Lotte Anker & Paal Nilssen-Love (DK/NO)

Lotte Anker & Paal Nilssen-Love in a Free-Flowing Duo Set

The last night of Alt R Jazz 2025 is dedicated to two of the greatest artists on the Danish and international improvised music scene: Lotte Anker & Paal Nilssen-Love.

We begin the evening by experiencing Paal and Lotte together in a free-flowing duo set.

With powerful energy, thunderous intimacy, and intensity, they explore music and its many boundaries. It will be a transcendent adventure - and we are overjoyed to present this masterful duo!

Paal and Lotte have been crossing each other's paths on stage for more than 25 years in smaller and larger band constellations. They have each worked with free-form and experimental big bands, both in workshops and in established ensembles, including Paal's Large Unit and PanScan Ensemble, and Lotte's What River Ensemble and Sub Habitat.

Lotte Anker (saxophonist / composer) works in the hybrid and fluid field between improvisation, experimental jazz, and new compositional music. As a performer / composer, she is particularly interested in the dynamics between improvisation and compositional practice, with an emphasis on exploring the qualities and possibilities of sound material, space, and silence.

Recent own groups / collaborations include: Anker / Taborn / Cleaver (with Craig Taborn and Gerald Cleaver), What River Ensemble (with Phil Minton, Fred Frith, Ikue Mori, Anna Klett, Chris Cutler, Garth Knox, Jesper Egelund), Electric Habitat and Sub Habitat (with Sofia Jernberg, Mazen Kerbaj, Andrea Neumann, Sten Sandell, Katt Hernandez, Nina de Heney, Ikue Mori, Burkhard Beins, Thomas Lehn, Michael Vorfeld), Lotte Anker & Fred Frith and others. She has done shows / workshops etc. in Europe, USA, Canada, Russia, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and has performed commissioned works and world premieres at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Gong Tomorrow (Cph), Donaueschingen New Music Festival / SWR, Ensemble Modern), Hanoi New Music Festival, DR Big Band, Copenhagen Art Ensemble.

Before the age of 30, Paal Nilssen-Love had already established himself as one of the most sought-after drummers in Europe. He has performed countless times at festivals and clubs in Europe and the USA, and has appeared on over 50 recordings. He runs his own annual festival of improvised music - All Ears - in Oslo, which is an important part of his musical life, and he plans to start his own record label focused on vinyl releases.

As Pat Metheny said in 2002 after playing with Paal at the Molde International Jazz Festival:

"He's just one of the best new musicians I've heard in years!"

And after hearing Paal in nine different contexts at the same festival, Down Beat journalist Dan Quelette said:

"His week in Molde was a revelation: Nilssen-Love is one of the most innovative, dynamic, and versatile drummers in jazz!"

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