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ALBUM REVIEWS February 21, 2019

Simon Toldam Trio: Omhu

The bebop and hard bop revolution of the forties and fifties made speed a virtue as razor-sharp unison lines cut through the rhythms. A saxophonist like Johnny Griffin was praised for his fast way of playing that also underlined his technical virtuosity, and the muscular style signaled a music completely in touch with modernity. Nowadays, there is little new land to conquer in terms of speed, but a new millennium has opened a frontier where silence and ...

INTERVIEWS September 4, 2015

Simon Toldam: A New Perspective in Jazz

By Jakob Baekgaard

Danish pianist and composer Simon Toldam is a man who is used to getting involved in many different musical situations. Toldam thrives on diversity and he has played all kinds of music, from folk music to modern jazz and avant-garde. No matter what he is playing, he invests himself in the different musical contexts and brings his own sounds to each musical universe. It might be the lyrical sounds of Danish trumpeter Jakob Buchanan or the playful avant-garde music of ...

ALBUM REVIEWS October 8, 2014

Simon Toldam Trio: Kig Op 14

By Jakob Baekgaard

Music is a sensory art. Hands touching the keyboard, bass strings that are plucked and the rustling of cymbals. Sounds form patterns and familiar sounds become clichés and then the trouble starts. The immediacy of the first movement, that first touch is lost. In a sense, every musician battles this process that dulls the listener's senses and transforms new and exciting sounds into the echoes of yesterday. The trick is to change perspective to see and hear ...