The greatest names in jazz are hanging out the basement at SDU
At least in the form of unique audio recordings, photos and other exceptional items. The jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark are known worldwide as a true treasure trove of jazz history. We visited in honour of the collection’s contribution to a new, completely sold-out jazz release.
Dented lacquer records transported by train from Odense to Klampenborg with all due safety precautions, the virtuoso but somewhat overlooked jazz saxophonist Don Byas and a coveted luxury release from one of America’s most recognised jazz record labels which has already sold out. What does this all have to do with SDU?
Quite a lot, it turns out, when you meet Anne Helle Jespersen who is in charge of the Jazz Collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark:
Privately cut lacquer records from the Library’s unique Timme Rosenkrantz Collection play an absolute starring role on the latest limited edition box set of Don Byas from the New York record label Mosaic Records.
About the Timme Rosenkrantz Collection
- Timme Rosenkrantz was a Danish baron and radio and record producer who settled in New York in 1934 during the golden age of swing and bebop jazz, and his apartment on 46th Street West (the former home of singer Billie Holiday) became a gathering place for the greatest jazz names of the day.
- In his home, Rosenkrantz recorded a series of nightly jam sessions, and some of these recordings were broadcast on Timme’s regular radio programmes on the Danish national radio station (DR), En halv Timmes Tid, or on American radio. However, the majority of the 413 lacquer records were never released or played publicly.
- Upon Rosenkrantz’s death, the many lacquer records and the rest of his collection of music recordings, interviews, radio broadcasts and photos were handed over first to the Danish Jazz Centre and in 1997 to the University Library of Southern Denmark after a determined effort by former senior librarian Åse Lindahl and music librarian Frank Büchmann-Møller.
The story of the collaboration begins back in 2022, when Anne Helle Jespersen received an email from Danish jazz enthusiast Niels Winther who specialises in historical jazz releases on his record label Steeplechase Records.
Winther had been contacted by Mosaic Records. The renowned jazz record label was searching for rare recordings from the 1940s New York jazz scene because they wanted to highlight the somewhat overlooked saxophonist Don Byas on one of their iconic box sets featuring the most important names in jazz history.
And Winther knew – partly from having previously borrowed material – that the jazz collections at the University Library of Southern Denmark were crucial to the success of the project.
Jazz treasures in the collections
In the basement under SDU in Odense, Denmark, 413 lacquer records are stored that provide a unique insight into the vibrant jazz scene in New York in the 1940s. They are part of the Library’s Timme Rosenkrantz Collection, which is one of many jazz treasures in the collections.
The lacquer records were cut at the New York apartment of Danish radio and record producer Timme Rosenkranz between 1944 and 1945. Here, the great and up-and-coming musicians of the time, such as Thelonious Monk, Stuff Smith and of course Don Byas, often met for late-night jam sessions.
The vast majority of these recordings have never been released before.
At the University Library of Southern Denmark, research librarian Anne Helle Jespersen had no doubt about how to respond to Nils Winther’s email.
The opportunity to work with one of the world’s most respected jazz record labels for historical releases: It was one of those offers you can’t refuse.
- For me, it’s extremely important that we disseminate our unique jazz collection as much as possible. After all, we’re focused on making it accessible to everyone – no matter their background. That’s what we’re here for, explains Anne Helle Jespersen.
A special effort
But making the treasures of jazz accessible isn’t always straightforward. Especially not when your jazz collection is largely made up of lacquer records, reel-to-reel tapes, vinyl records and other fragile items.
Therefore, it took a special logistical effort to get the unique Timme Rosenkranz recordings ready for international release.
- Nils Winther and I spent a large part of the autumn of 2022 searching for and selecting music and photos for the release, and then we met a handful of times at the central station in Odense, where I brought him a stack of lacquer records securely wrapped, handed them over to him, and he then took the train back to his studio in Klampenborg to clean and record the audio files, Anne Helle Jespersen says about the very special loan to Mosaic Records, elaborating:
- Many of the lacquer records were so dented that he often had to hold the cartridge down with his finger to get any sound from the never-before-released recordings with Don Byas.
Great reviews
Their efforts have really been proven worthwhile since the release in December 2023.
Not only is the first edition of Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944–1946 already completely sold out. The box set of 10 CDs, 3 ½ of which come from the library’s jazz collections, has also received excellent reviews. The recordings from the basement at SDU are particularly emphasised:
- An incredible revelation is the massive trove of ‘lost’ home recordings from the collection of Timme Rosenkrantz, the Danish jazz aficionado. The sessions from Timme Rosenkrantz’s apartment are nothing short of remarkable. Freed from the spotlight and demands of a paying audience, musicians could stretch out, explore, and invent, according to a review from the international jazz site Jazz Messengers, for example.
Many collaborations
The Library’s collaboration with Mosaic Records on the Don Byas release is just one of many examples of how the Jazz Collections are constantly working to make their jazz treasures widely accessible.
However, borrowing from the collection is only possible for jazz researchers and relevant album releases and film productions, not for the public.
Previously, the Collection’s interviews with Billie Holiday’s ex-husband have been used in the 2019 documentary Billie, and 16 mm film footage from Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon’s years in Copenhagen was used in the 2015 Danish documentary Cool Cats. During 2024, exhibitions will open at the libraries in Odense and Vejle and subsequently all public libraries, featuring drawings and photos of jazz musicians, which are otherwise stored in the basement of SDU.
In addition, the University Library of Southern Denmark is currently working on a digitalisation project, scanning the approximately 7–8000 photos in the Jazz Collections and providing them with image descriptions and metadata in order to make the images available online.
About the Jazz Collections and the Library's Special Collections
- The foundation of the Jazz Collections was laid in July 1997 when the Library received a number of collections from the former Danish Jazz Centre, which had been discontinued. This included the Timme Rosenkrantz Collection, the Ben Webster Collection, the Radio Jazz Collection and the Erik Lindemann Collection.
- The Collections have since been expanded through purchases and donations, including the private collections of Svend Asmussen and Richard Boone as well as the collection of negatives from the photographer Ole Brask. The collections are located at the University Library of Southern Denmark, Campusvej, Odense.
- The Collections are regularly lent out for purposes of documentary film production and academic and research literature and music releases both nationally and internationally.
- Further, through collaborations with the Region’s central and public libraries on exhibitions and concerts, among other things, there are ongoing efforts to bring this unique cultural heritage to citizens with an interest in jazz.
- The Jazz Collections are part of the University Library of Southern Denmark’s Special Collections, which focus on working with the many special collections that have been incorporated into the University Library over time.
- The Special Collections consist of large and small libraries and collections assembled from the establishment of the University Library in 1965 onwards. The majority of the collections contain printed literature in a wide range of subject areas, but they also include maps and atlases, photos and small prints.
- If you would like to know more about the Jazz Collections and Special Collections, please contact: SpecialCollections@bib.sdu.dk