Premiere: Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado

Singing the blues in Copenhagen

If we ever doubted that the blues is an international language, we have only to look to Danish group Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado for proof.

The blues has been in Risager’s blood since he heard something absolutely magical at age 10. His two music-teacher parents put classical records on the turntable, but another world opened up at the neighbor’s house. For years, Risager asleep to the sounds of Fats Domino and Muddy Waters, and now, in the Black Tornado’s home in Denmark as well as abroad, reviewers have drawn parallels to Ray Charles and Joe Cocker.

This well-produced video symbolizes everything that Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado stand for. As Thorbjørn explained, “The video and song is about forgiveness and the fact that everyone is invited to join the party. Some people think the blues is sad because it’s named after the color of the melancholy and has its roots in music played by the slaves in the United States. But you have to remember that this was music that people gathered around when they were trying to relax from their hardships. It emerged in festive situations and was meant to be danced to. I would like to help lift that tradition: To try to ease your problems through music, and then go home with a smile on your lips.”

Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado are Thorbjørn Risager (vocals, guitar), Emil Balsgaard (keys, synthesizer), Joachim Svensmark (guitar, synthesizer, vocals), Kasper Wagner (saxophones), Hans Nybo (tenor saxophone), Peter Kehl (trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, sousaphone), Søren Bøjgaard (bass, moog bass, synthesizer), Martin Seidelin (drums, percussion).