Jazz Collections At The University Library Of Southern Denmark
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The Music Department at the University Library of Southern Denmark in
Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...
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 of the collection was transferred to the former
Odense University Odense University was a university in Odense, Denmark. It was established in 1966. In 1998, the university was merged with two other institutions to form the University of Southern Denmark. Its campus is now known as University of Southern Denmar ...
Library, including the Center's public collection, the
Timme Rosenkrantz 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 1 ...
Collection, the
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 ...
Collection, the Radio Jazz Collection, and the Erik Lindemann Collection. A smaller part went to the Danish Jazz Association while that part of the collection which belonged to the Head of the Center, Arnvid Meyer, has been purchased by the
Danish Royal Library The Royal Library () in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the academic library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries. In 2017, it merged with the ...
although it has up to now remained in Meyer's possession. The collections at the
University Library of Southern Denmark The University Library of Southern Denmark (, abbr. SDU’s library) is a public research library at the University of Southern Denmark in Denmark. and has branches in six cities, primarily in the region of Southern Denmark (Esbjerg, Kolding, Ode ...
have been enlarged due to purchases and donations, such as the private collections of
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 ...
and
Richard Boone Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel''. Early lif ...
. The collections are housed in the Music Department and can be used during the Music Department's open hours. They are only for use on the premises and are not for loan. A room with all forms of listening facilities is available. Indexes to the Jazz Center's collections of tape recordings and videos and the Rosenkrantz, Webster, and Lindemann collections accompanied the collections and they can be used on the premises. All the books,
sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...
, records, CDs and DVDs are catalogued and can be retrieved in the library's catalogue. Current registration is concentrated on the reel-to-reel tapes in Rosenkrantz's collection.


The specific collections (as of June 1, 2007)


The Danish Jazz Center's Public Collection

This part of the Danish Jazz Center's collection was purchased with funds allocated by the former Statens Musikråd. The collection contains more than 50 sheets of music, 49 books, 1516 78-rpm records, 482 LPs, 300 CDs and a number of journals, some of which are not to be found in any other Danish library. The collection consists of more than 2600 reel-to-reel tapes, 1000
cassette tapes Cassette, also known as cassette tape, refers to a small plastic unit containing a length of magnetic tape on two reels. The design was created to replicate the way a reel-to-reel machine works with tape moving from one reel to another while bein ...
and 500
Digital Audio Tape Digital Audio Tape (DAT or R-DAT) is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a Compact Cassette, using 3.81 mm / 0.15" (commonly referred to as 4 mm) magnetic t ...
s of jazz broadcasts including both music and interviews taped from Denmark's Radio between 1975-1997. These tapes are invaluable documentation of what went on the jazz scene during this period. On top of this there are about 700
video tapes Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasset ...
taped from both Danish, Swedish and
German television Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first regular television service in the world, named ''Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow''. In 2000, the German television marke ...
between 1980-1997, spanning from old
short films A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
to contemporary concert recordings.


Timme Rosenkrantz's Collection

Timme Rosenkrantz 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 1 ...
(1911-1969) was an author, a jazz enthusiast and collector, speaker and radio broadcaster. The collection, which is concentrated on
swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...
, consists of 1679 78’s, 170 EPs, 1055 LPs, 411 acetates, 923 reel-to-reel tapes and 103 books. The acetates are unique as they are privately cut acetate records with recordings made by Rosenkrantz himself in New York during
the Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...
with famous musicians or recorded from the radio. There are rarities as there are many valuable jazz concerts recorded from Danish, Swedish and American radio, which haven't otherwise been preserved. There are also many catalogues, press cuttings and manuscripts for radio broadcasts and articles as well as a fine collection of more than 3000 photos of musicians and orchestras, many of which were taken by Rosenkrantz himself.


Ben Webster's Collection

This collection contains 45 78-rpm records, 211 LPs, 12 acetate records, 137 reel-to-reel tapes and one book by
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 ...
. They are all catalogued in the library's catalogue. There are some sensational recordings to be found on the privately cut acetate records and reel-to-reel tapes, some of them by Webster himself. There is also a large collection memorabilia in the form of more than 1600 slides, 20 narrow-gauge films, 700 photographs and some private papers.


Erik Lindemann's Collection

This collection consists of 160 cassette tapes with recordings made by Lindemann at Copenhagen music clubs from 1994-1995, primarily with groups, which are not otherwise found on any records.


Radio Jazz's Collection

Radio Jazz is a Copenhagen local radio programme broadcasting several times a week. The collection consists of 100 reel-to-reel tapes and 600 digital audio tapes containing broadcasts of especially important documentation value, such as interviews and concerts. It documents the jazz scene in Copenhagen since Radio Jazz started broadcasting in 1987. The library hasn't received broadcasts from Radio Jazz since 2006 because it hasn't been possible to get hold of more digital audio tapes. The library has a complete collection of the publication ''Radio Jazz'', which among other things, registers and reviews all the broadcasts.


Svend Asmussen's Collection

The library received a collection from
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 ...
in September 2003 consisting of 14 LPs, 33 CDs, 25 reel-to-reel tapes, 11 cassette tapes, 2 videos, 8 books and 7 journal issues plus 189 photos and a large collection of concert programmes, reviews, press mentions, posters, and other memorabilia covering all his career.


Richard Boone's Collection

The library received a large collection, primarily of a private character, from Inga Boone, widow of the
trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
player and singer Richard B. Boone, in November 2006. This collection contains many private papers, contracts and photos, plus instruments, microphones, cases, hats, portrait paintings, scrapbooks, posters, and other items, plus 2 LPs, 24 CDs and 10 books.


The Other Collections of SDUB

Since the introduction in 1991 of a rhythmical line of study at the
Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...
Academy of Music Odense, the library's acquisition within the jazz genre has increased to the point that on 1 May 2007 the collection consisted of more than 900 books, 850 sheet music, 312 78's, 191 EPs, 4100 LPs, 4200 CDs, 179 DAT tapes and 73 videos plus a number of current and ceased to be published journals including older Danish publications. There is a collection of documents in the form of miscellaneous jazz festival and jazz concert programmes from Denmark and abroad, a complete set of programmes from Jazzhus Montmartre (1983-1990), Jazzhus Sophus Ferdinand, Odense (1974-1986), Værtshuset i Odense (1971-1972), Jazzhus Dexter in Odense (1998- ) as well as Brande Bookshops's postal order catalogue of jazz records (1955-1973). The library has also received minutes of meetings, letters, applications and regulations, and other materials from the Danish Jazz Association (1970-1977) and a very fine donation in the form of Ole "Fessor" Lindgreen's scrapbooks (1957-2001) from his Big City Band in all of 13 volumes. Much of the collection has been received as donations and the library will be very happy to continue receiving jazz donations but it reserves the right to take out duplicate copies and give them to the students.


References

* Cim Meyer (ed.): Det Danske Jazzcenter 25 år, 1971-1996. Det Danske Jazzcenter, 1996. * Frank Büchmann-Møller: Is This To Be My Souvenir? Jazz Photos From The Timme Rosenkrantz Collection 1918-1969. Odense University Press, 2000. * Frank Büchmann-Møller: Someone To Watch Over Me; The Life And Music Of
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 ...
. University of Michigan Press, 2006.


External links


The Jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark

University Library of Southern Denmark/Music Department

University of Southern Denmark

Carl Nielsen Academy of Music Odense

The Ben Webster Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jazz Collections At The University Library Of Southern Denmark Danish jazz Music archives Musicology Academic libraries in Denmark Music organizations based in Denmark