The sixth iteration of the favored Sounds of Denmark collection involves Pizza Specific Jazz Membership, London and Turner Sims, Southampton from 19-21 March , with a model new line-up: trombonist and bandleader Lis Wessberg, the group Aberkejser with Karmen Rõivassepp, and the star pianists Carsten Dahl and Nikolaj Hess, who carry out collectively as a part of the Steinway 2-Piano Pageant. It’s an ingenious, strongly contrasting line-up that begs the query: “So what does Danish jazz sound like?” Characteristic by Phil Johnson.

It’s a query that could possibly be requested equally of any nationwide grouping of musicians, however there’s a specific relevance to Denmark as a result of, for non-Danes, our notion of the nation’s music, and maybe tradition usually, is difficult by the reductive ‘Scandi’ deal with. This has historically lumped Denmark in with the fairly distinct lineage of Sweden, Norway and Finland, conjuring up misty mountain, lake and forest metaphors, whereas cosmopolitan city centres in Holland and Germany – and even London and New York – is likely to be nearer to the mark.

Within the jazz model of widespread reminiscence, Denmark is notable for a number of issues. There’s Copenhagen’s Membership Montmartre (now Jazzhus Montmartre), as soon as a legendary dwelling from dwelling for U.S. expatriates like Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon, and a venue for quite a few nice stay recordings, many on the Danish Steeplechase label. There’s an extended checklist of worldwide stars reminiscent of John Tchicai, Alex Riel, Neils-Henning Orsted Pedersen, the Danish Radio Huge Band, Palle Mikkelborg and Marilyn Mazur. And, extra related to the current, there’s the progressive Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC), additionally in Copenhagen, famed for ex-teachers reminiscent of Django Bates, and ex-students just like the excellent Norwegian-Swedish drummer Anton Eger, who along with double bass maestro Jasper Hoiby (a Dane who truly studied at London’s Royal Academy of Music) and English pianist Ivo Neame, fashioned the much-missed worldwide trio Phronesis.

A full account of the historic background, from jazz towards the Nazis to hippies and free improv in Christiania and past, will be discovered by listening to the fascinating podcast collection ‘Harmful Sounds,’ out there on Spotify and Apple. The fifth episode ‘The Two Cellphone Calls’ is especially fascinating, with presenter Joan As Police Girl introducing the tales of when John Coltrane known as John Tchicai, and Miles Davis known as Palle Mikkelborg.

Danish jazz can be not all about Copenhagen. Like Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol in England, Denmark’s second metropolis, Aarhus, is dwelling to a powerful, self-determining and close-knit scene, which incorporates the very versatile (suppose multi-influence Snarky Pet or Jaga Jazzist vibe) Abekejser, who will play Pizza Specific, Soho, on Wednesday 20 March, in a collaboration with the Estonian singer, composer and arranger Karmen Rõivassepp. Resident in Denmark for the final six years, Rõivassepp gained the 2023 Danish Jazz Award for Jazz Composer of the Yr.

Requested in regards to the notion of any nationwide jazz model or traits, Abekejser’s Jon Dossing Bendixen factors to the shut proximity of musicians within the Danish and Aarhus scenes. “Quite a lot of new Danish jazz is fashioned in teams or bands somewhat than soloists,” he says. “Possibly it’s attributable to Denmark being such a small nation, and everybody contained in the jazz scene realizing one another. We don’t have breathtaking nature like Norway with their mountains and Sweden with their large forests, so we’ve to get collectively and discover inspiration from one another.” For Aberkejser’s efficiency at Pizza Specific, they are going to be joined by British horn gamers Emma Rawicz, Damon Oliver and Freddie Gavita.

For Lis Wessberg – a RMC graduate who performs trombone with a breathy flutter to her sound that remembers the saxophone model of Ben Webster – it’s the number of influences within the Danish jazz scene that’s most distinctive. “After I attended the conservatory within the late 80s and early 90s many people younger musicians had been influenced by the American jazz custom,” she says. “It additionally made sense traditionally since Copenhagen was dwelling to nice jazz legends reminiscent of Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon within the 60s, and this left an enormous imprint for years to come back. Immediately, I expertise that Danish jazz is characterised by lots of curiosity throughout genres and cultures. The music is extra liberated and the boundaries of what jazz is are very open, with the will to be impressed by many various musical instructions.”

On what can be her first go to to the UK as a bandleader, Wessberg – who will play at each Pizza Specific in London and Turner Sims in Southampton – can be presenting music from her final album, the acclaimed Yellow Map, along with a preview from her forthcoming launch, Twain Strolling. There will even be a visitor look by Karmen Rõivassepp.

The 2-piano duo of Carsten Dahl and Nikolaj Hess, which closes Sounds of Denmark at London’s Pizza Specific on Thursday 21 March (concurrently launching the Steinway collection), appears like an actual coup. They’ve performed collectively since they had been youngsters within the Jutland metropolis of Vejle (though Hess started as a drummer), and have lengthy mentioned a piano duo efficiency. Dahl, who can be a visible artist, is certainly one of Denmark’s most acclaimed musicians, profitable quite a few Danish Grammys along with the world-famous Jazzpar Prize and Django D’Or, whereas Hess – who additionally leads an occasional Hammond organ trio at Copenhagen’s Jazzhus – is a someday New York Metropolis resident who has labored with Ambrose Akinmusire and Christian McBride. Taking part in collectively, sparks ought to fly.

Lastly, one other secret of Danish Jazz may also be the welcome stage of state subsidy it continues to obtain by means of initiatives reminiscent of Sounds of Denmark, a collaboration between JazzDanmark, PizzaExpress Jazz Membership, Turner Sims Southampton and Sue Edwards Administration, with help from the Royal Danish Embassy in London.

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19 March: Lis Wessberg ‘Yellow Map’ @ Pizza Specific Jazz Membership, Soho
20 March: Lis Wessberg ‘Yellow Map’ @ Turner Sims, Southampton
20 March: Karmen Rõivassepp and Abekejser @ Pizza Specific Jazz Membership, Soho
21 March: Carsten Dahl + Nikolaj Hess @ Pizza Specific Jazz Membership, Soho