LilleJazz: Olga Witte Organ Trio No 2 med danser Eva Behrens (DK/NO)

LilleJazz presents: Olga Witte Organ Trio No 2 performs the work Calon Arang, while the story is shown as a shadow puppet film and interactive dance by Eva Behrens.

LilleJazz presents "adult" experimental music for families with children and other interested parties in an inclusive concert space where everyone is welcome. The space offers room for quiet activities during the concert, such as drawing and puzzles, or just enjoying the music.

Calon Arang is a piece by the award-winning composer, pianist, and organist Olga Witte. It was written for the Olga Witte Organ Trio 2, which consists of Olga Witte, who usually plays the church organ, but in this context plays two synthesizers, as well as Anja Nedremo on alto saxophone and Jacob Danielsen on tenor saxophone. The music is based on a story about a powerful East Javanese witch named Calon Arang, which is often performed in Bali.

The music integrates experimental jazz, modern compositional music, and elements of Balinese music and culture, with which she is familiar from 1½ years of ethnomusicological fieldwork in Bali. In this way, Olga Witte has created what JazzNyt (Feb. 2022) describes as "her very own and deeply original musical language. It is wild and gentle - and worth exploring. The music was released in 2021, and Seismograf (Jan. 2022) wrote of it that "a line-up of two winds and pipe organ [can] work wonders". After the release, Witte and Balinese shadow puppeteer Wayan Mardika created a version of the story of Calon Arang that fits perfectly within Witte's work. This has been released as a music video and will be shown on screen at the concert, while dancer Eva Behrens will interpret the story in front of the screen, encouraging kids and adults in the audience to dance along. The music, film, and dance will be beautiful and experimental, but at the same time very accessible and engaging.

The work has been performed at the Musikhuset in Aarhus and various churches in Denmark, and the trio has performed the piece on synthesizers at SPOT Festival in 2022.

Olga Witte is a soloist, jazz pianist, church organist and ethnomusicologist. In this concert, she takes on all these roles. Witte works experimentally in the area between the written and the experimental, integrating experimental jazz and modern compositional music with the principles, practices, and structures of Balinese gamelan. She has received Denmark's oldest jazz award, Gaffelprisen.

Anja Nedremo is a classical saxophonist who performs internationally. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in Jutland and received the Leonie Sonning Talent Award in 2015.

Jacob Danielsen is a rhythmic saxophonist and a well-known name on the Danish jazz scene. He travels the more experimental paths of jazz, including solos with a machine park consisting of household tools. Jacob has been awarded Gaffelprisen.

Eva Behrens is trained in Bharatanatyam, the Indian classical dance, which inspires her dance work, especially because of its detailed expression in the hands. She has also worked with physical theatre, character dance, and improvisation.

The concert will last approximately 35 minutes.

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