Many capital cities all over the world have got a special music venue that represents the sonic core and history of said cities.
While London has The 100 Club, Amsterdam got the Paradiso or Berlin has the Quasimodo, as some of their most iconic, historical venues, the Danish capital city of Copenhagen has got the Hotel Cecil, a venue that doesn't only serve Art in general, being a notorious Jazzhouse and Playhouse, but it used to be also a lecture hall and an administrative hub for the women’s emancipation movement in Denmark, when the Hotel Cecil was built in 1936.
It's in the very same aforementioned illustrious venue that one of the most celebrated Blues, Soul, R&B and Rock collectives worldwide, Thorbjørn Risager And The Black Tornado, have decided to record their new live album, simply called Live At Hotel Cecil.
What makes absolute sense, first and foremost, about recording in Copenhagen and at the Hotel Cecil specifically for the Danish band, it's the fact that it represents a triple whammy for Risager & Co., because the Hotel Cecil is one of their most favourite venues (the collective has played numerous times there), because Copenaghen is where they come from and because the live album itself it's a sort of a completion of a musical circle, where at the end of it, an artist or a band get back to their personal and sonic roots.
Their homecoming live album was recorded towards the end of 2025, almost at the end of the Tour in support of their latest studio album called House Of Sticks.
For whoever has known for a long time Thorbjørn Risager And The Black Tornado, said fans will know very well what they could expect from a portentous octet like them, because live is where they really thrive.
Yes, of course their studio albums are excellent too, undoubtedly, but true music lovers will be unable to fully appreciate the power of this collective until they have seen Thorbjørn Risager And The Black Tornado performing live. But, at least, in the meantime, they can get an excellent taste of what this extraordinary band sounds like through their new live album.
The Danish collective's current line-up, which has been more or less the same for the last decade or so, it's formed by the band's frontman and bandleader Thorbjørn Risager (Vocals, Electric Guitar), Emil Balsgaard (Organ, Keys), Joachim Svensmark (Electric Guitar), Kasper Wagner (Baritone Sax), Hans Nybo (Tenor Sax), Peter W Kehl (Trumpet), Søren Bøjgaard (Bass) and Martin Seidelin (Drums, Percussion) and when they play on stage, they truly are one of the most organic and exciting bands you can ever ask for.
The live set at the Hotel Cecil digs, naturally, deeply into their latest studio album, with several tracks included in the setlist, plus some of the best songs from Risager & Co's rich catalogue.
The sound of this fabulous collective has a great peculiarity, which is that it cannot be pigeonholed in any way; they can switch from Soul to Blues or from R&B to Boogie or Rock'N'Roll with what it may come across as effortless simplicity, but that in reality, it requires great individual musicianship and almost metronomic interplay within the band.
There are so many highlights to extract from the opulent 17 tracks included in the Live At Hotel Cecil album and it is such a hard choice to select a few, off this great live performance.
At the very epicentre of the collective's songs, there is, of course, the exceptional vocal delivery guaranteed by the bandleader and singer-songwriter Thorbjørn Risager; the power and intensity that the Danish artist exudes on each song, part of this live album, is incredibly warm, spine-tingling at times and breathtaking. Just try and listen to tracks like Long Time Ago, I Used To Love You, Said I Was Hurt, Long Forgotten Track and Sin City, among others, to admire and fully appreciate the bravura displayed once again by this exceptional singer.
Live At Hotel Cecil is also a deeply rooted journey in the enormous musicianship of each individual band member of The Black Tornado collective, where some impressive guitar solos from Joachim Svensmark (Already Gone, House Of Sticks, Long Forgotten Track, Hold My Lover Tight in particular), a remarkably solid work made by the rest of the Rhythm Section made by Søren Bøjgaard and Martin Seidelin (both excellent especially on tracks like Maybe It's Alright, Inner Light and Hold My Lover Tight, among our website's many favourites), plus the tremendous job made by the whole Horn Section and Emil Balsgaard on piano and keys, especially on songs like Insomniac Boogie, Sin City, Over The Hill, Train and Maybe It's Alright, reinstate once again, if ever such validation was needed, Thorbjørn Risager And The Black Tornado among the most skilled and talented in the whole of Europe, just as they have deservely been recognised in the last decade-plus by their many fans and the music press.
A hugely entertaining and superbly sang and played live album from one of the most inspired and eclectic collectives in the music business, to play loud and to cherish and enjoy from start to end.
Live At Hotel Cecil is out now and it is available to be purchased via Mascot Label Group or via Thorbjørn Risager And The Black Tornado Official Website
