beginnings
starting
I started to play the trumpet at the age of 8, having found the one my grandfather used to play in the local voluntary fire brigade in south Denmark. A year later I had joined our school marching band in Stockholm.my guide into jazz
My guide to the recordings of Bix Beiderbecke in my early years was Mikael Ankers. We met in high scool in the 60's and spent endless sessions listening to his 78's collection which seemed to increase every day. He played the piano (among other instruments) and was also a good arranger and managed to come to work for record collector Ray Avery one summer in California in the 60's, where he met some of his idols from the Bob Crosby Orchestra, i.e. Matty Matlock and Eddie Miller. He later joined Kustbandet but also formed his own big band for which he wrote excellent arrangementsfirst bands
In 1968 Stockholm Stompers, was started in with Ulf Dreber, who played the clarinet in a way reminding of Edmond Hall. We recorded on Kenneth Records and one of the tunes - "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" included a bopchorus I had composed. After this heretical attempt into modern music I decided to concentrate on early jazz.With Tomas örnberg I formed Maggie's Blue Five in 1970. A developing passion for the recordings of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet of the 20's made us try hard to emulate on our instruments what we heard them playing.
