“…finds a way of breathing new life into the avantgarde” - All About Jazz
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“they are connected by movement that can never be pretended by paper, it grows out of execution.”
KJÆRGAARD
WESTERGAARD
BRUUN
TRIO
Søren Kjærgaard, piano
Jonas Westergaard, Bas
Peter Bruun, Drums
photo by mike højgaard / neue pink
supported by
the Danish Art Counsil
For years, Søren Kjærgaard, Jonas Westergaard, and Peter Bruun have been trailblazers on the European music scene, pushing the boundaries of modern jazz, improvised music, and contemporary composition.
Together, the trio forms a symbiotic unit that thrives on the tension between complex structures and improvisation, resulting in performances that are nothing short of electrifying.
Their secret lies in an intense, collective exploration of original material. Through meticulous study and examination from every angle, they've achieved a deep, intuitive understanding of complex musical concepts that allows them to effortlessly move between composition and improvisation.
Join the ranks of those mesmerized by their skill and passion - experience the unforgettable sound of this remarkable trio today.
“…compositions and improvisations replace each other seamlessly in a fascinating work with structures that point partly back to history and partly directly into the future"
SØREN KJÆRGAARD
Søren Kjærgaard is a versatile pianist, composer, and improviser who has collaborated with a diverse range of musicians and artists, including legendary Danish tennis player and interdisciplinary artist Torben Ulrich. He has received multiple Danish Music Award nominations and a Danish Arts Council Prize Award for his work, including the album "Open Opus" with Kjærgaard/Street/Cyrille, which received critical acclaim. His third trio release "Femklang" with Street and Cyrille was selected as Album Of The Year 2011 in The New York Jazz Record.
PETER BRUUN
Peter Bruun is an accomplished drummer known for his unique style in European modern jazz and improv. He has collaborated with jazz luminaries such as Django Bates' 'Beloved' and French guitarist Marc Ducret, and in 2018, he launched the ambitious project All Too Human, which has since released two critically acclaimed albums. He was awarded the Carl Nielsen Prize for 'composer of the year 2019', and All Too Human was recognized with the Jazz prize/William Demant foundations for group of the year in 2020.
“Copenhagen drummer Peter Bruun has a Passion for Productive Paradoxezz. Black can be white vice versa. There is jazz, the other music and there is also the clever game of playing the other music in an other way." Henning Bolte - European Jazz Network
“…finds a way of breathing new life into the avantgarde” -All About Jazz
JONAS WESTERGAARD
Jonas Westergaard is a highly regarded double bass player in Europe, known for his work with Dell/Lillinger/Westergaard (DLW), an essential force on the European experimental art scene. He has received multiple accolades for his compositions and performances, including the Léonie Sonning’s Talent Prize in 2005 and the Danish Radio P2 Jazz Prize in 2006. His latest album "Beats" with DLW is on the Longlist of the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik@21.01, and the trio is nominated for the Deutsche Jazz Preis 2021 in the category Band of The Year. Currently residing in Berlin, Westergaard continues to push the boundaries of contemporary jazz and improvised music.
RELEASES
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The Freejazzcollective
The ambitious and challenging music of Thēsaurós demands repeated deep listening in order to decipher its complex, subtle and layered structures as well as the unpredictable inner logic and mind games but it compensates with its rare, haunting and intriguing beauty. The more you listen to Thēsaurós, its music resonates more and more. The music flows naturally, keeps its positive tension, and is performed with coherence and commanding elegance.
By Eyal Hareuveni
https://www.freejazzblog.org/2023/03/new-danish-horizons-for-piano-trio.html
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Gramofon
“ The attentive listener can perceive both the great individual performances of the musicians and the exciting result of their joint efforts. All this can be experienced by the listener who is willing to devote sufficient time and thorough attention to the double album of the Danish band”
- by Máté J. György
https://www.gramofon.hu/archivum/kincseslada
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London Jazznews
“Thēsaurōs seems to possess impossible geometries, a range of reference that would take a lifetime to unpick, and a self-assured structural sense that invites wonder. You get to the end of it all, after 82-minutes of puzzling, almost cursing it, tired but oddly exhilarated— and then you put it on again. Because nothing is as compelling as a mystery with no solution.”
- by AJ Dehany
https://londonjazznews.com/2023/02/18/peter-bruun-soren-kjaergaard-and-jonas-westergaard-thesauros/
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Jazz’halo
“ The trio loves paradoxes and hidden seducers. Their work therefore requires several listens and the necessary time to let everything sink in…like a treasure trove of which you only decipher the access code after careful listening. Once unveiled, a bountiful cave of Ali Baba awaits”
- by Georges Tonla Briquet
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Salt-peanuts
“Dette er blitt noe av de fineste jeg kan huske å ha hørt av en pianotrio siden platene med Bill Evans Trio fra begynnelsen av 60-tallet. Her får vi musikk som taler til det indre, fremført av tre musikere som kjenner hverandre ut og inn, og som har de samme ideene om musikk, og kan forvalte Peter Bruuns komposisjoner på aller beste måte.”
- by Jan Granlie
https://salt-peanuts.eu/record/bruun-kjaergaard-westergaard/
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Jazznyt
“Det er til gengæld mentalt hvirvlende og udvider lytterummet mellem ørerne. Hvis du bare investerer en lille smule af dig selv i lytteoplevelsen. Det kræver det. På den anden side forgyldes du med en trioplade fra fremtiden.”
- by Nils Overgaard
http://jazznyt.blogspot.com/2023/02/peter-bruun-sren-kjrgaard-jonas.html?m=1
RECORDINGS
Positions - written by Jonas Westergaard, is an open form that falls into 3 form blocks. The improvisational element, as an ever-present possibility, grants the three musicians leeway and the right, at any given time, to introduce vectors that expand the musical space. The musicians involved give the work plasticity, constantly attacking and illuminating the given material from multiple positions.
Thēsaurōs - written by Peter Bruun, is an examination of polymetric structures and the potentials between the structured and the intuitive through embodyment. The full program consist of 7 pieces and will be released on ILK music in the Spring 2021 on a double vinyl.
RELATED RECORDING
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
P e t e r B r u u n - D r u m s a n d c o m p o s i n g
S ø r e n K j æ r g a a r d - P i a n o
J o n a s W e s t e r g a a r d - B a s s
T o r b e n S n e k k e s t a d - S a x & c l a r i n e t
E i v i n L ø n n i n g - T r u m p e t
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
by Peter Bruun
“Obdurate, microtonal tracks, the seven graphical compositions by Danish drummer Peter Bruun that unroll with dawdling unhurriedness on this LP, confirm the writing skills of the percussionist who in the past has been part of aggregations headed by innovators such as French guitarist Marc Ducret and British pianist Django Bates. Considering through, that many of the dynamics on these atmospheric tracks’ relate to deliberate keyboard motions, the unintended consequences is that the focus is most frequently on the interpretations of pianist Søren Kjærgaard, known for his collaborations with American drummer Andrew Cyrille. With the measured exposition of these tunes often resembling the notated style of Morton Feldman, expected Jazz-oriented asides are at a minimum. Nonetheless the freedom Bruun has given the soloists – who also include trumpeter Eivind Lønning, multi-reedist Torben Snekkestad and bassist Jonas Westergaard – adds improvisational spikiness that easily contradict by-rote tempo dragging.
The first hint of how the band meets the challenge occurs on “Serendipity”, as Snekkestad’s outer directed trills and slurs plus Bruun’s careful brush work animate what formerly – and on the two previous tracks had been – a nearly unbroken piano line. Once other timbres are added the keyboard ostinato is finally splintered enough to join with the others’ textures to create a poignant sound space. Another variant of this sophisticated strategy is on “Træskonæb”. With only the composer’s rolls and rumbles backing Kjærgaard’s repetative keyboard-brushing sequences most of its length, the composition finally comes to life in the final minutes as vamping horns confirm the initial exposition.
In a role reversal which has him subverting his own theme, Bruun’s unconventional staccato pulses break up the mobile piano chords on “Lavine”; whereas “No 4 (b)” is the most aggressive exposition. This constrained free-for-all adds Westergaard’s abrasive string scrubs, trumpet triplets and whinnying clarinet tones as a unique trope that injects a weird folkloric interface to the piano narrative. By the conclusion sharp tone experimentation has become so paramount that distinguishing which string player is creating bell-like pings becomes impossible.
It’s not that sonic philosophy that underlies Bruun’s unique compositions is ever lost however. By the conclusion of the final “Phil”, following direct reed twitters, rim shots and walking-bass suggestions, the pianist reprises a variant of the thematic sequence that begins the disc.
In short, the intended consequences of Unintended Consequences are to confirm Bruun’s evolving talents as a composer and arranger as well as a drummer”.
—Ken Waxman