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Soren Kjaergaard

Søren Kjærgaard’s work as a pianist, composer and improviser encompasses a variety of settings ranging from his trans-Atlantic trio with drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Ben Street, to the duo collaboration with Torben Ulrich, the 82 year old legendary Danish tennis player and inter-disciplinary artist.

Most of S.K.’s activities in recent years have been exploring and interweaving different approaches to music and sound, converging elements of improvisation, composition, performativity and practice into one dynamic field of play. This has lead to a manifold of international exchanges, commissions and a growing discography of critically acclaimed albums

S.K. graduated at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in 2002, after having done his diploma in New York City. He has received numerous awards and grants, including 1st Prize in the Young Nordic Jazz Comets (’00), the Danish Radio Jazz Prize (’04), three Danish Music Award nominations (’06, ’09), a Danish Arts Council Prize Award (’10) for the album “Open Opus” with Kjærgaard/Street/Cyrille and his third trio release “Femklang” with Street and Cyrille was selected as Album Of The Year 2011 in The New York Jazz Record.

In recent years, S.K. has toured extensively in Europe, Asia, Canada and the US with both his own projects and in various collaborations. Having released 10 albums as a leader and played on thirty-some albums as a sideman, SK is regarded as one of the leading voices coming out of the vibrant Danish jazz, improv—and new music scene today.

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10
Album Review

Torben Snekkestad / Soren Kjaegaard / Tomo Jacobson: Spirit Spirit

Read "Spirit Spirit" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


“I love the illusive, enigmatic nature of this material. Being in that space can perhaps leave the listener with the only obvious choice of just listening to what is rather than understanding any of it." Tomo Jacobson Polish-born, Copenhagen-based bassist Tomo Jacobson embraces a minimalist mode on his Spirit Spirit. The cover art is a looping line drawing on white; the music is spacious and calm, every note selected in the moment, with seeming great deliberation--although improvisation, by ...

5
Album Review

Soren Kjaergaard / Ben Street / Andrew Cyrille: Syvmileskridt

Read "Syvmileskridt" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


The relationship between stillness and movement is something that has occupied pianist Søren Kjærgaard for a long time and with bassist Ben Street and drummer Andrew Cyrille, Kjærgaard has found the perfect vehicle to explore the essence of musical creation. Syvmileskridt is the fourth album from the trio. Each musician is a master in his own right, but individual excess isn't the point in this group that shuns the trite formula of head-solo-head. Instead, the virtuosity of ...

82
Album Review

Soren Kjaergaard / Ben Street / Andrew Cyrille: Femklang

Read "Femklang" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


In his liner notes to the seminal Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959), pianist Bill Evans wrote eloquently about the link between Japanese visual art and improvisation, using the description of the technique of minimalistic painting as an analogy to the process of musical creation. Evans emphasized the need for an uninterrupted and natural approach to music making, eschewing elaborate artistic planning in favor of an approach which would allow the music to blossom in the moment while, at the same ...

353
Album Review

Soren Kjaergaard / Ben Street / Andrew Cyrille: Open Opus

Read "Open Opus" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


While it may be easy to be daunted by the sheer pyrotechnics of musicians flexing their instrumental muscles, it is sometimes forgotten that the greatest ability of musical art is to let the listener in to be part of the process; in the best of all worlds, pure admiration is replaced by participation. Danish pianist Soren Kjaergaard is one such musician, who is able to navigate safely in the waters of virtuosity while still leaving room for the listener's imagination. ...

225
Album Review

Soren Kjaergaard: Optics

Read "Optics" reviewed by Francis Lo Kee


The title track of Optics provides a good overview to this beautiful and fascinating recording. While some young musicians seek to capture their audience with a fusillade of notes, pianist Sïren Kjaergaard's trio proceeds with the flowing confidence of a Zen master. That's not to say that Optics doesn't have its intense, passionate or loud moments, but the balance of moods and dynamics comes from a self-assurance that is not doctrinaire or pretentious. “Optics" takes on a unique three-part (yet ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Spirit Spirit

Self Produced
2023

buy

Syvmileskridt

ILK Music
2014

buy

Femklang

ILK Music
2011

buy

Open Opus

ILK Music
2010

buy

Optics

Self Produced
2008

buy

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