Svend Asmussen

(born February 28, 1916, Copenhagen, Denmark - died February 7, 2017, Dronningmølle, Denmark).

Danish jazz violinist whose career spanned 8 decades before retiring in 2010. Father of guitarist Claus Asmussen.

Asmussen made his professional debut in 1933 and his first recording as a leader in 1935. From 1937, he became a full-time musician. From the early 1940s he was also active as an actor in films and on stage, mainly in comedies. In 1945, he formed a sextet and toured Europe as a jazz artist, while continuing to make music for films, radio and TV - and from the 1950s toured and recorded with The Swe-Danes. When American jazz artists moved to Copenhagen he formed groups with Ed Thigpen and Kenny Drew.