Halberg Larsen

Halberg Larsen was one of the leading commercial bands in Denmark from 1981 - 1985, they were very populare and with songs that were a mix between pop & rock with influence from the american west coast became big hits in Denmark. The leading musicians in the band was Poul Halberg (guitars) & Mona Larsen (vocals). Poul Halberg moved to Copenhagen in 1967 were he became active on the musicscene, he started in 1975 the band "Grace" together with the keyboardplayer Mads Norregaard, and later on with him the band "Aorta" in 1977. In the beginning of 1997 Poul Halberg he made the band "Dagspressen" together with Jan Glaesel & Frans Bak, and played with this band from 1977-83. In 1978 he plays with "Mona Larsen Group" and the band "Beaver Service" from 1978-1980. Beside that he also plays a lot of TV & Theatre jobs. At that time Poul Halberg is very active and one of the most used guitar sessionplayers and in 1979 he plays with Swingpower, Skousen & Ingemann, Helge Damsbo, Per Carsten and is in the beginning active in the band Sneakers. In 1980 he teams up with Mona Larsen again. They played together in her group in 1978. Mona Larsen were at that time an establish singer in at the pop & rock scene in Denmark, and together with Poul Halberg they would try to write their own material and release an album with the songs. In 1981 they get a record-deal with new label Replay Records. The first album was recorded in Werner Studio in Copenhagen. Most of the material was written by Poul Halberg and he co-wrote also songs with musicians that he has played with earlier, so you could hear the touch of Kasper Winding, Mads Norregaard, Jan Glaesel on the album. It was released in 1981 and should be the beginning of a great career. In the studio the got help from the best musicians such as: Jørgen Kaufmann, Christian Dietl, Jan Sivertsen, Tamra Rosanes, Jacob Andersen, Lars Danielsson, Peter Biker, Bo Stief, Aske Bentzon, Jeppe Reipurth and others. In 1982 Halberg Larsen release their second album. This time the duo has become a band. When they recorded the first album they used almost the same studio musicians and it worked out very well, so they decided to make the duo to a band. The bandmembers was Jørgen Kaufmann on keyboards, Jette Schandorf on bass, Jan Sivertsen on drums. The success of the second album was big and in 1984 they came with their 3rd album called "Transit". This time the group was added by another member. Michael Elo joined the band just before the beginning of the studiosessions to the 3rd album. Michael Elo had a long career behind him as a singer & composer and had at that time released two soloalbums. In Halberg Larsen he became the second keyboardplayer and did backingvocals. The album "Transit" became the biggest success for Halberg Larsen. The song "Magi I Luften" is still today on all radiostations playlists. After the release of the album Halberg Larsen went on a big tour around in Denmark. After the tour the band went into the studio to record the 4th album. This album was the last from Halberg Larsen. Most of the members in the band were very busy playing with all kinds of artists and it was difficult to find the time to work 100% with the band. The album did sell well and the song "Kom Og Hold Mig" is today one of the classic "Halberg Larsen" songs. In 1985 Poul Halberg & Mona Larsen decides to stop the band and they split up. Still today Halberg Larsen is very populare and their album still sells. In 1991 the record-label released an "best-of" album and in 1998 the all the other albums were re-released. Poul Halberg were still active studiomusician in the period (1980-1985) were he had the Halberg Larsen group, and he plays with "Niels Skousen", released and album and plays with the band "Santa Cruz", plays with "Pete Dan Band", records with Mads Norregaard. He also produce albums for the bands "Blast" & "News". The time after Halberg Larsen has still been very busy for Poul Halberg & Mona Larsen. Poul Halberg has recorded with: Bo Stief, Hanne Boel, Moonjam, Bamse, FS Orlonn, Anne Dorte Michelsen, Souvenirs, Andrew Strong, Wikke/Rasmussen, Kaare Norge. Played live with: Sanne Salomonsen, Moonjam, Bo Stief, Lis Sørensen, Chasing Dreams, Cecilia Zwick Nash, Dream Machine, Sebastian, Mona Larsen and more. Produced album with: News, Moonjam, Kaya, Lars Muhl, Bee Pop & Lene Siel. He has written songs for: Lis Sørensen, Trine Rein, Lene Siel & different TV-shows/movies and many more. Been active in the bands and released album with: The Lejrbåls & Ray Dee Ohh. Ray Dee Ohh were on of the best selling commercial bands in Denmark. In 1994 he debuts as soloartist with his album "Freedom" and tours with his own band the same year. The album "Freedom" is a brilliant rockalbum and many people still talks about this albums, as one of the milestones in Halberg´s career. Today he has his own studio "Kilofon Studio", and is still one the most active guitarplayers in Denmark. You can read more about Poul Halberg at his own website. Mona Larsen has always been one of Europe's finest singers and after the break with Poul Halberg, she released her own material on different soloalbums, but today she is most knowed in the jazzscene in Europe and has worked with many musicians and groups including Palle Mikkelborg, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Thomas Clausen, Thad Jones, Clark Terry, the Danish Radio Big Band, the WDR (Cologne) Big Band and the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra. She has recorded many albums, including Ships In The Night (with pianist Jørgen Emborg) and more recently Freedom Jazz Dance (a collaboration with singer Norma Winstone). Currently she continues to work with Emborg and with her own quintet.