Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson

Shumph · #1 02-15-2002, 05:11 PM

I just got a recording of this guy with joe pass and let me say -- This guy is the s***.

This is some of the most amazing DB playing I have ever heard. The album is called chops and it is just guitar and DB.

Makes me wan't to drop EB and take up DB

Just had to post this because this disc is making me so happy. I have not stopped listening to it for 2 days.

S

Marcus Johnson · #2 02-17-2002, 12:10 PM

He recorded a pretty crazy version of "Scrapple" with Martial Solal awhile back. Really fast, NHOP played the head while Solal just dropped big atonal cluster bombs seemingly at random. Good fun.

**Adrian Cho** · #3 03-03-2002, 03:32 PM

Yeah that album is pretty impressive. For a real treat, get the DVD of NHOP playing with Kenny Drew and Alvin Queen. It's in the Brewhouse Jazz series and has great footage of NHOP's playing.

I hate his tone though. Whether that's him or the various pickups, etc. he likes to use, I'm not sure but I hate it nonetheless. That doesn't change the fact that his playing is great in so many ways. He's one of the few players I don't mind listening to just to listen to his lines and his intonation, etc. even though I don't like his sound.

Adrian

anonymous0726 · #4 03-03-2002, 03:57 PM

But what do you think of his tone?

Wil Davis · #5 03-03-2002, 10:48 PM

I used to think NHØP was pretty good (still do) - and then I heard Ron Carter...

- Wil

Marcus Johnson · #6 03-04-2002, 09:45 AM

I don't get it with his tone either. I've never seen him live; does he sound the same on a bandstand? As great as he is, it's hard for me to listen to more than a few tunes before I switch over to something with Charlie Haden on it.

**Adrian Cho** · #7 03-04-2002, 09:52 AM

I also wonder whether it is just him or the electrics. He was at one stage apparently using the Pierre Josephs String Charger which is a magnetic thing and someone else said that they saw him once and he had something like eight pickups on his bass!

Adrian

anonymous0726 · #8 03-04-2002, 11:29 AM

A quick point that isn't meant to start a war, but to say one guy's **** is worth more, or more meaningful than, some other guys **** is a pretty bizarre statement to make. In certain cases, like Pops or Bird or Scott LaFaro, you can say that their achievements meant a lot to the lineage of the craft, but beyond that every musician is a real person playing his heart out. Enough said.

On pickups, tone, and history. Keep everything in its context or it doesn't mean anything. An example: Pops didn't know a thing about melodic minor concepts and didn't have any concept on floatational rythm sections or how to play with one. Did this make him square? Of course not.

In the 70's the piezo pickup was a novelty. Suddenly you had a big, thick, sustained bottom on a rhythm section which had never happend, particularly live, before. This jump in bass technology also freed up the drummers to exercise more of his dynamic range. Changes that drastically changed the face of our music. We all understand the difficulties in amplifying our instrument and our struggle is nothing new. NHOP's tone on some of the 70's records is something that we are trying to shed, but remember that it was hip at one time. Just like that haircut that you had in high school. NHOP also spent a lot of time in the all acoustic world. There is recorded evidence of this as well and sounded great.

Why he records today with all of his electronics is a mystery to me, but my guess is that he has no interest in going through the agony that our 'Amps & Pickups' thread discusses. I still choose to fight, but NHOP has about 25 years on me...

Don Higdon · #9 03-04-2002, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by adrian_cho
someone else said that they saw him once and he had something like eight pickups on his bass!

Adrian

At one time, NHOP was endorsing the Wilson pickup, which had a piezo for every string. Installation was invasive, and the finished product looked clumsy. Maybe this is what your friend saw.

**Adrian Cho** · #10 03-04-2002, 12:10 PM

It might even have been eleven pickups and not eight but the Wilson was definitely one of them.

The DVD I have of him does not have him using the Wilson but he it appears he is using a well disguised String Charger.

Adrian

anonymous0726 · #11 03-04-2002, 12:17 PM

Quote:

And please remember my whole context, the statement was
"I would say.... That means to me and in my opinion.
All of which I'm sure you would grant me....

No argument here.

I find myself guilty of passing my opinion off as verifiable fact (January B-Day, I've been told) and, as any recovering substance abuser does (the substance in this case is BS), over-reacts...

I'm out at the CNote with a real nice band tonight at 11 for a set or two. Stop out if your schedule permits.

anonymous0726 · #12 03-04-2002, 05:00 PM

It's in my PROFILE. (snickering)

Jan 5, '65.

Bruce Lindfield · #13 03-05-2002, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ray Parker
But what do you think of his tone?

I like his tone - saw him at the Brecon Jazz Festival and bought a CD. I like his solo pieces and maybe it is more the fact of his intonation and accuracy that is more pleasing to my ear - I probably haven't grasped all the subtleties of DB tone. I just listen and hear nothing to dislike - I've got a few CDs with Charlie Haden and I don't hear a huge difference in tone - although I can appreciate a different approach to music. I have got CDs where the bass tone sounds a lot more "amplified" - Curtis Lundy springs to mind?

Peter McFerrin · #14 03-05-2002, 07:30 AM

It couldn't be as bad as that '78 Ron Carter/Herbie Hancock/Tony Williams album where it sounds like Carter is playing EUB...

When I saw Oscar Peterson last summer, NHOP's tone was fabulous and his articulation very clean. I guess he just doesn't record well.

DaveBeny · #15 04-17-2002, 04:46 AM

Is there such a thing as a "definitive" NHOP record? www.allmusic.com seems to suggest 1997's 'Those Who Were'. What can some experienced DB listeners suggest?

matbass82 · #16 05-30-2003, 11:41 AM

I have also this dvd and i never see the string charger they look more lire a realist or underwood. But I find the tone the dvd very great he have a lot of sustain and presence

David Abrams · #17 06-08-2003, 06:13 AM

To Shumph's original post here, there is a great transcription of NHOP's solo on the tune, "Have You Met Miss Jones," the opening track on the CD, CHOPS, in the book, Bass Standards: Note-for-Note Transcriptions of Jazz Bass Classic Performances, published by Hall Leonard (www.halleonard.com).

cts · #18 08-29-2003, 09:15 AM

the oscar peterson paris concert 1979. recorded at salle pleyel. oscar nhop and pass. on pablo recordings. incredible recording!
cts

pedro · #19 09-19-2003, 11:17 AM

'Chops' is a wonderful album I only recently discovered.

FWIW, I don't care for his tone either.

peteroberts · #20 10-20-2003, 12:58 PM

Quote:

in the book, Bass Standards: Note-for-Note Transcriptions of Jazz Bass Classic Performances, published by Hall Leonard (www.halleonard.com).

I cant find this book...either on his site or on Amazon...sounds like a great book to have. Anyone have a link?