Nikolaj Bentzon Trio & Tone Franck
Biographie Nikolaj Bentzon Trio & Tone Franck
Nikolaj Bentzon
From a musical family, Bentzon took up the piano at an early age, and distinguished himself at 19 as the best soloist at the Dunkerque Jazz Festival. In 1983, he began his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and was honoured with The Oscar Peterson Jazz Award before he graduated. Over the years, he has played with a who´s-who of jazz artists, including Clark Terry, Maria Schneider, Toots Thielemans, Joe Lovano, Carla Bley, Jon Faddis, and Joe Henderson. He continues to be singled out by critics and juries alike for his work at the piano as well as for his compositions.
Bentzon isn´t easy to categorize. As a recording artist, he has 21 albums as a leader (and many more as a sideman), and they range widely in genre and style. His piano trio is featured in six recordings, the most recent of which is Bentzon Trio feat. Winard Harper - "Live at Montmartre".
The preceding album features his original works and standards for symphony orchestra and jazz trio, released on Bluray. His group, Bentzon Brotherhood, is a popular jazz/funk fusion band whose recordings include Funkenstein and Godzilla Des Groove. He often performs with singers, including operatic bass Stephen Milling, and new Danish sensation, Signe Juhl.
Last year, he released 12 Songs for Mature Lovers, a recording of original songs - featuring his own vocals. He continues to perform classical repertoire, including compositions by his father and great-great grandfather.
Bentzon is absolutely at home in a jazz orchestra setting. From 1990 to 2008, he was a member of the US Grammy-award-winning Danish Radio Big Band, one of the most respected jazz orchestras in the world. He conducted the band from 2001, and was its artistic director for his last three years there.
Bentzon is also an accomplished composer-arranger - not only the son of Denmark´s revered composer Niels Viggo Bentzon, but also the 9th generation of a 250-year unbroken reign of outstanding Danish composers. - Charlene Diehl, Dig! magazine, Canada.
