Marco Mezquida | Jesper Bodilsen | Martin Maretti Andersen - Pieris (STUNT RECORDS 2018)

Bassist Jesper Bodilsen has a preeminent gift for choosing musical partners. For example, it was Jesper who released some of STUNT Records’ bestselling recordings to date: the two trio albums MI RITORNI IN MENTE (2003) and GLEDA (2005), where he plays with the extraordinary Italian pianist Stefano Bollani and drummer Morten Lund - a collaboration that continues with concerts around the world and releases on ECM. Now, Jesper Bodilsen has once again put together a trio in an international format, together with the 30-year-old Catalan Marco Mezquida, originally from Minorca - Spain’s new star pianist - who captivates everyone with his incredible touch and musical dexterity. On drums, the trio is completed by Martin Andersen, who for a number of years has been among Denmark’s greatest drummers, and is perhaps best known for his work in Pierre Dørge’s New Jungle Orchestra. Andersen and Bodilsen also originate from the same town in Denmark (Haslev), where they played together before their careers took off.

PIERIS is another prime-time trio with a super-pianist and interaction at an almost telepathic level, as they create a world-class musical storm that is equally passionate, intense, and sophisticated. Marco Mezquida is a musician cut from different cloth than Bollani. Both hail from the south, but despite Mezquida’s incredible virtuosity and great musicality, his musical language is neither flamboyant nor based on showing off technical ability. He is poetic, delicate and lyrical, with a visionary approach to the music that fits perfectly with both Bodilsen’s wide and beautiful bass sound and Martin Andersen’s vigilant and sensational drumming. The trio had their “home” premiere during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 2017, and then went straight to the studio and recorded their first album, consisting mainly of original compositions by Bodilsen and Mezquida, with a few others mixed in.

1 Hidden Beauty  05:56

2 Nostalgias  05:39

3 Florencia  08:35

4 Joy  05:20

5 Piensa en mi  05:30

6 A Speciel One  05:55

7 Min sommerfugl  07:04

8 Peace  04:12

9 Coral de la Flor d' estiu  02:22

Marco Mezquida, piano

Jesper Bodilsen, double bass

Martin Maretti Andersen, drums

Kira Skov - The Echo of You (STUNT RECORDS April 6, 2018)

In February 2017, Kira Skov suffered the ultimate loss when Nicolai Munch-Hansen - her husband and father to their son, Morgan, and her best friend and closest musical companion for the last 13 years - tragi- cally and unexpectedly lost his life. He was artist who knew no fear, and as an integral part of a thriving musical community, Nicolai was revered by contemporaries, listeners, and admirers alike, as one of the Danish musical environment’s influential leaders. A spirit brave enough to recog- nize his own talents, whilst ambitious and humble enough to seek out those others who could strengthen him even more. These qualities can be neither taught nor learned, and yet he gravitated toward and surrounded himself with people who shared similar musical values and understan- dings all over the world.

As a creative outlet and method of working through her grief, Kira soon began write songs for her husband shortly after his passing. Songs about life, sudden death, and the shock that follows in such aftermath. This became a way of giving her sorrow a form and also created an aura of continuity, carried by Kira and Nicolai’s tender and strong common musi- cal language. The carefully selected circle of musicians on the album, all of whom seem to share the same musical DNA as Nicolai Munch- Hansen, have managed to create a sense of continuation as supposed to an end. Bassist Anders “AC” Christensen, who, with his departed spiritual brother’s insight, has been able to enter such an extremely tender situation and be the musical voice that speaks on Nicolai’s behalf, whilst being true to himself, as the music deserves.

Kira Skov has written a number of personal songs covering a wide gam- bit, and has also found comfort and inspiration in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, as well as poets and writers including Rainer Maria Rilke, Walt Whitman, Marilynne Robinson and Naja Marie Aidt.

The songs are based on Kira’s personal loss, but at the same time they capture a universal theme that touches all of us. With “The Echo Of You, she distinguishes herself again as being one of our foremost singers and songwriters who seem to top herself with each release, in a musical and creative creature that seems without limits.

The musical universe unfolds in an intimate space, with sparse instru- mentation: Electric and acoustic guitars, violin, cello, double bass, and percussion. They are songs centered around storytelling, with references to a songwritiong tradition that refers to, among others, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Townes Van Zandt.

Kenneth Knudsen / Oliver Hoiness - November Tango (STUNT RECORDS 2018)

Few Danish musicians are mentioned with greater

respect than keyboard player and composer Kenneth

Knudsen. His role as a developer of his own sounds,

timbres, and musical sequences is quite unique – and

widely appreciated internationally.

Kenneth Knudsen started as a jazz pianist in the 60s,

switched to the electrical keyboards and participated in

iconic groups like Secret Oyster and Entrance in the 70s,

led the animated rock band Anima and collaborated with

Sebastian, Palle Mikkelborg, and Niels-Henning Ørsted

Pedersen in the 80s, and formed the Bombay Hotel

with Mikkel Nordsø and Ole Theill in the 90s. Kenneth

Knudsen has recently been hailed as the most important

Danish keyboard player throughout the ages.

Kenneth Knudsen has not performed live for many years.

He has instead concentrated on creating new music in his

home studio, in collaborations with carefully selected

musicians in recent years behind a series of releases that

cannot be compared to anything else on the Danish scene

- or, for that matter, internationally.

Music created exclusively on digital instruments carries the

risk of becoming static and inorganic. Instead of clinically

created electronic rhythmic events and layers, Knudsen creates

forever changing musical spaces. Here, where nothing

sounds like something you’ve heard before and yet still

challenges the listener - but also engages, amazes and takes

you for a wild, unanticipated ride.

In NOVEMBER TANGO, we are also gifted with the presence

of guitarist Oliver Hoiness, whose bold and challenging

instrumental voice is a perfect contrast to Knudsen’s

original, ever-changing, and often beauty-seeking sounds

and progress.

It is also a meeting between generations. Where Kenneth

in the 80’s and 90’s was the major innovator of the use of

various keyboards, the nephew Oliver Hoiness has a similar

role today in the audio possibilities of the electric guitar (for

which he also received a Steppeulv Prize for in 2016).

Be open, take the music and let the two musical explorers

paint breathtaking soundscapes for your inner eye. Kenneth

Knudsens and Oliver Hoiness’s outstanding musical creativity

revives the soul.

Hanne Boel - Unplugged 2017 (STUNT RECORDS 2018)

The Danish singer Hanne Boel first made her breakthrough in the late 1980s, and has since released no fewer than 20 recordings, in addition to winning a slew of prizes and awards. Now, in 2017, she has just stepped down from her positions at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, where she served as Professor and Prorector since 2009. Hanne is once again making waves, as the singer known for her distinctive combination of soul and jazz elaborates:

“I’ve just fallen in love, or perhaps rekindled my love. I’m rejuvenated in doing what I really love, namely singing together with great musicians for an audience that wants a good experience and maybe a little bit to think about.”

In this new live release, Hanne Boel shines in a rare musical setup with her regular acoustic trio - guitarists Jens Runge and Jacob Funch - supplemented here by Anders Bach on keyboard, Jacob Andersen on percussion, and the string quartet LiveStrings.

The material was recorded during concerts at Musikkens Hus in Ålborg and Koncertsalen in Copenhagen, on the 11th and 12th of February 2017, respectively. It has long been a dream of Hanne’s to give her audience this listening opportunity, which features completely new versions of material from her extensive back catalogue, including reinventions of “Don’t Know Much About Love,” “Black Wolf,” “Light in Your Heart,” and “Starting All Over Again.” From the light and airy acoustic trio setup, the music unfolds to a larger, more saturated concert experience, the well-known repertoire reborn in delectable acoustic versions that are given time and space to evolve patiently. Less “pop radio” than in past releases, this is music for the discerning and affectionate ear.

It’s exciting to hear what Hanne Boel has in store for listeners the next time she goes into the recording studio (said to be Spring 2018). In the meantime, we can enjoy this exceptionally beautiful live recording as we wait in eager anticipation.

Hanne Boel (vocal)

Jacob Funck (acoustic guitar)

Jens Runge (acoustic guitar)

Anders Back (keyboards)

Jacob Andersen (percussion og LiveStrings)

Bettina Marie Ezaki (violin)

Benedikte Damgaard (violin)

Andreas Bernitt (bratch)

Live Johansson (cello

Dicte + Hempler - Uppers (STUNT RECORDS 2018)

It’s a road-movie of a record that Danish singers and songwriters DICTE + HEMPLER have put on the street. The title track calls for a tightening of the seat belt which, in combination with the music’s palpable rock’n’roll elements, offers a promising introduction on a journey with two soloists who have created an album that hypnotizes.

Since 2010, DICTE + HEMPLER have sold out Danish venues for an annual concert series called “The Dark & Stormy Sessions,” where they are traditionally backed by guitarist Mika Vandborg. In 2012, it crystalized into a live release from a concert in Copenhagen, but “Uppers” is their first true studio album, and a tale of two souls who found common ground in taste and authenticity. It lulls-in a mood of smoke and reckless abandon, with road signs pointing to Nashville and Memphis passing by, as we move, transported by Vandborg’s yearning guitars, on an album of songs with sterling stories that reverberate in a musical space where sparks fly.

And oh, how they fly. But also with some classic, blue song-writing that is given the opportunity to stand strong on its own, intimately and sensitively presented. Both voices offer the full spectrum, from whispers to the grandiose, and both are one with the songs and shared expressive form, which feels like vibration in bittersweet blues tones that tease and please and will not leave one alone.

This allows us into Dicte’s vocal delivery, that now, more than ever, has the vibrato of a saxophone. UPPERS was recorded in Kæv Studio, with Kæv Gliemann behind the console, and DICTE + HEMPLER are in agreement that with the new album, they have become one. Together, they have created a common language that has a dazzling timelessness. A form of expression that is loving and alluring, carried by a collection of carefully selected songs, including those from Claus Hempler’s great inventory of unpublished, captivating music. Music that bursts with stories that are the be all end all for them both.

Claus Hempler is a rare gem. Often labeled a “crooner” since having delivered the elegant “Charm School For Popsingers” just before the turn of the millennium, where the singer from Fielfraz showed the moves that made him Denmark’s leading man of delivering songs with style on stage. As was the case with Leonard Cohen’s tribute album, “På Danske Læber (on Danish Lips),” where Hempler’s declaratory version of “Everybody Knows” was an indisputable highlight. A rendition that created hunger for more. The self-titled “Hempler” album from 2005 was a return to the roots of classic rock’n’roll (not unlike Fielfraz), and the album brought him the Steppenwolf (Music Critics’) Prize in the Best Vocalist category, an award he also received at that year’s Danish Music Awards. Hempler continues to receive top billing in connection with DR’s new television drama series, “Herrens Veje” (The Way of the Lord), where he sings the theme song.

Dicte Vestergaard Madsen made her triumphant return to the forefront of Danish music in the Spring of 2016, when her first album in five years, “Perfume,” was lauded as a revival of the pure pop form that took subjects like love, resignation, and the role of a divorced mother of teenage children, and displayed them honestly, delivering them straight to the heart of the listener. Two of the songs on the record, “All I Want Is You” and “Stronger,” are among the biggest hits of her career. We have known Dicte since her breakthrough with “Her Personal Pain,” where she mastered a host of genres, from pop to soul to blues to jazz, and as her fairy-tale-yet-down-to-earth charisma introduced the Danes to a voice they took to gladly, and in droves. Dicte has a faithful and expanding fan base, and her acclaimed 2012 appearances on TV2’s star-studded program “Toppen af Poppen” brought her to a growing audience, where her successful version of rapper Johnson’s “Teriyaki” is regarded as an unforgettable moment in the series. Just another example of Dicte demonstrating her superior ability to take a hit and make it even greater.

Rudy Smith Quartet- Glass World (STUNT RECORDS 2017)

Rudy Smith has created a marriage between the most important Afro Caribbean invention in the world of musical instruments, the steelpan, with the most important Afro American musical contribution, jazz. More than that, he has developed a solo style of steelpan playing, which is completely his own. His technique is dazzling. But it is not a matter of mere virtuosity. Rudy Smith’s playing bears the same mark of astonishing inventiveness that created the steelpan.” (Krister Malm)

The pan family was invented in the middle of the 20th century. Despite their short history, they have ancient roots in West African music: the ballophone, the kora and the sanza. Relatives in European music are the vibraphone, the marimba and the xylophone. Originally made from oil barrels, the steelpan was invented in Trinidad during the Second World War. From 1944 to the early 1960’s, steelpans underwent a process involving vari- ous tunings, experiments with materials, and new types of pans ranging from soprano to bass. In Trinidad, pans have been closely associated with the carnival season.

For 35 years, unknown to most Danes, a musical legend has resi- ded in Denmark: steelpan player and panist Rudy Smith (b.1943). He is acknowledged as the man, who in the mid-1960’s transfor- med the steelpan to a jazz instrument and became the role model for soloists on the instrument like Othello Molineaux and Anise Hadeed. His virtuosic and original playing, which draws on inspi- ration from Milt Jackson, Bach and John Coltrane, may be heard on several releases in his own name. A genuine jazz musician, Smith has created his own unique style and sound. He has toured most of the world either with his quartet, as a soloist, a steel band arranger, or as a pan tuner and pan maker. In 2006 and 2008 he performed at New York’s Lincoln Center in a program with many of the greatest acts in calypso and steel band music. Since 1983 he has led his own quartet playing alto pan with Ole Matthiessen on piano, Ole Streenberg on drums and – since 1996 – Henrik Dhyrbye on bass.

Streenberg has been the drummer in bands led by Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew, Carsten Meinert, Bent Jædig, Tomas Franck, the jazz/rock group Secret Oyster, and has accompanied many visiting American jazz musicians. Dhyrbye has played with Streenberg since their teens – a unique rhythm group unit with 60 years of experience. Matthiessen has played with Streenberg in various constellations since they were members of the Carsten Meinert quartet in 1967. Since 2007, he has released four Stunt CDs with his own music. Streenberg plays drums on the latest, “Flashbacks & Dedications” (Stunt STUCD 16042).

Two guests join the quartet on some tracks. Bjarne Roupé is a Swedish guitarist, living in Denmark. Hear his own quartet on “Light And Dark” (Stunt STUCD 13102). Tenor saxophonist Jesper Løvdal has been active on the Danish jazz scene for 30 years, as well as being chairman of the Jazz Danmark organization.

Ole Matthiessen wrote six of the nine compositions on the cd, Rudy Smith Blues for Rasta Prasta. Old Lady Walk One Mile and a Half is a calypso evergreen, which is featured here as a jazz tune. Last, but not least a version of the great ballad Body and Soul.

A Danish saxophonist once said that the sound of steel drums made the fillings pop out of your teeth. Something similar was once said of vibraphonist Lionel Hampton’s first recordings. Rudy Smith and Lionel Hampton have long ago put these prejudices to shame.

Let the last statement be the words of a true giant of Danish jazz: “I have been a secret fan of Rudy’s for many years – from the moment I first heard him, I have been raving about his incredible musicianship, his impeccable taste and soulful phrasing. He and Toots Thielemans, who both make you forget the insurmounta- ble technical difficulties inherent in their respective instruments, belong to my personal gallery of heroes along with Louis, Duke, Bird, Stuff, Stan, Dizzy and a few that you probably never heard of.” Svend Asmussen

Pau Brasil & Ensemble SP & Renato Braz - Villa-Lobos Superstar (STUNT RECORDS 2017)

Villa-Lobos Superstar is a project of the groups Pau Brasil (Nelson Ayres, Rodolfo Stroeter, Paulo Bellinati, Teco Cardoso e Ricardo Mosca); the String Quartet Ensemble SP (violist Marcelo Jaffé, violinists Betina Stegman and Nelson Rios, and cellist Robert Suetholz); and the popular singer Renato Braz.

1. Bachianas Brasileiras nº 4 - Prelúdio (Introdução)

2. Bachianas Brasileiras nº 4 - Ária (Cantiga)

3. A Lenda do Caboclo

4. Cair da Tarde

5. Bachianas Brasileiras nº 5 - Ária (Cantilena)

6. Bachianas Brasileiras nº 5 - Dança (Martelo)

7. Modinha (Na Solidão da Minha Vida)

8. Quarteto de Cordas nº 5 - 4º Movimento (Allegro)

9. Lundu da Marquesa de Santos

10. Sexteto Místico

11. Prelúdio nº3

12. Choro Típico nº 1

Snorre Kirk - Drummer & Composer (STUNT RECORDS 2017)

Once again Snorre Kirk demonstrates his originality. With respectful nods to Ellington and Mingus, his star-stud- ded band plays his wonderful, enthralling tunes and lovely arrangements.

A top-notch sideman with several of Scandinavia’s best acts as well as a handful of prominent international names such as Diane Schuur, Eric Reed and Stephen Riley, drummer and bandleader Snorre Kirk has blossomed as a composer in recent years. In some jazz circles there is an old prejudice against drummers as bandleaders. According to this para- digm they can’t keep a hold on things from behind the drum kit. If there is any truth to this, it certainly does not apply to Snorre Kirk. This young Norwegian resident of Denmark is an extremely flexible drummer with a respectful eye on jazz tradition. He is renowned as a loyal drummer behind voca- lists Sidsel Storm and Malene Mortensen, tenor saxophonist Jesper Thilo, and in trios led by pianist Magnus Hjort and bassist and vocalist Kristin Korb. 

Kirk has put together a band of some of Scandinavia’s finest musicians. His debut CD from 2012, BLUES MODERNISM, was a conceptual album with blues in modern shapes and ang- les – all written by the bandleader. Kirk’s critically acclaimed debut received Jazz Special magazine’s annual award for bestalbum as well as two Danish Music Award nominations. The follow-up, EUROPA, paved the path for an international breakthrough with performances at several of the world’s lea- ding jazz festivals including North Sea Jazz Festival, Art of Swing Festival in Kansas City and Finland’s Pori Jazz Festival.

Once again Snorre Kirk demonstrates his originality. With respectful nods to Ellington and Mingus, his star-studded band plays his wonderful, enthralling tunes and lovely arran- gements on his third release SNORRE KIRK, COMPOSER & DRUMMER. Although Kirk’s music borrows from his heroes, he does not copy. That is one of the fascinating aspects of his timeless and often poetic and elegant compositions and arrangements – they never even come close to copies or pla- giarisms. It is true that he is a traditionalist, but he is also an artist with a solid and true grip on the essence of jazz.

The music on COMPOSER & DRUMMER sounds like something we might recognize, and then again... the nerdy desire to play guessing games swiftly disappears, because the playing is virtuosic, soulful and full of genuine dedication. His marvelous and ego-free devotion to the full musical pic- ture creates the perfect framework in which the soloists may shine. Just as jazz compositions should! This is well defined and transparently swinging jazz music with a huge “J”!

1. Prelude 1:25

2. Heartland 3:22

3. The Main Drag 4:12

4. Pastorale 8:01

5. Port Lights 4:16

6. The Capital Blues 4:11

7. Grace 6:03

8. Swing City Blowout 8:02

9. Postlude 1:46

Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Klas Lindquist

Bass – Lasse Mørck

Cornet – Tobias Wiklund

Drums – Snorre Kirk

Tenor Saxophone – Jan Harbeck

Trombone – Magnus Wiklund

Jørgen Emborg Quartet (feat. Mathias Heise) - What’s Left? (STUNT RECORDS 2017)

Emborg’s acoustic quartet with harmonica phenomenon Mathias Heise, drummer Karsten Bagge and bassist Peter Hansen has recorded nine new Emborg compositions, which are on a par with any of his best pieces.

Back in 1991 critic Boris Rabinowitch wrote of composer and pianist Jørgen Emborg, “No one in Denmark writes tunes like Emborg’s. They have personality, they are original, and they are often based on unorthodox structures that are a little too complex for the normal listener to hum along with. But never the less, they are so catchy that their echo vibrates in your mind for a long time.” His description still fits perfectly.

Since the late 1970’s Jørgen Emborg’s compositional style and open-minded playing has created a very personal sound. He has fronted his own bands, and in the mid-1980’s he was the main composer for Frontline – the favorite rock band among jazz aficionados and the favorite jazz band among rock audiences. He co-led an extremely popular band with vocalist Mona Larsen, was a member of the Danish Radio Big Band and Swedish Tolvan Big Band, part of tenor saxophonist Bob Rockwell’s bands as well as being a very busy studio and live sideman.

Emborg’s distinguished talents as a musician and composer have earned him many honors, most recently the Danish Art Foundatioin’s lifetime honorary award – a rare and illustrious recognition for someone from the rhythmic music scene. The honor was motivated in Emborg’s musicianship

and compositions “…built on a foundation of musical brilliance, a knowledge of harmony reserved for a minority, and a musical drive that has produced an Emborg catalogue of new Danish evergreens.”

Emborg’s music has always balanced on the thin line between an extremely sophisticated expression and a lyrical spontaneity that also grabs listeners from outside the world of jazz. Emborg’s new acoustic quartet with harmonica phenomenon Mathias Heise, drummer Karsten Bagge and bassist Peter Hansen, performs nine new Emborg pieces that are on a par with the best of his compositions. One might think that he could not possibly pull more beautiful themes out of his sleeve, but once again Emborg demonstrates that he is still one of the country’s finest composers.

This recording contains wonderful ballads, rock-steady uptempo tracks, some inspiration from Brazil, and pieces that illustrate that Emborg never stops developing as a composer. But all tracks are unmistakably Emborg! The CD finishes off with a new recording of one of Emborg’s most beautiful and well-known tunes, Song For Toots, a tribute to Toots Thielemans, who passed away in 2016. Here, the young harmonica virtuoso Heise and one of Thielemans’ greatest admirers, pianist Jørgen Emborg, pay homage to the deceased master.

Snowballs and Sleigh Bells

Sudden Exit

That’s Why

Wait for the Sign

What’s Left

The Never-Ending Waltz

Playful and Joyful

Three Choices

Rule No. 1

Song for Toots

Jørgen Emborg (piano, keyboards)

Peter Hansen (bass)

Karsten Bagge (drums)

Mathias Heise (harmonica)

Jacob Anderskov - Resonance (STUNT RECORDS 2016)

Danish pianist, composer and bandleader Jakob Anderskov is inspired by a Miles Davis quotation, “You listen… then you play”.

To react meaningfully with others depends on your ability to take in your surroundings while acting in accordance with who you are. Then you will have genuine interplay! The work method of Anderskov’s group a string trio, Peter Bruun on drums and percussion, and bandleader Anderskov on piano is directed towards creating the ideal convergence where each musician’s identity and integrity remains intact.

RESONANCE is the group’s second album. Their first release, STRINGS, PERCUSSION & PIANO, was nominated in the “Special Release” category at the 2013 Danish Music Awards and received glowing reviews as an “outstanding” album.

On his new release, the constantly explorative Anderskov has delved even deeper into the world of pulse and phrasing – yes, feeling! His compositions create a soundscape in which the texture and timbre of the strings become a fully integrated part of the music instead of the superimposed role often delegated to strings in jazz. 

The rhythm section is allowed improvisational freedom without having to avoid colliding with the strings that join a wonderful dialogue between the imaginative piano playing and the colorful and richly nuanced percussion to create fascinating textural music.

This music may have previously been called “third stream”, an ambitious endeavor to fusion jazz and European compositional music, but also a controversial genre, as many felt that a natural synthesis between the two musical worlds was impossible. Fortunately, the distance between jazz and classical music seems to have dwindled, and there are many interesting and satisfying contributions to jazz and improvisational music in this “third direction”.

Ornette Coleman died while Anderskov was composing the music for the album. Few musicians have meant as much to Jacob Anderskov, so he decided to pay tribute to him with What Reason Could I Give, originally from the legendary SCIENCE FICTION album. The rest of the compositions are Anderskov’s. Hopefully, this album will be experienced as a fruitful combination of the elements of which it consists. Although the music points in many different directions, the listener will hopefully hear it as a spontaneous experience, as extremely meaningful, sometimes magical – as an album that stays with you!

Jacob Anderskov (b.1975) has released close to twenty albums as a bandleader and co-bandleader since his debut in 2001 – mainly for the musicians collective label ILK. RESONANCE is his first Stunt release. Over the years he has received many awards and much recognition locally and internationally as an extraordinary voice in contemporary music.

01. What Reason Could I Give

02. Resonance

03. 8th Avenue Tranquility

04. Capone

05. Alpha

06. Impermanence II

07. Portrait

08. Open Society

Jacob Anderskov (p)

Karen Johanne Pedersen (vln)

Mette Brandt (viola)

Ida Nørholm (cello)

Peter Bruun (d, perc)