Welcome to www.torstenolafsson.dk

Photo: Tom Steffe - 2003

The very first
piano concert -
Copenhagen, c. 1958

Presentation

A lifetime in quest of musical meaning - and enjoyment ...

Born in Copenhagen on January 28, 1950, I entered the path of music when taking up the piano, the recorder and dancing in my early childhood. My parents - who were both enthusiastic music and theatre lovers - introduced me - and my younger brother Finn - to the repertoire of classical music and dance, and I attended school at a time when the daily morning song assembly was still a natural and integrated part of the primary school time-table.

Under strong influence from the early 1960s' Danish, Swedish, British and American pop and rock'n'roll artists, then - in 1964 - I bought my first drum set and soon my brother, playing the electric guitar, and I formed our first band: Voces.

In 1967, however - while I was specializing in music in high school - I was invited to play the electric bass in the popular local Copenhagen beat group The Harlows - and then things really started happening. Wishing to compose and perform our own music instead of just copying the music of others, around New Year's time, 1968,  Peter Mellin (hammond organ, vocals), Glenn Fischer (drums, percussion) and I myself (bass, vocals) formed the new rock group Ache. Not long afterwards Finn, who had for a while been playing blues music with his own band McKenzie Set, joined us - and the setup was now complete, in the summer of - 1968!

Our musical inspirations were pretty many, spanning from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Shadows, The Kinks, The Searchers, The Byrds, The Small Faces, The Spencer Davies Group, John Mayall, Dr. John, Mannfred Man, The Cream, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Winwood's Traffic, The Pink Floyd, Keith Emerson's The Nice, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Fairport Convention, The Pentangle, Jethro Tull, Joe Cocker, Santana, John Hiseman's Colosseum, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Frank Zappa - to The Vanilla Fudge - classical European music, modern jazz, Indian sitar music and traditional Danish and English songs making a considerable impact, too.

Ache created the music for the world's very first genuine rock ballet "De Homine Urbano" ("About Urban Man") - choreographed by Royal solo dancer Peter Schaufuss. Peter Mellin and I composed the music which was then finally arranged by Ache. "De Homine Urbano" was staged at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen and in Moscow, at the Bolshoi Theatre, and in 1970 Philips released the music on the LP "De Homine Urbano" together with another "whole-side LP-track", namely "Little Things" which was staged as a Peter Schaufuss ballet, too.

In 1971 followed Ache's second LP, "Green Man", high-lighting the ballad "Shadow of a Gipsy" which made it to the charts prominently, especially in France. The two LP's were re-released as a double-LP in 1976 (Philips) and on double-CD in 2000 (Universal Music).

After this first Ache period (1968-71) I began to explore new instruments beside the electric bass, the piano and the drums, i.e.: Acoustic guitar, vibraphone, Indian tablas and percussion. However, already since 1968 I had been studying Chinese Culture and East Asian music at the University of Copenhagen, and I now decided to learn the Japanese bamboo flute shakuhachi and the extraordinary Zen Buddhist tradition of that instrument, commonly known as 'Fuke Shakuhachi'. 
After three years of intensive Japanology studies at the East Asian Institute, I finally made my way to Japan: Enrolling as a special research student in Japanese Arts & Aesthetics at Kyòto University (1977-78, Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellowship) I was also fortunate to be accepted as a Fuke Shakuhachi student at the Kyōto Zen temple Myōan-ji.
There, under the guidance of Ozawa Seizan, I was "initiated" into the secrets of the particularly ascetic, Buddhist shakuhachi tradition known as Myōan Shakuhachi.

Meanwhile, Finn had reformed Ache with new musicians, and after having returned from Japan in 1978 I soon re-joined Ache on the bass, vibraphone, percussion, lead vocals and as a composer.
Some of my contributions to the Ache repertoire were later - in 1981 - recorded and released on Finn's third solo album "Elements". Besides - before as well as after my first visit to Japan - I have been working as a tour manager and live sound engineer for both Ache, Nis P. Band and the guitar-keyboard duo Thorstein Thomsen & Per Wium.

Then, in 1980, Finn established the music publishing company Olafssongs and we decided that I be responsible for the transcribing, graphics production and marketing of Olafssongs' music books (pop, rock, jazz, folk music, chansons, educational materials etc.).

Since then I have produced well over 300 music book publications and music sheets containing more than 3.000 works - publicized by a wide range of Danish music publishers. The number of music titles transcribed from LPs and CDs alone amount to more than 1.300.
A considerable number of these publications date from the period 1991-2000 when I was employed by Warner/Chappell Music Denmark A/S in the capacity as "Print manager" and "Serious music manager".

By the way: In 1983 Olafssongs became a record company, too.
Our very first release was my solo Myōan shakuhachi album "Standing Waves - Zen Shakuhachi Meditations" (Olafssongs OLP/OMC 001).
"Standing Waves" was re-released on CD by Fønix Musik in 2001 (see Links).

Alongside with all my analytic research in contemporary music styles I have also undertaken thorough academic studies in the history and ideology of the Japanese shakuhachi. Obtaining B.A.s in Chinese Culture (1974) and Japanology (1981), I submitted my Master of Arts thesis on early 17th century komosō shakuhachi ideologi to the University of Copenhagen, in 1987,
In 2003, the thesis was published on CD-rom by Tai Hei Shakuhachi, California, together with a short introductory article. The article is also included in The International Shakuhachi Society Annals Vol. 2, published in 2006.

While doing research in Tokyo in 1986, by the way, I also studied the shakuhachi with the renowned Kinkō Shakuhachi master Yokoyama Katsuya.
Over the years I have written a number of essays and radio lectures on the subject of Far Eastern music, performed as a shakuhachi soloist, and presented many lectures at Scandinavian universities, museums, schools and public libraries on various aspects of East Asian art and culture - with a special emphasis on Japanese music and the Fuke Shakuhachi tradition.

Furthermore, I have contributed as a shakuhachi player on albums by Pia Raug and B. Joe, and - during the 2000's - on Anders Roland & Finn Olafsson's latest acoustic steel-string guitar albums "Tilbage til nutiden", "Back to the Present" & "Duo", double-bass player Henrik Olafsson's "Acoustic Lines" a.o.

In summer 2003, Ache was re-united after an almost 20 years' break - in purpose of recording a "support song" for the world-famous free-town "Christiania" in Copenhagen. Once again I brought out my beloved companion: That splendid, old Fender Precision Bass, to contribute with some heavy & groovy bass-lines.
Then, in early April 2004, at the time when ACHE's Christiania-song was released, I launched a new, historical website focusing exclusively on that "legendary" Danish rock band: ACHE (see Links).

In October 2007, singer/songwriter Tom Frederiksen's debut album "Synger/sangskriver" was released by Olafssongs. Here I play the electric bass.
Entering the Danish language music chart "Dansktoppen" in November, the album soon climbed up the list to become #1 for two weeks in succession.
The album has also been nominated for the Danish Music Awards - Folk 2008 prize in the category "Best Folk Album of the Year".

In February 2008, the first version of my new Danish language website www.shakuhachi.dk was publicized on the internet.

Selected recordings - 2004-2007:

On Finn Olafsson's 1st solo album "Acoustic Guitar" (CD re-release, 2004): tablas.
On Steen Toft Andersen's 2nd solo album "Travellers' Tales - Featuring the Ukulele" (2005): electric bass, shakuhachi, koto, tablas and percussion.
On Henrik Olafsson's 1st solo album "Acoustic Lines" (2005): shakuhachi, tablas and percussion.
On Kasper Søeborg's 4th solo album "GuitarSpheres" (2005): tablas.
On Tom Frederiksen's debut album "Synger/sangskriver" (2007): electric bass.

Selected shakuhachi performances/lectures - 2004-2009:

Danish Broadcasting Co./TV channel DR-2: Mik Schack's popular weekly program "Hjemmeservice" (Engl.: "Home Service") featuring exotic food making & music.
Koldinghus Museum (opening of Japanese art exhibition).
Persson's Palæ in Elsinore.
The Denmark-Japan Society (annual general assembly).
The Denmark-Japan Society (special shakuhachi lecture).
Sions Church (Copenhagen).
Two special "Wafū" events at Jan Hurtigkarl's gourmet restaurant in Ålsgårde.
The "Garden Living" exhibition at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød.
The Japanese Tea House in Herlev.
The Museum of International Ceramic Art (Danmarks Keramikmuseum - in Middelfart, Central Denmark).
The arts & music center "Pakhuset" in Vorret, Them - in Mid-Western Denmark.
Danish TV Channel 2: Live performance.
Danish Museum of Art & Design, Copenhagen.
The Arts & Culture Center Gammelgaard, Herlev.
Exhibition of glass art by Helle Klint, at restaurant Mielcke & Hurtigkarl, Frederiksberg.
Ikebana International, Copenhagen Chapter (annual general assembly).
Den Gule Villa (The Yellow Villa), Frederiksberg.
The Round Tower (Rundetaarn), Copenhagen - on shakuhachi & percussion with guitarist Finn Olafsson.




Photo: Jørgen Lund



Photo: Maria Olafsson

Memberships

The Denmark-Japan Society (Dansk-Japansk Selskab)
   Member of the board & webmaster
ESS - The European Shakuhachi Society
KODA (The Society of Composers in Denmark)
DJBFA/SAKO (The Danish Jazz, Rock & Folk Composers' Society)
DMF (The Danish Musicians' Union)

Copyright © 2003-2010 by Torsten Olafsson, Denmark.

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