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Free Improvisation Moves in Among Dim Sum and Hot Pots

自由即兴创作比性爱更好! – »Free improvisation is better than sex.« According to drummer Kresten Osgood, the saying is attributed to Confucius. Whether the ancient Chinese philosopher ever uttered those words is doubtful. But the quote perfectly captures the spirit of one of the most unusual events at this year's Copenhagen Jazz Festival.

From 7–11 July, pianist Søren Kjærgaard and drummer Kresten Osgood will take over CC Taste on Amagerbrogade, performing daily from 2–4 pm among diners, dim sum and steaming hot pots.

For years, the two musicians have dreamed of taking free improvisation out of its familiar concert settings and into a place where audiences would least expect to encounter it. The idea emerged when they discovered an old upright piano in the restaurant, which has long served as one of their regular meeting places. Stephanie, the owner of CC Taste, immediately embraced the project.

Kjærgaard and Osgood are cousins who grew up together on Denmark's west coast and have been making music together since childhood. For more than 35 years, their duo has remained a constant thread running through collaborations with artists including Herb Robertson, Tim Berne, Thomas Morgan, Bent Jædig and the musician collective ILK. In recent years, they have toured as a duo in Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Norway.

»We've wanted for a long time to bring our music into places that aren't naturally predisposed to it, and to explore how the music affects an environment where people come to enjoy dim sum and have a lovely lunch,« says Kresten Osgood. »The owner of CC Taste loved the idea, and I think everyone involved is a little excited to see what happens.«

For Søren Kjærgaard, the residency format is equally significant:

»We're really looking forward to playing together in the same place for five consecutive days. That's quite rare in the world of free improvisation, where most performances are one-off concerts or ad hoc constellations. We share an enormous amount of experience and have a very deep musical relationship – yet there's always something at stake whenever we improvise together. We know each other inside out, while constantly seeking the unpredictability that comes from that familiarity.«

The restaurant will remain open throughout the performances, allowing audiences to enjoy lunch while listening to the music. The concerts take place daily from 2–4 pm, and all five performances will be recorded.

playlist

06.02

My name is Malu Pierini – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is a journey through time; one song can send you back to a childhood summer, a packed dance floor, a breakup – or a sense of hope you thought you had given up.«

Danish-Corsican Malu Pierini has created her own musical universe somewhere between Copenhagen, Corsica and 1960s Paris. Here, Nordic soul/pop and French chanson meet as she draws threads to her family’s roots in the Parisian cabaret scene, the raw beauty of the Mediterranean and stories that bridge the gap between past and present. Pierini has just released her debut album Libera Me – a cinematic and personal journey into family history and an examination of what we carry with us from those who came before us. The album unites French 60s sounds, bossa references, Corsican folk tunes and indie pop in a story of love, heritage and identity.

in briefrelease

06.02

Small Snowflakes in a Brutal Snowstorm

Mads Emil Dreyer: »Miniatures«

Dacapo, 06.02

Simon Heggum

As this review was being written, a snowstorm swept across Denmark, and even Østerbro was submerged in beautiful white snow. This turned out to be a remarkably fitting backdrop for the Danish composer Mads Emil Dreyer’s latest compositions, which are marked by melancholic, childlike phrases of glockenspiel and distant synths. The minimalist works are performed by the ensembles Scenatet, EKKI MINNA, and Athelas Sinfonietta, all of whom share a commitment to contemporary music, uncompromising experimentation, and a playful approach to acoustics and perspectives – qualities that are clearly audible in the works themselves.

Echoes of metallic sound surfaces blend with occasional floating pads, often tipping from the beautiful into the unsettling. The first half of the album is shaped by slightly brighter and more playful melodies, with »Miniature I–II« and »I–III« in particular delivering beautiful themes that frequently strike straight to the heart. A brief intermezzo opens the album’s second half, where abrasive keys and pads are introduced, and the ringing glockenspiels hover above the listener like eerie shadows or frightening ghosts.

The suites are short, simple, and effective, yet at the same time deeply atmospheric. In a short space of time, Miniatures has become a favored sonic space for this reviewer when there is a need to retreat into the chambers of the mind, where the blend of glockenspiel and principles of chance appears like small, glistening snowflakes in a long and brutal snowstorm.

in briefrelease

04.02

Poetic Nocturnal Rummaging

Bent Sørensen: »12 Nocturnes & Piano Concerto No. 3, La sera estatica«

Dacapo, 16.01

Bent Sørensen. © Peter Christian Christensen

Therese Wiwe Vilmar

Why is it that one can always recognize a lullaby? This musical archetype, circular and hushed, sung into us with mother’s milk. Composer Bent Sørensen’s solo piano cycle 12 Nocturnes is a tribute to the night’s musical cultural heritage. The nocturne – a nocturnal, lyrical composition – merges with, among other forms, lullabies and cantatas in a poetic narrative from sunset to sunrise about what is close at hand and yet unfathomable: that the sun rises, that children are born, that stars can be glimpsed through small windows on earth, that the piano can create worlds with twelve tones.

Bent Sørensen wrote the twelve short nocturnes between 2000 and 2014 for pianist (and wife) Katrine Gislinge. They have previously been released digitally. Now they appear as a studio recording paired with Piano Concerto No. 3, La sera estatica. The premiere of this “ecstatic evening” stands in contrast to the nocturnes’ simple, balanced forms. With a dramatic opening, multiple orchestral groups, and crackling storminess in the soundscapes, the dreamy nocturnal universe is ruptured by a surging ardor that unfolds in two parts, where purer melodic lines gradually take over the second – complete with a distinct (night?) bell.

Yet the piano concerto’s sovereign quality does not quite come into its own when presented as a postscript to the nocturnes’ rounded narrative. The two elements work best separately, so that the ecstatic evening for full orchestra does not puncture the magic of stars scattered blinking across the piano’s staccato attacks, or Sigrid’s nocturnal dances and lullabies. There is ample drama in the beautifully conveyed single night – for even the child Sigrid will one day no longer be sung to sleep.

playlist

04.02

My name is Cecilie Penney – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is a rush in the chest – a way of understanding and expressing emotions.«

Cecilie Penney (b. 1990, Denmark) will be presenting the exhibition Rest and Routine – Duet for Sanatorium and Modern Hospital at Nikolaj Kunsthal from February. She is a visual artist and electronic composer working across sound, installation, video, and text. Her practice explores how infrastructure and cultural norms shape human behaviour, and how emotions and empathy unfold within structural, linguistic, and technological systems.

In recent years, Penney has focused in particular on the Scandinavian healthcare system and on how patients navigate institutions that can be difficult to access and understand. Through a conceptual approach, she examines how patients are often expected to conform to rigid frameworks that fail to accommodate individual needs. By creating imagined or alternative worlds, Penney explores new possibilities for healing and transformation within bureaucratic systems, while inviting reflection on how systemic change might emerge from emotional insight and collective rethinking.

Penney holds an MFA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and a BFA in Fine Art Photography from HDK-Valand in Gothenburg.

playlist

01.02

We are SLIM0 – would you like to see our playlist?

»As Bertolt Brecht once wrote: 'In dark times, will there also be singing? Yes · there will be singing, about the dark times'.«

SLIM0 is a Copenhagen based doom/grunge/punk trio consisting of Mija Milovic (guitar), Lena Milovic (guitar) and Simin Stine Ramezanali (drums). The vocals of all three members can be heard throughout, the voice being a central element to the band's practice. SLIM0 uses minimal, albeit feisty arrangements to convey a strong sense of ominousness. Through crashed cymbals, distorted guitars and voices in unison, they present a full body of work hailing from personal takes on classic punk/rock tropes with SLIM0 as the omniscient narrator. Their debut album FORGIVENESS was released in October 2024 via 15 love.