Iron Office -

Iron Office was a Danish jazz-rock band that made a 1976 album on Metronome, followed by the 1978 Sonet release Ambience.

Members: Allan Botschinsky (trumpet), Palle Mikkelborg (trumpet), Benny Rosenfeld (trumpet), Erik Tschentscher (trumpet), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), Ole Kock Hansen (electric piano), Nils Tuxen (guitar), Kurt Riedel (drums), Bent Clausen (congas, percussion), Gert Rostock Jensen (electric bass), Fred Nøddelund (trumpet, fluegelhorn), Jan zum Vohrde (alto saxophone, flute), Lennart Gruvstedt (drums, percussion)

Background

Iron Office started as a Danish studio group around trumpeters Allan Botschinsky and Benny Rosenfeld.

Botschinsky came from Copenhagen and a classical-music family. As a teenager, he entered the Royal Danish Conservatorium and joined the Ib Glindemann Big Band. In 1964, he commenced eighteen years with the Radioens Big Band. Rosenfeld worked in the same Copenhagen broadcast-and-studio circle as a DR Big Band trumpeter.

They drew on players from Danish radio jazz and Copenhagen studio work. Trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg joined Radiojazzgruppen in 1963 and led the unit from 1967 to 1972. Keyboardist Ole Kock Hansen played since 1968 in Danmarks Radios Big Band. Bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen worked from 1962 at Jazzhus Montmartre and played for two decades in Danmarks Radios Storband.

Iron Office

Iron Office released their self-titled debut album in 1976 on Metronome.

The album contains eight Allan Botschinsky compositions in brass-centered electric-jazz settings. He and Benny Rosenfeld lead a ten-piece lineup with drummer Kurt Riedel, percussionist Bent Clausen, guitarist Nils Tuxen, keyboardist Ole Kock Hansen, bassists Gert Rostock and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and trumpeters Erik Tschentscher, Palle Mikkelborg.

“Aguadilla” sways through Latin-marked brass-funk accents and compact ensemble replies. “Blue and Violet” softens the pace with mellow electric chords and rounded phrase endings. “Early Morning” grows from a mellow intro into a firmer dance-band pattern. “House of Brass” opens with a break, then leans into a darker mid-tempo vamp. “Cala Bassa” slides through a Latin-marked guitar figure and clipped rhythmic punctuation. The album favors short charts, firm cadences, and clean horn-line logic.

A1. “Aguadilla” (4:06)
A2. “Blue and Violet” (4:54)
A3. “Karate Boogie” (4:00)
A4. “My Song for You” (4:30)

B1. “Sky Surfing” (4:40)
B2. “Early Morning” (6:06)
B3. “House of Brass” (4:08)
B4. “Cala Bassa” (3:56)

Iron Office self-produced the album, which Metronome housed the LP in a single-pocket sleeve built around the blue-and-black Iron Office logo on a pale grey field.

Between albums, Palle Mikkelborg released his first album with Entrance.

Ambience

Iron Office released their second album, Ambience, in 1978 on Sonet.

The album continues the brass-centered electric-jazz format with eight pieces, including six Botschinsky compositions. Iron Office retained Botschinsky, Rosenfeld, Tschentscher, Tuxen, Hansen, Ørsted Pedersen, and Clausen from the debut. The group added flugelhornist Fred Nøddelund, saxophonist Jan zum Vohrde (alto saxophone, flute), trombonists Niels Neergaard and Axel Windfeld, and drummer Lennart Gruvstedt.

Ambience stays with compact electric brass charts, mid-tempo vamps, rounded chord beds, and clean cadence work. The program groups eight short pieces around ensemble figures and controlled solo space.

A1. “Further On” (3:39)
A2. “Strunck” (4:54) – Neergaard
A3. “Flowers in Bloom” (3:42)
A4. “Libra” (5:51) – Neergaard

B1. “Ambience” (5:38)
B2. “Smile” (4:14)
B3. “Niels” (4:27)
B4. “Fanfare” (4:22)

Sonet issued Ambience in a cover with the title and personnel text at upper left beside an abstract blue, orange, pink, and white image.

Discography: