The Copenhagen-based trio of Danish trumpeter Anne Efternøler, vocal artist Maria Laurette Friis (who is also a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist), and German hyper-pianist Johanna Borchert was first introduced in the Barefoot Records compilation of experimental female artists MEUF Vol. 1 (2023). The trio played one short piece, «Hvem sorterer luften?» (Who sorts the air?).
Finally, this trio of gifted improvisers presents its poetic debut album, We are. Profoundly. Predisposed. To drowning., that stirs much more air. The pessimistic title captures Efternøler’s feelings before her Fibromyalgia diagnosis, but the music is far from being dark. The album was recorded at Hobby Horse Studio in Copenhagen in January 2022 and live during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival at KoncertKirken in July 2023.
The album is a cycle of twelve compassionate, non-hierarchical, and exploratory, wordless and free improvised conversations about life, and about being someone’s mother, someone’s daughter, someone’s partner, someone’s friend, with suggestive titles like «A bitter comfort for no one and me», and «What remains between us beyond exhaustion?» Vulnerable voices (including those of Borchert) and emotionally-charged melodies transform into unconventional, unpredictable, imaginative pitches, pulse, and textures. This trio insists on its own poetic and joyful way of making eccentric and subversive music, free of rules or conventions—just pure, beautiful, life-affirming magic.
Eyal Hareuveni
Maria Laurette Friis (vocals), Johanna Borchert (prepared piano, vocals), Anne Efternøler (trumpet, flute, objects)
