Jazz Esbjerg præsenterer:

Tirsdag den 4. november 2008 kl. 20.00 i Cafe Ørsted, Vestjysk Musikkonservatorium.


Carsten Dahl’s SYMPATHY ORCHESTRA
 

Carsten Dahl har et klart mål. Derfor har han samlet nogle at landets bedste musikere, i hvad han selv kalder for en spirituel og musikalsk vision. Målet er at skabe lyrisk og abstrakt musik på en gang, for at gøre op med den musik, der er alt for pakket ind i rammer og normer. Carsten gør sig i mange sammenhænge. Vi har hørt ham solo, i adskillige fremragende triokonstellationer, som komponist til stumfilmen The Manxman af Alfred Hitchcock og nu får vi så mulighed for at høre ham med spændende kvartet!

Carsten Dahl: Piano & Percussion
Jesper Zeuthen: Alto sax
Daniel Franck: Bass
Stefan Pasborg: Drums


Kunstneren om orkestret:

Sympathy Orchestra was made at a concert last year in Copenhagen Jazzhouse. Pianist, Carsten Dahl put together some of the greatest Danish musicians, in what he call’s, a spiritual and musical vision, going and pointing into a lyrical and abstract music – but with the idea of spreading the “good message” and merely to manifest the right to be a free and abstract thinking artist in a world of superficial and partial arrangements all over.
We tend to forget the essence of the necessity to express the qualities of being human and our deepest wish of all: TO FLY!
In this very expressive quartet it’s all right - there! Waves of pulse, beautiful themes, silence and strong chaos and its all being, so well interpenetrated and played by the four greats in the band. Watch out – it comes from all sides at you - and from within. WOW!

CARSTEN DAHL - Pianist & composer:
Any attempt to give a brief description of Dahl's musical style would have to be quickly abandoned. Here is a musician with no desire to tie himself down to any one form or genre – a musician who can move unimpeded from the bebop tradition via completely free improvisation to classical music.

He played drums since the age of nine, and subsequently studied for two years at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. In the course of his studies, however, the drums were set aside in favour of the piano – an instrument in which he has never received training.

Today, Dahl records for the venerable Deutsche Grammophone and Verve labels, and is one of the most popular jazz pianists around. He has played both with leading Danish musicians and with top foreign artists: Benny Golson, Eddie Gomez, Ed Thigpen, Joe Lovano and many others.
Although Dahl trained as a bebop musician, modelling himself on Bud Powell and Winton Kelly, he tries to relate openly to many diverse forms of musical expression. For him, bebop is merely a basic tool - a language and a tradition - which always colours his musical style, whether he is playing standards, free jazz or classical music.

It is also telling that Dahl's critically-acclaimed solo record "Copenhagen – Aarhus" (released in 2004 on Deutsche Grammophone's sub-label, Edge) was reviewed not only by jazz reviewers, but also in classical music magazines. For Dahl, mining the classical tradition is one way to avoid a one-dimensional musical style:

"For me, it is only the music that is interesting. And Bach's music has it all at once. That fascinates me. Plus, the fact that you become a better pianist by playing it doesn't do any harm."
Just to underline his versatility, Dahl, as part of his continuing partnership with Deutsche Grammophone, is also recording J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations – a piece of music that was thought to be academic and almost unplayable until pianist Glenn Gould made it world-famous in 1955. 
"You never really know what to play"
Dahl has made an impression in many contexts. One of them is in a duo with his wife, the tenor saxophonist Christina Dahl; but he also plays in trios with, amongst others, Arild Andersen/Patrice Herald, Lennart Ginman/Thomas Blachman, Alex Riel/Mads Vinding.
However, the ultimate challenge for him is solo performance. In common with musicians such as Keith Jarrett and Paul Bley, Dahl approaches solo playing as an attempt to find the space in which music is created in relation to the moment – and it is in this process that his deeply personal language is expressed.
"The main thing is not whether the audience likes it or not. It's not a question of whether what I do is good or bad, but whether it is important. The fact that you might be able to release a recording afterwards, because it was good, lies outside my experience of playing it." 
Sometimes Dahl attacks his instrument, while at others he makes a respectful approach. But whether the spontaneous atmosphere of the moment is expressed in protracted rhythmic sequences or brief lyrical flashes, for Dahl it is always a question of expressing a way of experiencing life through the music.
In the solo situation it is natural for him to take his starting-point in the spiritual dimension, which for him is almost more important than the music. Spiritual and religious undertones resonate throughout his entire musical oeuvre, which attempts to express the universal, and thereby penetrate to the meaning of one's own existence.  
"People may think my music is awful or funny, ugly or beautiful. For me, it is a conscious mission to just go in and be who I am. I must not try to live up to any particular expectations.  I prefer not to be called a musician, and I hope that what I do will at some time or other merely be called 'music'."
Dahl's extensive concert activities and many recordings have won him a place among the supreme Danish pianists. He has received numerous prizes, including the Ben Webster Award (1997), the Jazzpar Prize (2000), the JASA Award (2002), a Grammy Award (2004) and the Django d’Or Prize (2006).

JESPER ZEUTHEN – alto saxophone & composer:
Zeuthen started his musical career back in 1968.
As a member of legendary Danish group “THE BLUE SUN” he had the opportunity of playing with Abdullah Ibrahim and Don Cherry, and when he a few years later became a member of South-African bassist Johnny Dyani’s group “THE WITCHDOCTOR’S SON” he was privileged to work with Turkish drummer Okay Temiz.
A seventeen-year membership of Pierre Dørge’s “THE NEW JUNGLE ORCHESTRA” sent Jesper Zeuthen on travels around the world, but still he found time to participate in theatre ”MANORA” touring Indonesia with a local gamelan.
For a short while Zeuthen settled in Chicago, working with drummer Hamid Drake, but was soon back in Denmark, where he founded trio “ZEUTHEN-FRIIS-MAZUR” which was the frame of his playing for the next couple of years.
Zeuthen is now leading two smaller groups: “ “THE FLYING HOUSE” and JZ4” as well as playing with pianist Jacob Anderskov’s “ANDERSKOV ACCIDENT” and “THE JAKOB BRO NONET”. Important are also the trio called “WBZ” (which occasionally expands into a nonet with a string quartet plus two clarinets) and the latest project “THE SYMPHATHY ORCHESTRA”, lead by pianist Carsten Dahl.


DANIEL FRANCK – bassist:
Born and raised in the town of Helsingborg, south of Sweden, bassplayer Daniel Franck decided to make Copenhagen his home residence in 1997. He studied at the Rythmic Conservatory of Copenhagen from 1997-2001. He is currently playing as a sideman with Jens Winther, Ben Besiakov, Tomas Franck,  Doug Raney and Jacob Fischer to name but a few. Leads his own quintet with norwegian super pianist Håvard Wiik, danish saxplayer Jakob Dinesen, danish drummer Anders Mogensen and swedish trumpeter Anders Bergcrantz. Debut cd is to be released during 2008.

Selected discography:
Bülow/Besiakov Quartet + Bernt Rosengren - Heartaches 2007
Stefan Pasborg – Triplepoint 2007
Ola Åkerman – All Together Now 2006
Christina Dahl – Heartbeats Live 2006
Fredrik Kronkvist Trio – In The Raw 2006


STEFAN PASBORG – drummer & percussionist:
Two time Grammy-winner STEFAN PASBORG is a highly energetic drummer from the melting pot of Copenhagen, and after getting a snare drum, a cymbal and a high-hat at the age of three from renowned jazz drummer Alex Riel, he has developed into a very personal musician on the European jazz scene.

During the last 4-5 years the jazz critics have praised him with words like:
"...Energetic and extremely competent drumming by Stefan Pasborg..He is an outstanding drummer! ...We’re dealing with a coming star...If the Danish jazz scene keeps on creating talents like among others Pasborg, it looks like we're entering a new 'Golden-age' in Danish jazz".

He has performed and recorded with musicians like: John Tchicai, Marc Ducret, Ellery Eskelin, Tomasz Stanko, Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Palle Danielsson, Anders Jormin, Miroslav Vitous, Michael Formanek, Carsten Dahl, Jesper Zeuthen, Alex Riel, Mikko Innanen, Liudas Mockunas, Kjetil Møster, Lotte Anker and Peter Friis Nielsen among others.. And has toured the most of Europe and in USA and Asia - both as a leader and as a sideman.
At Danish Music Awards Jazz 2004 he was voted ‘New Name of The Year’…and his release ‘Toxikum’ was voted ‘Jazz Discovery of the Year’, and his latest CD - TriplePoint - was selected into the worldwide TOP 5 "Best Debut Albums of 2007" by All About Jazz Magazine, New York.

Pasborg has won prices like:
-Two Grammy’s at 'Danish Music Awards Jazz 2004' (himself and Toxikum).
-The 'Soloist Prize' at "16th European Jazz Contest 1997" in Germany.
-The-'Rhythmic Music Conservatory Talent Award' in 2000.
-1st Prize at "5th European Tournament of Improvised Music 2001" in France.
-The Danish Arts Foundations Grant for artistic work in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
-Composers grants from Danish Musicians Union in 2003, 2006 and 2007
-Composers grants from KODA in 2002 and 2004.
-Grant for artistic work from DJBFA 2004, 2006 and 2007.