Live At Hotel Cecil Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado

• 1 Already Gone (Live) 04:31
• 2 Long Time Ago (Live) 04:58
• 3 Said I Was Hurt (Live) 03:55
• 4 House Of Sticks (Live) 04:54
• 5 Insomnia Boogie (Live) 05:40
• 6 Long Forgotten Track (Live) 06:33
• 7 Sin City (Live) 06:04
• 8 Never Givin' In (Intro) (Live) 01:58
• 9 Never Givin' In (Live) 08:48
• 10 Headed For The Stars (Live) 04:24
• 11 Inner Light (Live) 05:01
• 12 I Used To Love You (Live) 04:04
• 13 Come On In (Live) 04:46
• 14 Hold My Lover Tight (Live) 06:08
• 15 Over The Hill (Live) 03:28
• 16 Maybe It's Alright (Live) 04:58
• 17 Train (Live) 05:05
• 18 All I Want (Live) 10:52
• Total Runtime 01:36:07

Info for Live At Hotel Cecil

The award-winning roots rockin’ octet Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado are road warriors in the truest sense – not a month passes without them being on tour, it is the environment that they live for, so it’s only fitting that they are releasing a live album ‘Live at Hotel Cecil’ on June 19, 2026.

Situated at the heart of Copenhagen, the Hotel Cecil has played home to a Jazzhouse, a Playhouse and originally served as a meeting place, lecture hall, and administrative hub for the women’s emancipation movement in Denmark when it was built in 1936. Set to an Art Deco backdrop, it perfectly suits the smooth, smokey blues sounds from Denmark’s hardest working band.

The eight piece band adorn the high stage, the curtains are raised and, as the lights are turned down low, the band’s neon logo dominates your attention and the drape flanked room catapults you to another place and another time. That’s where the Danish sensations draw you in; Thorbjørn Risager (Vocals, Electric Guitar), Emil Balsgaard (Organ, Keys), Joachim Svensmark (Electric Guitar), Kasper Wagner (Baritone Sax), Hans Nybo (Tenor Sax), Peter W Kehl (Trumpet), Søren Bøjgaard (Bass) and Martin Seidelin (Drums, Percussion).

They’ve won four Danish Music Awards (with seven nominations), the “Best Band” in the European Blues Awards and won the prestigious German Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Jahrespreis – German Record Critics’ Awards. Blazing a trail worldwide with more than 1.500 shows, they’ve captivated crowds with their dynamic stage presence and a sound that fuses soul Chicago blues, boogie, and rock ‘n’ roll with a voice where Ray Charles, Van Morrison, and Billy Gibbons meet in the middle. They’ve opened for Bonnie Raitt, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, jammed with the legendary Buddy Guy and even picked up a fan in Elwood Blues himself – Dan Aykroyd! – who hailed their “Hot rhythm and blues.”

Thorbjørn Risager, lead vocal, electric guitar
Emil Balsgaard, piano, organ, Wurlitzer, Clavinet
Joachim Svensmark, electric guitar, background vocals
Kasper Wagner, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
Hans Nybo, tenor saxophone, background vocals
Peter W Kehl, trumpet, fluegelhorn, background vocals
Søren Bøjgaard, bass, bass synthesizer
Martin Seidelin, drums, percussion, background vocals

Recorded November 28-29th 2025, live at Hotel Cecil in Copenhagen
Recording engineer David Stærk
Mixed and produced by Søren Bøjgaard
Mastered by Mikkel Gemzøe
Executive producer Peter W Kehl

Thorbjørn Risager
In the blues world, a big voice is often accompanied by a big ego (or at least a medium sized one…)

But the Danish singer Thorbjørn Risager, praised for his rough and strong voice by an unanimous choir of critics from a growing number of countries – 15 the last time we counted them – is a soft-spoken gentleman off stage. He is the leader of his seven-piece band mainly for practical reasons – to bring any little issue into a group discussion can be quite time-consuming. He is also composing most of the band’s music, and during the performance he is the obvious center of attention, even if the band has a charming way of passing round the task of introducing the songs between them, so that each musician gets his word in.

And this is a real smooth organization, who has divided all practical tasks such as web master, CD sales on gigs etc between themselves. Which makes life easier in the midst of their heavy touring schedule. Since the start, they have played in 15 countries, and only from Feb – Aug 2010 they have concerts booked in 11 European countries.

But the 38-year-old Dane had other plans for his life. He studied to be a school teacher, and worked in this profession for some years, before he decided to let the music take over. He studied at the Rhythmic Conservatory in Copenhagen, a quite unique education where many of the teachers are jazz- or rock musicians, and where the emphasis is on Rhythmic music of all genres. In 2003 he started his band, selected musicians he liked both musically and personally, and the fact that up until today only one of them left and was replaced, at an early stage of the band’s career, proves that the choice was excellent.

But of course Thorbjørn’s musical interest started long before this. He played the saxophone from the age of 12, then guitar – but the singing was more of a coincidence at first. He was exposed to the blues through a neighbour, a middle-aged gentleman who was friends with his parents, and who started playing blues records to the young Thorbjørn. That’s how his life-long love story with the blues started, with B B King as his biggest hero. Ray Charles is one of his other obvious influences, but today, with almost 40 recorded songs from his own pen, he has definitely defined his own sound and style.

His mixture of genres is something that is sometimes mentioned by critics, who are looking for something of more homogenity. But this is Thorbjørn’s deliberate choice. To hear a band that plays one shuffle after another, or only jump blues through an entire CD or concert, might please some critics but there’s definitely a risk that the audience will get bored.

And this is why Thorbjørn and his band have created their specific sound by other means, especially his characteristic raunchy voice and the band’s typical sound, with its horns, solo performances and rolling, almost big-band-like grooves. So he weaves threads of soul, gospel, rock, R&B and funk into his music, to create a variety and keep the audience interested, something that the band succeeds with on each single gig.

This album contains no booklet.