Born in Denmark , Hasse Poulsen started off his music at the age of 9 by playing the violin. At the age of 13 he took up the guitar and studied with singer-songwriter Tom Bailey as well as with flamenco and latin guitarist Christian Sievert. In high school he studied jazz guitar with Karsten Houmark and played in the school jazz band led by the Ramus Bennike, a very accomplished guitarist highly influenced by Joe Pass.
After high school and a year working first in a kindergarten, later as a carpenters apprentice, he studied at Berklee College in Boston and returned to the new "Conservatory of Rhythmic Improvisational Music" in Copenhagen, where teachers such as NHØP, Horace Parlan, Ed Thigpen, Thomas Clausen, Alex Riel, Emmanuel Rahim, Atilla Engin and many more shared their experiences.
Trying to find an attachment to more local music, Poulsen studied composition for 2 years with Bent Sørensen, which introduced the modern art idea of creating your own language. From this period came the idea that the language of contemporary music should become an active music - not just a composed and theoretical music, but a scope of improvisational musical languages. This led naturally to a period of wholehearted work with improvisation and with improvising musicians such as Lotte Anker, Peter Friis Nielsen, Mark Sanders, John Butcher, Phil Minton and Joëlle Léandre, Bertrand Denzler and later on Luc Ex, Sidsel Endresen and many others from this stylistic stream.
In 1991 The group Sound of Choice was founded by Poulsen, and drummer Lars Juul. This group became the main vehicle for Poulsen’s musical experimentations for more than ten years: Compositions of all sorts from atonal jazz forms to tonal and folkloristic tunes, to graphic scores, to concepts to electronics, free improvisation, to performances...Sound of Choice played many concerts, mainly around Scandinavia. In 2005 the CD Rugby in Japan presented Sound of Choice as a contemporary jazz trio.
Another central group was Anker Friis Poulsen with saxophonist Lotte Anker and bass guitarist Peter Friis. This was a completely improvised trio that in many occasions played with invited guests such as Peter Brötzmann and Terje Isungset, Arve Henriksen and many others.
In 1990 Poulsen in cooperation with 4 friends opened and ran the AV-ART gallery, which featured exhibitions, concerts, and poetry readings. The gallery lasted for five years and organised several festivals for improvised music and experimental jazz. Av-Art later became a musicans collective and a record label.
In 1997 Hasse Poulsen moved to Paris and formed the trio 49° Nord and improvising trio with Christophe Marguet and Bertrand Denzler.
In 2002 Louis Sclavis invited Poulsen into his new quartet Napolis Walls with Vincent Courtois and Médéric Collignon, a quartet that in many ways has been of immense importance to Poulsen.
The same year the trio Das Kapital played their first concert. Slowly but surely the main group for Poulsen became the this trio with it’s three very active and determined members.
Das Kapital first played completely improvised music.
Since 2009 Das Kapital has toured in Austria, Germany, France. Denmark, Finland, White Russia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Kirgistan, Mexico, El Salvador, Lithuania, Serbia, Bosnia, Hungary, Rumania, Honduras, Morocco, Estonia, Norway, Holland, Belgium.....
Special projects such as Das Kapital Cinema and Wonderland have been very active and havve resulted in the DVD Wonderland. And in special projects for cities and festivals. Notably the closing of the Berlin Jazz Festival in 2012 with ”Wanted Hanns Eisler”.
Other projects such as ”Hymn to Democracy” created at Les detours de Babel in Grenoble in 2012
Eisler Explosion where tunes by Hanns Eisler were arranged by Tim Garland, Stéphane Leach, Eric Desimpelaere for Das Kapital and Vooruit Harmonie Orkest to mark the 100 anniversary of The Vooruit in september 2013.
The expériences of Napolis Walls became decisive in Poulsen’s need to return to a more jazz-based style mixing compositions and improvisations. This is clear on the three last releases of Sound of Choice: Invisible Correspondance, Rugby in Japan and Hippies with Money as well on the Das Kapital CD’s with Das Kapital, not to mention the projects “L'art abstrait n’a pas dit son dernier mot”, “Progressive Patriots“, "We are All Americans", "Sighfire"...
The group SPEEQ from 2005 (Luc, Ex, Mark Sanders, Sidsel Endresen replaced by Phil Minton) needs to be mentionend.
In 2014 Poulsen released the singer-songwriter CD THE MAN THEY CALL ASS sings UNTIL EVERYTHING IS SOLD. This has marked a radical change in focus where songwriting and singing is taking a larger place. The songs of TMTC Ass are performed in trio with Henrik Simonsen on bass and Tim Lutte on drums.
The singer-song side of Hasse is also featured in the duo FREE FOLKS with Fabien Duscombs where songs re mixed with free improvising. Tours in the south of France and in Russia in 2017.
In 2019 the singer-songwriter side became more obvious with the Release of NOT MARRIED ANYMORE and TOM'S WILD YEARS (around songs by Tom Waits) premiered at the Europa Festival in Le Mans.
The Langston Project 2015 with Debbie Cameron Luc Ex, and Mark Sanders is a song cycle composed to the poems of Langston Hughes.
BUSKING with Hélène Labarriére, Das Kapital's album VIVE LA FRANCE, and the duo DREAM A WORLD feature instrumental versions of popular songs.
During the Lockdown in 2020 Poulsen recorded a CD of newly written music and improvisations with Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon.
The trio Kaleidoscope featuring Bruno Chevillon and Fabien Duscombs - was premiered in november 2021 at the Jazzdor Festival in Strasbourg.
Since april 12th 2020 Hasse has written a new composition every day. Many of these compositions and songs become part of the backbone of the reperoires in the groups he plays with.
Since 2020 Hasse has co-composed melodies and composition with Claudia Solal for her poems. These songs were premiered at le Triton in Les Lilas (F) february 1st 2024 with the group Cérémonie de Thé featuring Solal, Poulsen, Simon Drappier, and Stéphane Payen.
Since 2023 Hasse has joined the trio of great Danish free improvisors JUNGLE MONEY featuring Jan Kaspersen, Peter Friis Nielsen, and Claus Bøje.
With Morten Nitschky he is preparing a CD with arrangements of Morten's songs.
BMC recorded, produced, and released the CD UNKNOWN WINTER with Poulsen Lundin Dabrowski in 23-24. In january '25 BMC will record SORRY, YOU'RE DEAD, a musical written by Poulsen and British author Stephen Clarke in a small-group jazz-version featuring Clotilde Rullaud : voice & flute; Hasse Poulsen: voice & guitar; Médéric Collignon: voice, cornet &; Simon Drapier: arpeggione, double bass; Emmanuel Borghi: piano, keyboards; Stephen Clarke: narrator
Hasse Poulsen co-founded the Galerie AV-ART in 1990 and the label AV-ART records in 1995, the label Quark en 2005 and the label Das Kapital Records en 2011.
He has received several artistic grants, notably the Danish National three-year grant of art in 2002-2004.
Artist in residence in the Champagne Region in 2008-2010 and at Banlieues Bleues /La Dynamo in 2009-2010.
