Treen is a new trio featuring three young and adventurous musicians – prolific Danish, Oslo-based sax player Amalie Dahl (who leads Dafnie and plays in Noize R Us) with Lithuanian, Copenhagen-based pianist Gintė Preisaitė and German, Cologne-based drummer-percussionist Jan Philipp (who collaborated with German pianist Felix Hauptmann). This trio met in Copenhagen in the fall of 2023 and Baob_ is its debut album. True to the DIY philosophy of this trio, Philipp and Preisaitė did the mixing, Preisaitė the mastering and the cover artwork.

Treen melts three distinct approaches for acoustic and introspective, free improvisation. Preisaitė suggests more structured, lyrical ideas, allowing Dahl to soar gently higher and higher while Philipp’s sparse percussive textures color imaginatively the minimalist, deep listening dynamics. Dahl and Preisaitė often used preparations and objects on their instruments to further search, explore and enrich Treen’s sonic palette.

Treen succeeded in its short time of work to establish a strong sonic identity and in the short Baob_ it sounds like one sonic entity, responding to the moment’s impulses with imagination, playfulness, risk-taking and energy, but also surrendering to evolving drone atmospheres that can go on forever.  Treen plans to take its captivating sonic alchemy to the road in 2024.

Eyal Hareuveni

Amalie Dahl (saxophone, objects), Gintė Preisaitė (piano, objects), Jan Philipp (drums, percussion)