Baron Timme Rosenkrantz (July 6, 1911 – August 11, 1969) was a Danish aristocrat, author and jazz enthusiast. Rosenkrantz was an early supporter of African American jazz musicians and promoted many concerts and recordings. He also produced a 1938 session for the Victor label, assembling

Rex Stewart Rex William Stewart Jr. (February 22, 1907 – September 7, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Career As a boy he studied piano and violin; most of his career was spent on cornet. Stewart drop ...

Don Byas Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also led ...

Russell Procope Russell Keith Procope (August 11, 1908 – January 21, 1981) was an American clarinetist and alto saxophonist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Before Ellington Procope was born in New York City, United States, and grew up in ...

, Tyree Glenn, Jo Jones and others as Timme Rosenkrantz and His Barrelhouse Barons. His private 1944 acetates of

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first r ...

, which subsequently saw release on

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

and other labels, were the pianist's first recordings. Rosenkrantz organized the 1946 European tour of an all-star band led by

Don Redman Donald Matthew Redman (July 29, 1900 – November 30, 1964) was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader, and composer. Biography Redman was born in Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. His father was a music teacher ...

, the first American jazz group to visit Copenhagen and Stockholm after World War II. A man of great humor, Rosenkrantz wrote witty short stories and vignettes for a number of publications, including '' Esquire'' magazine. His collection of jazz music (concentrated on the Swing Era) is placed in the

Jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark The Music Department at the University Library of Southern Denmark in Odense has through donations and acquisitions since 1997 achieved the status of research archive of specialised jazz studies. The Danish Jazz Center closed on 1 July 1997. Much ...

, Odense. Before Rosenkrantz died, he wrote down his memories in a Danish book and in several Danish and English articles. Fradley Garner, International Editor o
Jersey Jazz
and a friend of Rosenkrantz, translated and edited the Baron's memoirs for the English-speaking world. The resulting book
Harlem Jazz Adventures
is now available via the book's website a
JazzBaron.com

References

Additional reading

* Mike Matloff, "The Jazz Baron

* * Timme Rosenkrantz, ''Harlem Jazz Adventures A European Baron's Memoir, 1934-1969'' (Lanham, MD, Scarecrow Press, 2012).

External links

The jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark

The Jazz Baron, website for Timme's book ''Harlem Jazz Adventures''
1911 births 1969 deaths Barons of Denmark {{Denmark-bio-stub