
Danish Jazz in India
introduction
Denmark and India have entered into a comprehensive agreement for a cultural exchange program through 2026. JazzDanmark is contributing to the program, which aims to support the exchange of Danish and Indian art and culture, as well as cooperation between Danish and Indian cultural institutions and artists
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Exchange with India
JazzDanmark is leading a strategic exchange project in India from 2022 to 2025. The goal is to raise awareness and create collaboration projects for Danish jazz in India, as well as to strengthen networks and knowledge sharing among Danish stakeholders interested in the Indian market.
Activities
August 2022
- Open Call regarding the opportunity for a faculty position at True School Mumbai.
May 2023
- Masterclass with Bahauddin Dagar in Copenhagen. 25 participants.
2023/2024
- Collaboration with the Danish Embassy in Delhi and the Delhi International Jazz Festival (ICCR). (Cancelled)
March 2024
- Jakob Dinesen and Yasmin Kirkegaard – workshops and club concerts in Kolkata, in collaboration with the Danish Cultural Institute and Jazz+.
October 2024
- Networking meeting and experience exchange on India at Dexter in Odense, in collaboration with the Danish Cultural Institute. 30 participants.
November 2024 – March 2025
- Lars Møller Spic Macay concerts in India – school concerts. See below for detailed tour info.
December 2024
- JazzCamp for Girls in Kolkata – collaboration with Jazzfest Kolkata and Jazz+
- THE CALCUTTA COPENHAGEN CONNECTION (Denmark / India) playing live at JazzFest Kalkuta Dec 14th. (Premjit Dutta (India), Anne Efternøler (Denmark), Debjit Mahalanobis (India), Cecilie Strange (Denmark))
Specific acitivities and further information
Line-ups & BIOS
1 – Jazz Explorer Trio
Lars Møller (sax), som har arbejdet med indisk musik i mere end 35 år.
Thor Madsen (guitar)
Jonas Johansen (trommer)
Ved Jazz Explorer Trios 4. turne i Indien præsenterer bl.a musik fra deres kommende album ”3 Kinds of Blue”, der genfortolker Miles Davis ikoniske album ”Kind of Blue”
Ved denne turne optræder bandet foruden div klubber ved universiteter i samarbejde med Spicmacay, der er Indiens førende organisation for formidling af kultur og musik.
www.jazzexplorertrio.com
2 – RagaJazz:
Kala Ramnath – indiens førende violinstjerne
Abhijit Banerjee – en af Indiens mest internationalt respekterede tabla-spillere
Lars Møller (sax)
Thor Madsen (guitar)
Jonas Johansen (trommer)
RagaJazz blander den indiske melodiske raga-tradition og forfinede rytmiske sprog med et nutidigt skandinavisk jazzudtryk, og bandet har bl.a. tidligere optrådt ved det danske statsbesøg i Indien i 2023. Ved RagaJazz’ turne her i 2024 optræder de på et af Indiens mest prestigiøse koncertsale Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre i Mumbai. Desuden udvikler de ny musik til et samarbejde med Copenhagen Jazz Orchestra til Cph. Jazzfestival 2025. RagaJazz har udgivet ”Purple Twilligt” og medvirker også på Lars Møllers album ”Glow of Benares” med Aarhus Jazz Orchestra og Danish Chamber Orchestra (Randers Kammerorkester).
www.ragajazzmusic.com
DATES
Goa/Pune
Nov 12-14: Workshops, Future School of Music, Goa. “Embodies Rhythm” (Lars Møller)
Nov 15, Flying Goat, North Goa – Jazz Explorer Trio
Nov 16, Workshop og koncert i samarbejde med Dhwani Academy, Pune (Lars Møller)
Nov 17, Take 5, North Goa- Jazz Explorer Trio w Zuheb Khan Tabla
Nov 19-22: Co-creation w RagaJazz at Silva Heritage in South Goa.
Nov 22, Koncert, Silva Heritage, South Goa – RagaJazz
Nov 23, Koncert, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai – RagaJazz
Nov 25 koncert/Masterclass, Chinmaya University, Pune
Bengaluru (Bangalore)
Nov 28 4:30 pm SPIC MACAY koncert, Christ University – Jazz Explorer Trio
Nov 29 2pm: SPIC MACAY koncert Krupa Nidhi College – Jazz Explorer Trio
Chennai
Dec 2 Aften. SPIC MACAY koncert KREA univ Near Chennai – Jazz Explorer Trio
Dec 3 Koncert, Suresh Vaidyananthan, Chennai – Jazz Explorer Trio
Dec 5-7: Workshops, Future School of Music, Goa. “Embodies Rhythm” (Lars Møller)
Turnéprogrammet i Indien is arranged as part of Jazz Danmarks India project in collaboration with Global Jazz Explorer Institute and Dansk Kulturinistitut with further financial support from Nordisk Kulturfond and Dansk Kapelmesterforening.
The Jazzfest Kolkata-programme will feature a JazzCamp for Girls and a concert on Day 2 at Jazzfest Kolkata with a Danish/Indian band.
Two Danish artists will attend the concert and teach at the camp:
Anne Efternøler (Anne Andersson, b. 1984 DK) is known as “one of the most creative and exciting trumpeters in the Nordic region today” (Jan Granlie/Salt Peanuts 2022).
For the past 10 years, Efternøler has been working with her own compositions and free improvisation primarily on the Scandinavian scenes. Her musicality is characterized by a strong emotional connection to both her co-performers and the audience, as well as a distinctive relationship to her instrument, which she consideres a percussion instrument as much as a wind instrument.
Efternøler has collaborated with artists such as Jeppe Zeeberg, Kresten Osgood, PO Jorgens, Signe Emmeluth, Snöleoparden, Maria Laurette Friis, and others. International collaborations include Thomas Morgan (US), Hilmar Jensson (IS), Toma Gouband (FR), Maja Ratkje (NO), Oskar Gudjonsson (IS), Ladonna Smith (US), Ada Rave (AR) and others.
Efternøler has performed on Danish and Nordic jazz stages in everything from solo and duo performances to larger ensemble formats. She also does commission works as a composer and works in interdisciplinary collaborations with authors and dancers.
Recently Anne Efternøler engaged with the New York City label Relative Pitch Records, from where she will be releasing her forthcoming album with her wind trio Bloomers.
While Efternøler contributes on various recordings, her debut album as a bandleader “Anne Efternøler & Lige Børn” was released November 2022. It was nominated for a Danish Awards and listed as one of ten best jazz albums that year (JazzNyt.dk). Reviewers wrote “Her music can be called elegant, gentle, intimate, but also authentic and straight from the heart” Stef Gijssels, The Free Jazz Collective (UK). ”It’s an ambitious experiment that opens up intriguing tonal passages and richly expressive melodic shapes” Matty Bannond, JazzJournal (UK).
Cecilie Strange (Danish saxophone player and composer. Born 1985 “draws a rich, deep tone out of her tenor that blends seamlessly with the minimalist playing of her perfectly modulated quartet….” — Cree McCree // Downbeat Magazine (USA
In 2012, celebrated Danish musician Cecilie Strange received a Master’s Degree in Saxophone Performance and Composition from the Conservatory of Music in Odense. Since then, she has released four albums as a leader and contributed to many others. Her fifth album in her own name is planned for release in late spring 2025.
Strange’s album BEYOND won Jazz Recording of the Year at the Presto Music Awards (UK) in 2023, in addition to receiving a nomination as Jazz Release of the Year at the Danish Music Awards (DMAs) and earning her a nomination as Jazz Composer of the Year in the same year.
In 2022, Strange received a nomination as Jazz Composer of the Year for her album BLIKAN at the Carl (Nielsen) Prizes.
Cecilie Strange has collaborated with artists such as Jakob Høyer, Thommy Andersson (SE), Peter Rosendal, Anders (AC) Christensen, Mikkel Hess, Josefine Cronholm (SE), Makiko Hirabayashi (JP), Kasper Tranberg, Bent Clausen, Nikolaj Hess, Emil De Waal, Rumpistol and many other.

Bente Wollf is head of the Danish Cultural Institute in India.
Background
A Comprehensive Agreement
The project is part of the comprehensive agreement signed in 2022 for a cultural exchange program between India and Denmark. The collaboration aims to support the exchange of Danish and Indian art and culture, as well as the cooperation between Danish and Indian cultural institutions and artists.
In Denmark, the responsibility for the agreement lies under the Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Denmark’s international cultural cooperation. The Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces is the operator of the Cooperation Agreement, and together with the Danish Embassy in Delhi and Indian partners, they arrange specific visits to and from India.
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