Torben Waldorff

Electric guitarist Torben Waldorff was born in Faaborg, Denmark, July 6, 1963 and grew up in Copenhagen. Some of his early influences included Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, John Mayall, Albert King, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, and David Bowie. But he converted to jazz upon hearing Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan, and especially Miles Davis, Weather Report, and Stanley Clarke. He attended the Berklee College of Music from 1984 to 1988, met saxophonist Donny McCaslin, and they jammed together in New York while fomenting the idea of putting a group together with drummer Jon Wikan and bassist Matt Clohesy. While at Berklee in Boston, the guitarist majored in jazz composition and arrangement with Herb Pomeroy, and studied privately with Charlie Banacos. One of his greatest influences is the 1961 Jimmy Giuffre trio with Steve Swallow and Paul Bley. The sounds of Duke Ellington and Ornette Coleman came later, and more directly influenced his contemporary music. He was working in Boston area clubs with Sam Newsome and Jim Black, but Waldorff moved back to Copenhagen in the Oresund area that is near Malmo, Sweden in 1989, subsequently collaborating with Tomas Franck, Anders Bergcrantz, Bob Rockwell, and Christian Minh Doky, and brought Newsome, Ben Perowsky, and Ingrid Jensen in from New York for festival dates. Waldorff has since written and performed several orchestral works on commission. His first CDs under his own name were released in 1999 for the Swedish label L.J. Records, with the No Bass Band titled Hello World, followed by Squealfish in 2004. His debut American releases include Brilliance in 2006 and Afterburn in 2008, both issued for the Artist Share label. Other musicians he has worked with include Allison Miller, David Berkman, Hans Glawischnig, Gary Thomas, Karl-Martin Almqvist, Joel Miller, Christine Jensen, Maria Schneider, Geoff Keezer, Sam Yahel, and Fraser Hollins.