Mads Vinding

Long regarded as one Europe’s finest jazz bassists, the Danish Vinding has played with such stars as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Gary Burton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bob Brookmeyer, among others. Vinding taught himself to play, and by the age of 16 was performing professionally. He served as the house bassist at the Montmartre night club in Copenhagen, where he accompanied many famous visiting American musicians. He began recording as a sideman in the late ’60s. In 1974, he recorded with bebop pianist Duke Jordan. That year he also led a date that produced the album Danish Design on the Sonet label. Vinding played in the Radioens Big Band from 1978 and with Ernie Wilkins’ Almost Big Band from 1980. During the ’80s, he worked and recorded with pianist Kenny Drew and flugelhornist Art Farmer, pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist Doug Raney, and many others. With drummer Billy Hart, Vinding was a member of a Hank Jones-led group called the Great Jazz Trio. The group released several albums’ worth of material in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Vinding was extremely active during the ’90s, recording with such musicians as saxophonist Jesper Thilo, pianist Martial Solal, and many others. By the late ’90s, he had begun recording as a leader more often. In 1997 he formed the Mads Vinding Trio with his fellow Dane drummer Alex Riel and the Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi. That configuration recorded The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies for Stunt Records. Pieranunzi was replaced on subsequent trio albums by Roger Kellaway and Carsten Dahl. Vinding has been unusually prolific. He’s played on upwards of 600 recordings (by his own count) and received many European jazz awards. In addition to his recording and performance activities, Vinding has also composed for film. ~ Chris Kelsey