A new Danish trio that offers its own personal, contemporary take on the saxophone trio legacy – Svendborg-based, seasoned drummer-composer-educator Kasper Tom Christiansen, known as the bandleader of FUSK and Kasper Tom 5 and member of Tomasz Dąbrowski’s FREE4ARTS and as a sideman in ad-hoc projects with such innovative improvisers such as Alexander von Schlippenbach and Axel Dörner; with the youngsters, Berlin-based alto sax player Asger Uttrup Nissen, who plays in trumpeter Kasper Tranberg’s Kaiser Pommes quartet and has worked with Jim Black, Jeff Ballard, Pablo Held, Jonas Westergaard and Otis Sandsjö since he arrived in Berlin at the end of 2017; and double bass player Thorbjørn Stefansson, who has relocated to Berlin in 2019, and has played with Moritz Baumgärtner, Jacky Terrasson, Peter Weniger and Uli Kempendorff. Nissen and Stefansson play in German drummer Johannes Koch’s quartet Life Is Good

The trio’s debut album was recorded at Zentrifuge in Berlin in 2023 since then performed at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. The three musicians are credited with the ten short, original compositions and improvisations. This collective trio is well-versed in the history of the saxophone trio format. It focuses on a thoughtful play of rhythmic patterns and melodic themes that avoid referencing a specific era, genre, or stylistic conventions.

The trio has established a deep affinity and gentle, conversational dynamics that allow the music to flow organically. Nissen has a warm, caressing tone that fits beautifully with the snaky, melodic outlines and the emotional core of the pieces. Stefansson and Christiansen keep challenging Nissen with restless, constantly shifting pulses. The last piece «King Charles and I» shows that this promising new trio is gifted also with a sense of musical irony.

Eyal Hareuveni

Asger Nissen (alto saxophone); Thorbjørn Stefansson (double bass); Kasper Tom (drums)