Uffe Baadh

Frank Bode) (b. August 7, 1923 Aarhus, Denmark - d. November 22, 1980 Brisbane, California) was a Danish jazz musician who emigrated to the United States in 1947 to play drums in the big bands of Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, and Claude Thornhill, recording with Elvis Presley, Henry Mancini, and others.

He performed on December 26, 1943 in an evening of small-band swing at Stockholm Concert Hall on a set of borrowed drums as a member of a group of Danish jazz musicians, all refugees.

Journalist Bent Henius and Uffe were both assigned to the "sapper squad" upon arrival in Denmark, and although 90% of brigadiers were demobilized after a few weeks, they were sent to Jutland where they supervised, under the direction of British command, the dangerous disarming of millions of mines along the Western coast by surrendered German soldiers.

By July, 1945, Uffe Baadh joined Peter Rasmussen's band, playing each night at Skandia in Copenhagen and on tour to Sweden, where he met his lifelong friend, Swedish pianist Lars "Bob" Laine, and on to Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal.

Uffe Baadh emigrated to the United States, arriving July 16, 1947 in NYC, where jazz baron Timme Rosenkrantz arranged jam sessions at Club Bohemia every Friday.

Upon arrival, he took the advice of his music buddies to change his name to something English speakers could pronounce, so he picked the name Frank Bode out of a phone book in NYC.

He moved again with his family to work in nightclubs in Reno (1959) and Palm Springs (1960-80), playing his final gig on tour with the Tommy Dorsey Big Band on cruise ships in the Caribbean.