Rowland Charles Wentworth Greenberg (28 August 1920 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

– 2 April 1994) was a Norwegian jazz musician (trumpet), seen by many as one of the foremost names in Norwegian

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 m ...

in the 1940s and 1950s.

Career

With a style inspired by the Englishman

Nat Gonella Nathaniel Charles Gonella (7 March 1908 – 6 August 1998) was an English jazz trumpeter, bandleader, vocalist, and mellophonist. He founded the big band The Georgians, during the British dance band era. Early life and career Gonella was bo ...

, he guested in 1938 in leading orchestras such as

Hot Dogs A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

and Funny Boys. Before his musical career, he was also one of the country's leading cyclists. As a member of

SK Rye Sportsklubben Rye is a sports club based in Oslo, Norway. It has sections for cycle sport, cycling, triathlon, swimming (sport), swimming, and track and field, athletics. SK Rye is responsible for arranging ''Nordmarka Rundt'', ''Øyeren Rundt'', ...

, he was Oslo champion in 1937 in the 1000 metres track cycling and 20 km road cycling. The following year, he won the team championships at the junior National Championships in 20 km road cycling. After trips to England (1938–39) with Vic Lewis and

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 ...

, he was a central part of

's swing-jazz milieu, where he led his own Rowland Greenberg Swing Band (1939–41) with

Arvid Gram Paulsen Arvid Gram Paulsen (born 4 January 1922 in Kristiania – 11 April 1963) was a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone and trumpet) and composer. Biography Gram Paulsen joined the orchestra at Oslo Swingklubb, and a new quartet with Lulle Kristoff ...

on sax, Lulle Kristoffersen on piano and Pete Brown on drums. He also led his Rowland Greenberg Rytmeorkester (1940–44), with Gordon Franklin on tenor sax,

on alto sax,

Robert Normann Robert Uno Normann (27 June 1916 – 20 May 1998) was a Norwegian guitarist and considered a jazz guitar pioneer. Career Normann was an autodidact performer on the accordion and tenor saxophone, and eventually on the guitar as his main instru ...

on guitar, Kjell Bjørnstad, Frank Hansen, Lyder Vengbo on trombone, Fred Lange-Nielsen on bass. A record release (1942) was banned by the German regime, and he was jailed for breaching the Rytmeklubbforbundet by viewing jazz films (1943). After his release from Grini, he was also active in Sweden (with Cecil Aagaard, Thore Erling and Malte Johnson) and England (with Jimmie Woode and Sam Samson). He also toured Norway with his own band (1948–50), including presenting

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

to the country. Greenberg took part in the "All-Star Trumpets session" (Paris Jazz Festival, 1949) with

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, Bill Coleman,

Jimmy McPartland James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married to pi ...

and Aime Barelli. Greenberg also played with

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

who joined Greenberg in his Sweden tour band (1950), along with Louis Armstrong (1952), and

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

, who gave Greenberg the first chart placing of his career. During the 1950s, he played extensively in the orchestras led by

Egil Monn-Iversen Egil Ragnar Monn-Iversen (14 April 1928 – 7 July 2017) was a Norwegian musician, one of the most influential modern composers in Norway. He has had many important roles in Norwegian music, film, opera, television, comedy and theater. For so ...

, Leiv Flisnes and Terje Kjær. He led his own orchestras including

Mikkel Flagstad Michael "Mikkel" Flagstad (23 April 1930 – 29 June 2005) was a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone), son of the cellist Ole Flagstad and nephew of the pianist Lasse Flagstad, the singer Karen-Marie Flagstad and opera singer Kirsten Flagstad. ...

on piano, Totti Bergh on saxophone, Knut Young on bass, Ivar Wefring on piano, Bjørn Krokfoss on drums (until 1981), and played with

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Early life and career A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...

(

Moldejazz Molde International Jazz Festival (MIJF) or Moldejazz (established 1961 in Molde) takes place annually in July, and is known as one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe. It was initiated by the local Storyville Jazz Club. Since 1964 it has re ...

, 1969) and

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson had a sophisticated, elegant style. His work was featured on the records of many ...

Awards

*The first Buddyprisen, 1956 *

Gammleng-prisen The Gammleng Award ( no, Gammleng-prisen) is a Norwegian culture award created by ''The Fund for Performing Artists'' in 1982, 25 years after the fund was established in 1957. The award's official name is the ''Rolf Gammleng award to performing art ...

veteran class, 1989

Discography

*1970: ''Rowland Greenberg and his Group, Swing is the thing'' (

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

/ Columbia Records) *1981: ''How about you'', with Kristian Bergheim saxophone, Eivin Sannes piano, Sture Janson bass and Per Nyhaug drums. *2001: ''Portrait of a Norwegian jazz artist'' (Gemini Records).

References

External links

* gil Monn-Iversen {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Rowland Norwegian jazz trumpeters Male trumpeters 20th-century Norwegian trumpeters 1920 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Oslo Gemini Records artists Grini concentration camp survivors Norwegian prisoners and detainees Norwegian people of British descent British people of Norwegian descent 20th-century Norwegian male musicians Male jazz musicians