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Aarhus Jazz Festival, 2015

Jakob

Welcome to Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark, an original settlement for the Vikings more than a thousand years ago, and a home to jazz since the 1950s. The 27th edition of the Aarhus Jazz Festival begins at the end of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, allowing for some natural crossover, and features some of the finest jazz artists Denmark has to offer.

Monday’s programming was rewarding, as the Nicolaj Hess Nonet had an early show at the Kunsthal Aarhus venue, showcasing Hess’ piano skills as well as his compositional savvy. Using musicians from Denmark and Norway, the sounds were often gentle, leaning into European-classical terrain while incorporating Brazilian, Latin and African rhythms and leaving space for improvisation. The ace rhythm section of Anders “AC” Christensen on bass and Nicolaj’s brother Mikel on drums was augmented by percussion, reeds, brass, guitars and singer Sissel Vera Pettersen, whose wordless vocals added an ethereal quality to the proceedings. Nicolaj and Mikel Hess split their time between Denmark and NYC, so keep an eye out for them stateside.

Interestingly, Monday’s late night Aarhus show featured another large group, the Jakob Bro Tentet featuring poet Peter Laugesen (who makes it 11 people onstage). Jakob Bro is Denmark’s most auspicious guitar player, and much like Nicolaj Hess, he performs in a variety of settings with a number of different players. He also has a recent CD release on the ECM label. Jakob Bro’s Tentet was compelling, featuring two drummers and three bassists—Nicolai Munch-Hansen, the great Thomas Morgan and again, Anders “AC” Christensen. I can’t tell you what Laugesen’s beat-styled poetry was about besides some jazz references, but the band surrounded his spiel with emotive strength, and showcased three saxophonists, alto man Jesper Zeuthen and Americans Andrew D’Angelo and Chris Speed. Bro’s playing was understated and sonically textured, making for a dreamlike evening that was easy to enjoy. You can check out Bro’s amazing Tentet on the album Hymnotic/Salmodisk, which is also available on vinyl, bro.

—Mitch Myers