The Bridge Volume 27 Number 1 Article 11 2004 The Impact of American Jazz on Denmark: From the 1950s to the 1970s Merete von Eyben Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge Part of the European History Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, and the Regional Sociology Commons Recommended Citation von Eyben, Merete (2004) "The Impact of American Jazz on Denmark: From the 1950s to the 1970s," The Bridge: Vol. 27 : No. 1 , Article 11. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge/vol27/iss1/11 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Bridge by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. The Impact of American Jazz on Denmark: From the 1950s to the1970s by Merete von Eyben This is how Leonard Malone, an American writer who lived in Denmark until his death in 1998, described Dexter Gordon's first appearance at Jazzhus Montmartre. "Harold Goldberg had arranged for Dexter to appear at the Montmartre, beginning the first week in October... On the ninth of October 1962, Dexter finally appeared .. .late. Thin. Very thin. Tall. Very tall. Charismatic...When he finished playing... the audience was in a state that could best be characterized as a delightful state of shock.Dexter was in town and was burning! From that evening on, Dexter became "' our man in Copenhagen."' Dexter, as we Danes refer to him in our proud, proprietary way, or Ben Gordonsen from Amager, as he called himself when he was feeling really Danish, though he resided in Valby, was one of the most famous jazz musicians to land on Danish soil.