It’s the 34th annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival. MAGNET’s Mitch Myers translates the action.
As they used to say in NYC, welcome to the jazz capitol of the world—except I’m not in Manhattan, I’m at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. And here in Denmark, jazz is serious business. This annual festival has been happening (officially) since 1979 and runs for 10 solid days with more than 100 participating venues and more than 1,000 concerts. It showcases the best in European jazz as well as many American artists and makes very little concessions toward non-jazz programming. Although I was jetlagged and already supersaturated musically coming from the Montreal Jazz Fest, I couldn’t help but be immediately drawn into this amazing city and its straightforward jazz hospitality. At the venerable Jazzhouse venue, I witnessed a typical Danish/American jazz collision with a quintet led by pianist/composer Søren Kjærgaard. Kjærgaard is an avant-garde player, but his band features the legendary Andrew Cyrille on drums, and any time Cyrille is playing, you know it’s for keeps. Also featuring saxophonist Andrew D’Angelo, bassist Thomas Morgan and singer Maria Laurette-Friis, Kjærgaard’s band levitated in unison—playing within a structured/improvisatory format that was hypnotically soothing and wholly inspirational. Leaving the Jazzhouse fully satisfied, I wandered over to the renowned Jazzhus Montmarte to check out their late-night jam session. Led by American drummer Lee Pearson, the music was good, and I noticed a few recognizable musicians, including bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist David Sánchez, pianist Kenny Werner and drummers Jonathan Blake, Billy Hart and (Danish legend) Alex Riel. Point being, if those bad boys are all hanging around, there something must be going right. Stay tuned.
