mention a few, but I don’t feel any style restrictions in my musical love of adventure and no limitations for my curousity.

Still wondering who I am?

Check:

CV
Projects
Recordings and publishing
Links

Listen to:

music clips