Midweek pick, May 1st, 2024: Amalie Dahl's Dafnie's sorrow and protest
Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie: Står op med solen (Sonic Transmissions Records/Aguirre Records)
Amalie Dahl: saxophone and electronics
Oscar Andreas Haug: trumpet
Jørgen Bjelkerud: trombone
Nicolas Leirtrø: double bass
Veslemøy Narvesen: drums, percussion and saw
Står op med solen is the second album by Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie, lead by the talented Danish saxophonist Amalie Dahl, who has been based in Norway for the past few years. The rest of the Dafnie quintet consists of some equally gifted musicians from the Norwegian jazz and beyond scene, with double bassist (and sometime baritone guitarist) Nicolas Leirtrø and drummer Veslemøy Narvesen as the perhaps the best known of the five.
On Står op med solen, Dafnie presents music that can be described as restrained. Many of the tunes here are centered around short motifs that the band build upon with some patience. On the bluesy, rough-hewn “Eco-echoes” in a slow burn, on the gorgeous yet plaintive “Weltschmerz”, slowly like dirge, with mournful cries from both trumpet, saxophone and trombone.
Best of all, though, is the closer “We don't want your stupid war”. The one time here the group really up the tempo, with eager drums and a diligent bass urging action from the horns, who duly oblige.