Troels Jensen

Troels Jensen was, in his own country's words, "all of Denmark's Mr. Blues" — the guitarist, pianist and singer who led Scandinavia's oldest blues band for over half a century and shared stages with some of the American blues tradition's own giants. Born in Copenhagen in 1946, he started out on cornet and keyboards in local school jazz and skiffle groups, making his stage debut at the Cap Horn venue in Nyhavn (Kilde: deltabluesband.com). In the mid-1960s he performed acoustic blues alongside Thomas Puggaard-Muller, including a run at Tivoli's Visevershus in 1966-67, before the pair formed an electric, Chicago-style blues outfit that debuted at Jazzhus Montmartre in 1967 — the beginning of what became Delta Blues Band, formally founded in 1968 with Jensen on vocals, guitar and keyboards alongside Soren Engel (bass, vocals) and Preben Feddersen (drums) (Kilde: rootszone.dk; da.wikipedia.org). The band released its self-titled debut in 1969, and quickly became one of the leading acts on the Danish blues-rock scene. Between 1979 and 1982 the band operated as Delta Cross Band alongside guitarist Billy Cross, releasing Rave On (1980), Up Front (1981) and Astro-Kid (1982), before Jensen later revived the Delta Blues Band name for the rest of his career (Kilde: da.wikipedia.org). He was never confined to one blues tradition — equally at home in acoustic Delta style and electric Chicago blues, with roots also in bluegrass, folk, jazz and gospel — and recorded or performed with Link Wray, Bo Diddley, Mickey Baker, Sunnyland Slim, Memphis Slim, Charlie Musselwhite, Eddie Kirkland and Kenny Brown over the course of his career (Kilde: DR Lyd; deltabluesband.com). He was named Danish Blues Name of the Year in 2002 and Blues Man of the Year in 2003, and won a Danish Music Awards Roots Album of the Year for Take Me Home, recorded with H.P. Lange (Kilde: rootszone.dk). He continued performing into his final years, including with singer Miriam Mandipira, and died on 7 July 2020 after a brief illness, "beloved and respected everywhere" in the words of the Danish blues community (Kilde: rootszone.dk).

Musical Influence

Jensen's stature rests on longevity and range rather than a single hit: leading Scandinavia's oldest blues band for over five decades, he became the connective figure through whom Denmark's blues scene met the American tradition directly — sharing stages and recordings with Link Wray, Bo Diddley, Sunnyland Slim, Memphis Slim and Charlie Musselwhite — and his Danish Music Award-winning collaboration Take Me Home with H.P. Lange helped shape the generation of Danish blues musicians who followed him (Kilde: rootszone.dk; DR Lyd).

Year	Title	Producer	Studio	Chart	Sales	Musicians	Notes
1969	Delta Blues Band	—	—	—	—	—	Self-titled debut.
1975	Fly United	—	—	—	—	—
1977	2200	—	—	—	—	—
1979	No Overdubs	—	—	—	—	—
1980	Rave On	—	—	—	—	Billy Cross (Guitar)	As Delta Cross Band, with Billy Cross.
1981	Up Front	—	—	—	—	—	As Delta Cross Band.
1982	Astro-Kid	—	—	—	—	—	As Delta Cross Band.
1990	I'm Your Boogie Woogie Man	—	—	—	—	—	Solo album.
2002	Take Me Home	—	—	—	—	H.P. Lange (Guitar)	With H.P. Lange; won Danish Music Awards Roots Album of the Year.
2004	Look This Way	—	—	—	—	—	As Troels Jensen & The Healers.
2010	Copenhagen Blues Sessions (vols. 1-5, 2002-2010)	—	—	—	—	—	Compilation series.

Year

Title

Producer

Studio

Label

Chart

Sales

Musicians

YouTube

Notes

1969

Delta Blues Band

—

Self-titled debut.

1975

Fly United

—

1977

2200

—

1979

No Overdubs

—

1980

Rave On

—

Billy Cross (Guitar)

As Delta Cross Band, with Billy Cross.

1981

Up Front

—

As Delta Cross Band.

1982

Astro-Kid

—

As Delta Cross Band.

1990

I'm Your Boogie Woogie Man

—

Solo album.

2002

Take Me Home

—

H.P. Lange (Guitar)

With H.P. Lange; won Danish Music Awards Roots Album of the Year.

2004

Look This Way

—

As Troels Jensen & The Healers.

2010

Copenhagen Blues Sessions (vols. 1-5, 2002-2010)

—

Compilation series.

Musical Influence

Formative experiences

Instruments & Equipment

Collaborators

Watch & Listen

Troels Jensen - Younders Wall - Copenhagen Blues Festival 2016

Miriam Mandipira & Troels Jensen - Take Me Home - Copenhagen Blues Festival 2016

Delta Blues Band feat. Troels Jensen - It Hurts Me Too - PH Cafeen, Copenhagen 2014

Watch & Listen

Discography

External links

Sources