Bjarne Bent Rønne Pedersen, known as Bjarne Liller (25 September 1935 – 6 September 1993), was a Danish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musician and singer-songwriter.

Biography

Liller was born on

Vesterbro, Copenhagen Vesterbro is one of the 15 administrative, statistical, and city tax districts (''bydele'') comprising the municipality of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers an area of 3.76 km², and has a population of 51,466 and a population density of 13, ...

. He got his breakthrough as a banjo player and singer in

Papa Bue Arne "Papa" Bue Jensen (8 May 1930 – 2 November 2011), known as Papa Bue, was a Danish trombonist and bandleader, chiefly associated with the Dixieland jazz revival style of which he was considered an important proponent. He founded and led t ...

's Viking Jazz Band."DØDSFALD: Bjarne Liller Pedersen, musiker", ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

'', 8 September 1993. He played with the Viking Jazz Band from 1956–70, and again from 1976-79, and made around 30 records with the band. He was also a successful solo artist, mainly in the

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

genre. He worked with

John Mogensen John Mogensen (May 5, 1928 – April 10, 1977) was a Danish singer, songwriter and pianist. Mogensen was a member of the vocal quartet Four Jacks from 1956-1963. While still a member of the group, he gained popularity as a songwriter a ...

,"NEKROLOGER: Sangeren og jazz-musikeren Bjarne »Liller « Pedersen, 57", ''

Weekendavisen ''Weekendavisen'' (meaning ''The Weekend Newspaper'' in English) is a Danish weekly broadsheet newspaper published on Fridays in Denmark. Its circulation (as of 2007) is approximately 60,000 copies, about ten per cent of which cover subscription ...

'', 10 September 1993. and got a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

for selling 100,000 copies of his solo pop hit "''Billet mrk./Ensom dame 40 år''".Bjarne Liller profile
gravsted.dk; accessed 19 November 2017. He finished second at the 1979

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) since 1957, which determines the for the Eurovision Song Contest. The fes ...

, singing the duet "''Alt er skønt''" with

Grethe Ingmann Grethe Ingmann (born Clemmensen; 17 June 1938 – 18 August 1990) was a Danish singer. She started her career at 17, when she temporarily performed as a singer of the Malihini Hawaiians pop quartet. Soon after she sang with the Danish guitarist ...

. Liller received a silver record for 25,000 copies sold of each of his two albums "''Man kan ikke gøre for, at man har charme''" (1975) and "''Livet er skønt''" (1976). He appeared in three Danish films; as a singer in "Thorvald og Linda" (1982), and in minor roles in

Erik Clausen Erik Clausen (born 7 March 1942) is a Danish actor, film director and screenwriter. He has directed fourteen films since 1981. His 2007 film ''Temporary Release'' was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival The 29th Mosco ...

's films "Den store badedag" (1991) and "De frigjorte" (1993). Liller credited

Kim Larsen Kim Mellius Flyvholm Larsen (23 October 1945 – 30 September 2018) was a Danish rock and pop musician. He was a major selling Scandinavian act with over 5 million albums sold. Career Kim Larsen was born in Copenhagen. Inspired by The Bea ...

and Erik Clausen for re-igniting his passion for music during the last years of his life. He was active until his death in September 1993. A sold-out benefit concert was held by his former jazz colleagues at the

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klam ...

later that month.Anders-Bo Larsen, "FULDT HUS TIL LILLERS MINDEKONCERT", '' B.T.'', 17 September 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liller, Bjarne 1935 births 1993 deaths Danish jazz singers 20th-century Danish male singers Danish male singer-songwriters Musicians from Copenhagen Place of death missing Male jazz musicians