Oersted Pedersen, Danish bassist

COPENHAGEN -- Danish bass player Niels-Henning Oersted Pedersen, who performed with legends such as Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, and Dizzy Gillespie, died Tuesday in Copenhagen at age 58. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Mr. Oersted Pedersen, widely known by his initials NHOP, launched a career in 1962 when, at age 16, he played in Copenhagen's famed Montmartre jazz club, where American greats including Count Basie, Gordon, and pianist Bud Powell performed.

His international breakthrough came in 1973, when he joined the Oscar Peterson trio produced by Norman Granz. Mr. Oersted Pedersen appeared on hundreds of records and played with Toots Thielemans, Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, and Martial Solal among others.

Claus Vittus, a jazz critic with Denmark's public radio, deemed Mr. Oersted Pedersen one of the world's greatest jazz bassists.

From 1964 to 1982, he was a member of Danish Radio's Big Band.