The Ben Webster Prize is an annual

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

set up by the Ben Webster Foundation to honour Danish and

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

n jazz musicians as well as other professionals active in the promotion of jazz in those countries. The American jazz musician

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor Saxophone, saxophonist. He performed in the United States and Europe and made many recordings with Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, a ...

spent his last ten years in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark, where he became an active part of the city's thriving jazz scene. After his death, the Ben Webster Foundation was set up to channel his annual royalties to musicians in Denmark and America. The Ben Webster Prize is part of this effort. The prize is handed out at an award ceremony in connection with a special concert which has taken place at various jazz venues, including the

Jazzhus Montmartre Jazzhus Montmartre is a jazz club in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Many jazz musicians, including Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, and Chet Baker, have performed there. It is sometimes called Cafe Montmartre. The Montmartre was located first in Dahler ...

, Huset, the Lake Pavilion, Copenhagen Jazzhouse, the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

at the

Royal Danish Library Royal Danish Library () is a merger of the two previous national libraries in Denmark: the State and University Library in Aarhus and the Royal Library in Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, wit ...

Freetown Christiania Freetown Christiania (), also known as Christiania or simply ', is an intentional community and anarchist commune in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of the Danish capital city of Copenhagen. It began in 1971 as a squatted military base. Its m ...

's Jazzklub, Sofies Kælderen and

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli (), is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...

. The winner currently receives DKK 25,000.

Winners

Ben Webster's Prize of Honour

*1984 - Børge Roger Henrichsen *1989 - Papa Bue *1995 - Ole Fessor Lindgreen *1996 -

Svend Asmussen Svend Asmussen (28 February 1916 – 7 February 2017) was a Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing-style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many other notable jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and ...

*2002 -

Hugo Rasmussen Hugo Rasmussen (22 March 1941 – 30 August 2015) was a Danish bassist. Rasmussen is best known for his album ''Sweets to the Sweet'' (1978). ''Sweets To the Sweet'' was re-released in 2001 on Danish label Music Mecca. Biography He worked with ...

*2003 - Arnvid Meyer *2006 -

Ed Thigpen Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959. Biograph ...

*2007 - Erik Moseholm *2009 - Lars Thorborg *2010 - Ray Pitts *2011 - Anders Stefansen *2012 - Klaus Albrectsen *2013 -

Palle Mikkelborg Palle Mikkelborg (born 6 March 1941) is a Danish jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger and record producer. He is self-taught on the trumpet, although he studied conducting at the Royal Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He became a professio ...

*2014 - Tove Enevoldsen *2015 -

Vincent Nilsson Vincent Nilsson is a Swedish jazz trombonist and arranger. Biography Nilsson played in the orchestra on the Miles Davis recording '' Aura'' in 1985. Nilsson recorded ''Jazz Trombone Spirituals'' for Storyville Records in 1998. On the album, he u ...

*2016 - Ole Streenberg *2017 -

Jens Søndergaard Jens Søndergaard (October 4, 1895 – May 21, 1957) was a Danish expressionist painter. He specialised in strongly coloured landscapes depicting his feelings for the power of nature and the sea. Søndergaard won both national and international ...

*2019 - Pierre Dørge - Finn Odderskov *2020 - Elith "Nulle" Nykjær *2022 - Ann Farholt, Ole Olsen, Henrik Bay, Leonardo Pedersen, Mikkel Find, Jens Jefsen, Kjeld Lauritsen, Niels "Flipper" Stuart *2023 - Gorm Valentin

References

{{Reflist Awards established in 1977 Danish music awards Jazz awards Danish jazz

Winners

Ben Webster's Prize of Honour

See also

References