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Pernille Bévort: Curious Explorations
Courtesy Mads Fisker
I guess I like all these inspirations. All these inspirations that you meet in a life and then you make your own melting pot.
—Pernille Bévort
Morten Ankarfeldt
bass, acousticA regular fixture in prestigious large ensembles such as Ernie Wilkins Almost Big Band, Kroner's Music Orchestra, Danish Radio Big Band and Bohusl?n Big Band—working with the likes of
Richard Bona
bass, electricb.1967
Tim Hagans
trumpetb.1954
John Scofield
guitarb.1951
Randy Brecker
trumpetb.1945
Maria Schneider
composer / conductor
Marilyn Mazur
percussionb.1955
Fredrik Lundin
woodwindsb.1963
Kasper Bai
guitarBévort's six selections for Touchstone Album Picks shine a light on some of the qualities she values in music, qualities that permeate her own albums—playfulness, soul, rhythmic vitality, communication and thrills.
Sonny RollinsSaxophone Colossus
(Prestige)
1957
All About Jazz: Many people consider this to be Sonny Rollins' best album, certainly it is one of his most famous, what is special about this album for you?
Pernille Bévort It was just so impressive. I was very young the first time I heard it, trying to figure out how to play the saxophone (laughs). I was overwhelmed by his sound on the saxophone and the freedom in his playing, the rhythmical freedom. The way he solos on "You Don't Know What Love Is" is so playful. It is like he could pick any rhythm whatsoever, and it flows in a very organic, natural way. There is so much power and storytelling. I was baffled! (laughs)
AAJ: Was listening to Rollins when you were starting out in any way intimidating? Did it seem like you had an impossible mountain to climb, or was it maybe inspiring for you?
PB: No, I was more fascinated, like a curious child who sees something amazing. It was just, 'wow!' I want to touch just a little bit of this! (laughs) That would be great. So it was inspiring.
AAJ A lot of people think that Rollins wrote the calypso "St. Thomas," which became his signature tune, but it is an old Bahamian folk tune that goes by many different names. Rollins told Prestige that it wasn't his tune but they insisted on putting his name to it—one of many facts that surface in Aiden Levy's biography Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins (Hachette Books, 2022). Have you read the book?
PB: No, I haven't. I must look for it.
AAJ: It is highly recommended for Rollins' fans. Another surprising fact about this album is that the four musicians, Rollins, bassist
Doug Watkins
bass1934 - 1962
Tommy Flanagan
piano1930 - 2001
Max Roach
drums1925 - 2007
PB: That's amazing, because they sound so attuned—they play like one living organism. Also, on "Strode Rode" at the beginning of Sonny's solo where he is playing only with the bass it just sounds amazing.
AAJ: Another tremendous track is "Blue 7..."
PB: It's a lot of fun...
AAJ: A lot of fun.
Gunther Schuller
composer / conductor1925 - 2015
PB: Yes, he did, very much. With this "Blue 7" it is a very special take on the blues with this sharp 11 that he uses all the time. On the piano it would be an F minor with a sharp seventh. He plays figures around that and develops it on a Bb7 bluesy thing. It has another sound than going straight blues. I like that very much; it is a sort of statement. He definitely explores the theme, and he develops it in the way he 'composes' his solo on the spot as an improvising musician.
AAJ: To my ears, "Blue 7" and Rollins' soloing foreshadows in some way your next pick on the list, which is
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
PB: Yeah... there is some kind of familiarity between the modes.
AAJ: Did you ever see Sonny Rollins in concert?
PB: I saw him at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, I think it was 1990, or '91. He was just playing and playing and playing—he was so powerful. Long solos with a lot of storytelling. (laughs)
AAJ: That sounds like Sonny Rollins alright! (laughs).
Miles DavisKind of Blue (Columbia) 1959 All About Jazz: For many people Kind of Blue is their gateway into jazz. Can you remember when you first heard it, the impact it had on you?
Pernille Bévort: I don't remember when I heard it, but I was young, definitely. I hadn't heard anything like it before, this modal music. I was very impressed by the whole mood... sometimes a little twist of darkness, pensative, but also so much heart, in a way. The reason I chose this album is we hear both
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
Cannonball Adderley
saxophone1928 - 1975
AAJ: It is a fascinating mixture of musical personalities.
Bill Evans
piano1929 - 1980
Jimmy Cobb
drums1929 - 2020
Paul Chambers
bass, acoustic1935 - 1969
PB: It is of course important, and I like to work with musicians for longer periods of time, because we get to know each other. The line-up in my own trio, we have worked together for maybe ten years. We get to know each other and when we play we can take chances.
Bob Rockwell
saxophoneAAJ: Kind of Blue was recorded in two days, a month or so apart, and Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus in one day; how long does it typically take you to record an album?
PB: On Fire was recorded in one day. Northbound was recorded in two days—I felt like having a little more time. The album I did with Radio Bévort in 2020, Blik, that was recorded in two days. I have never taken longer. One or two days.
AAJ: So not too many takes, keep it fresh?
PB: Yes, actually I really think a lot like that. I think something nice happens when we play live, in the moment, when it is now or never. It gives freshness and I try to stay in contact with that sort of freshness and approach—also in the studio. I am not thinking in total perfection, then it can become too stiff, so it's more like trying to relax your shoulders and try to communicate this in the music. That's more my take on it.
AAJ: You mentioned Coltrane and Adderley; what do you hear in their playing?
PB: I love the way they play. Cannonball has this quite dark sound on the alto saxophone, you can really feel his body behind the instrument. His breathing was just marvelous. Coltrane as well, of course. There was some spirit around them.
AAJ: Their playing is very soulful on this album.
PB: Yes, very soulful. It is not to minimize Miles' big hand in this album, but I am a saxophonist, so it's just oh wow! (laughs)
Joni MitchellShadows and Light(Asylum) 1980 All About Jazz: You have gone for Joni Mitchell's second live album, recorded during her 1979 American tour.
Pat Metheny
guitarb.1954
Michael Brecker
saxophone, tenor1949 - 2007
Jaco Pastorius
bass, electric1951 - 1987
Lyle Mays
keyboards1953 - 2020
Don Alias
percussion1939 - 2006
Pernille Bévort: I was so touched when I heard it for the first time. This live energy... and the whole band sounds just amazing the way they are playing. Metheny, Michael Brecker, Jaco Pastorius, Don Alias (laughs), I mean, they are just flying! I felt like dancing. It's so convincing, so expressive. Yeah, full of life.
AAJ: On video of that tour, you can see that Mitchell is dancing as she sings and plays. There is so much rhythm in the music.
PB: I can understand. (laughs)
AAJ: I know Joni Mitchell fans who adore her studio albums like The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Asylum, 1975) and Hejira (Asylum, 1976), who know every note and every sound, finding perfection in them, and by comparison they find the inevitably altered and less-than-perfect live records somehow lesser. Do you know where I'm coming from?
PB: Isn't it because we like to recognize what we know, where we feel at home. She was such a creative force. The way she creates lines... compared to more flat, poppy stuff where there is not too much experiment. She has so many colors on her palette.
AAJ: She was a risk taker, wasn't she?
PB: Yeah, and she tried not to put her music in a little box; she was much more explosive and exploratory, and that is something I miss sometimes when I hear modern singers. In a way, I think she has a lot of personality. She is more like an instrument to listen to. Her voice is an instrument—limitless in a fantastic way.
AAJ: Metheny said in an interview some years ago that he felt the musicians could have played much more adventurously with Joni Mitchel. He gave the impression that their playing was a little constrained.
PB: On "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" from this live album where Michael Brecker takes it out, it doesn't sound to me as though they are holding back.
AAJ: No, Brecker is really going for it. There is that great line in "Shadows and Light" where Mitchel sings "compelled by prescribed standards or some idea we fight wrong or right." She was a real independent, artistically; how difficult is it for you to follow exactly what you want to do musically without having to compromise for other people, whoever they may be?
PB: I am the one who needs to take care of money and to organize my life. And I need moments to just let the creativity flow. It's a dance, it's a live dance for all of us who work in this field. To make everything fit and work out, it is not easy, but you cannot expect others to take care of things, so you need to be quite organized and not have too many expenses... or expensive habits. (laughs). To think and create freely I need a feeling of mental freedom, and I don't feel that if I have a lot of bills to pay and I am behind all the time and must work all the time. It creates no new interesting ideas in my head. I have to be very aware of that all the time, actually.
Joe HendersonSo Near, So Far: Musings for Miles(Verve)1993
All About Jazz: Joe Henderson played on dozens of Blue Note Records dates, including half a dozen as leader, and those are arguably his best known and most celebrated works. However, you have gone for one of his latter albums. This album was dedicated to Miles Davis, inspired by Miles Davis and features three Davis alumni in
Dave Holland
bassb.1946
Al Foster
drums1944 - 2025
John Scofield
guitarb.1951
Pernille Bévort: Maybe it's just coincidence, but I woke up to Joe Henderson suddenly and just got this album which I love and listened to a lot at a certain point in my life. It's an important part of my life and of my music listening. That's why I chose this album and not one of the others. He is a saxophonist that I really like. He plays amazing stuff. (laughs)
AAJ: What do you like about Henderson's playing?
PB: He is a saxophonist with a sound that is very different from the others we have talked about. I like his sound and I like his playfulness. Like Rollins, he also plays around with the rhythmic stuff, all the subdivisions and creative ideas. Sometimes these cascades of notes and then moving the line a little and tweaking it around.
AAJ: And this album in particular?
PB: It is a combination; it is both powerful and relaxed. It's a good match, Henderson with John Scofield's sound on guitar. They fit together so nicely.
AAJ: You have played with Scofield, haven't you?
PB: I have played a couple of concerts with him and the Danish Radio Big Band. It was a big project with symphony orchestra and
Vince Mendoza
composer / conductorb.1961
AAJ: Joe Henderson was perhaps a more eclectic musician than he is given credit for. There is quite a lot of variation if you compare his albums. I guess it's also true to an extent of yourself over your career. You lead a chordless trio, you play in several different big bands, there was the tango-inspired Perfect Organisation (Gateway Music, 2011); Is it important for you to play in different set-ups and in different projects? Are you always looking to do something new and fresh?
PB: I guess I like all these different inspirations. I played for more than a decade with a trombone player called
Erling Kroner
tromboneb.1943
AAJ: In the '80s with the
Wynton Marsalis
trumpetb.1961
PB: Well, that's a big question—I guess we'll run out of time. (laughs).
AAJ In Denmark, then, to narrow the field.
PB: There are so many influences in jazz now, so many directions that it can go. In Denmark there are a lot of younger jazz musicians playing 'smooth' jazz which is well produced and not provocative. They have quite a big audience. If you are more experimental it can be more problematic. (laughs)
In Copenhagen, in Denmark, we have a lack of professional concert venues. We once had the Copenhagen Jazz House, which was sort of a national jazz scene where both Danish and international musicians could perform, also big ensembles. There was some sort of economy and a well-equipped and professional big stage. We miss that sort of scene, that sort of stage. Now we are a group of professional jazz musicians with Marilyn Mazur and Fredrik Lundin too, saying we need to re-establish a national jazz scene like that again. We really miss that right now.
Django BatesQuiet Nights(Screwgun)1998 All About Jazz: Another great choice. This is a special album of mostly covers by a one-off musician, a real maverick, who came up through
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Bill Bruford
drumsb.1949
Iain Ballamy
saxophone, tenorb.1964
Mark Mondesir
drumsb.1964
Martin France
drumsb.1964
Josefine Cronholm
vocalsPernille Bévort: It is like no-one can tell him what he can do with the music, what jazz is, what you're supposed to do. He takes these standards (laughs) and he creates a whole new world around each of these tunes. It is really crazy, some of it (laughs), but also really powerful with a lot of layers. There is a lot of explosive and creative stuff going on. There is also heart, soulfulness and a lot of humour.
AAJ: You have a link with Bates through the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, where you studied don't you?
PB: Django was a professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen for some years about twenty years ago, after I graduated. But both Django Bates and Iain Ballamy have been teachers at Summer Session, which is a week-long course in Denmark where professional jazz musicians meet, create combos and play. He is an amazing musician. It just flows from him.
AAJ: Doesn't it? Bates makes the standard "Like Someone in Love" sound like a deconstruction by a
Frank Zappa
guitar, electric1940 - 1993
Tom Waits
piano and vocalsb.1949
PB: She has been living in Denmark for many years now. She's from Sweden originally. The story goes that he found her in a little jazz club at a jam session. She's just a singing natural with this wonderful sound.
AAJ: Yes, she doesn't embellish or elaborate much. She just has a very pure sound. She has a beautiful voice. I like a lot her group that interprets the music of Milton Nascimento. She is a great fit on this Bates album. Have you ever played with Bates?
PB: He was in Denmark some years ago with his tribute to the Beatles. It was also a great project. I was a substitute for one of the rehearsals dates. I was reading all these crazy rhythms. (laughs) It was with the Danish Radio Big Band. One thing that is also wonderful about Django Bates is that he is just such a nice guy. He is like
Brian Blade
drumsb.1970
Fredrik Lundin OverdriveChoose Your BootsStunt Records/Sundance Music2001 All About Jazz: This album is a real discovery. Thank you for this. You would travel a long way to find a stronger opening track to an album than "On The Road to Anywhere"—such incredible groove! But the entire album is very strong, multi-layered. You play with Lundin in Maluba Orchestra; have you known him for a long time?
Pernille Bévort: Yes, definitely. He is a very distinct voice on the Danish jazz scene. He has been active since the mid-'80s, and always with this very personal sound. I love his saxophone playing and also his composing. And sometimes it's really kind of dark. (laughs)
AAJ: How would you describe the music on this album to someone who is unfamiliar with it?
PB: It is a very special line-up with these four trombones—three tenor and one bass trombone—trumpet, and he is the only saxophonist. There are two drummers, guitar, bass and piano or electric piano. So, there is a special sound to it with this brass section.
AAJ: And all kinds of sounds and textures ...
PB: Yes, there is some sort of rhythm and blues influence, he says it is inspired by
Lead Belly
guitar and vocals1888 - 1949
AAJ: On "Ladies in Distress" there is a kind of Balkan influence, like something Emir Kusturica might do, and then it morphs into a Latin or Afro-Cuban feel. But the transitions and contrasts sound very organic. I also like the way he frames the soloists. The arrangements are striking.
PB: I totally agree. He likes to integrate the soloing in the composition, so that they become a natural part of the composition, and not just some add-on. He created two albums with this ensemble and managed to tour internationally, in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Canada. That is quite amazing because there were 11 musicians. That's quite a lot of obstacles to overcome.
AAJ: If the second Overdrive album is half as good as the first one it will be worth tracking down. In closing, is there a common denominator to these six albums? Is there some quality that they share?
PB: Intensity. Creative forces. But very, very different. They are all explorers, I would say. Curious explorers.
Tags
Touchstone Album Picks
pernille bevort
Ian Patterson
Denmark
Copenhagen
Marcello Nisinman
Morten Ankarfeldt
Espen Laub von Lillienskjold
Trio Temptations
On Fire
Northbound
Richard Bona
Tim Hagans
John Scofield
randy brecker
Maria Schneider
Marilyn Mazur
Fredrik Lundin
Kaspar Bai
Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins
Doug Watkins
Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Cannonball Adderley
Bill Evans
Jimmy Cobb
Paul Chambers
Bob Rockwell
pat metheny
Michael Brecker
Jaco Pastorius
Lyle Mayes
Don Alias
Dave Holland
Al Foster
Vince Mendoza
Erling Kroner
wynton marsalis
Loose Tubes
Bill Bruford
Iain Ballamy
Mark Mondesir
Martin France
Josefine Cronholm
Brian Blade
Tommy Flanagan
Max Roach
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