Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie: Oscar Andreas – Jørgen Bjelkerud – Nicolas Leirtrø – Veslemøy Narvesen – Amalie Dahl

Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie is an energetic and expressive band from Norway, led by Oslo based saxophone player and composer Amalie Dahl. The quintet colour Dahl’s strong, melodic compositions with playfulness and convincing weight. What we hear is harmonic yet avant-garde, with references to both old school, free jazz and modern contemporary reed-led bands. But rest assured, Dafnie is something of its own.

Apart from Dahl, the band contains four other well-known names from the Norwegian jazz scene: Oscar Andreas Haug (trumpet), Jørgen Bjelkerud (trombone), Nicolas Leirtrø (doube bass) and Veslemøy Narvesen (drums), who are active in bands such as Kongle Trio, Bliss Quintet, I like to sleep, We don’t Imagine Anymore, Hedvig Mollestad’s Tempest Revisited and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. The band has recently been touring in the Scandinavian countries, Poland and Germany, playing on stages and festivals such as Avant Art Festival in Wroclaw, Krokus Jazz festiwal in Jelenia Góra, Sowieso Berlin, Copenhagen Jazzfestival, BrÖtz in Göteborg and the Oslo Jazzfestival.

In September 2021 Dafnie won the 1st prize in the Young Crocus Jazz Contest, in Jelenia Góra in Poland. On the 6th of May 2022 they released their debut album, ‘Dafnie’, with Sonic Transmissions Records, which has received excellent reviews: “Her quintet’s lively spirit and tuneful orientation falls in line with bands like Cortex and Friends & Neighbors. But this LP, her first as a bandleader, also displays Dahl’s strengths as an arranger and a composer. Each tune has a distinct character, drawing upon the ensemble’s strengths (…)”
Bill Meyer, The Wire Magazine

‘St​å​r op med solen’ the superb second release (lp & cd) of Dafnie will be officially released on May 5th, a joined effort by Ingebrigt Haker Flaten’s Sonic Transmissions and the Belgian Aguirre imprint, and a perfect reason for Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie to come out and present this gem to you during this release tour.

Christoph Götzen & Laurence Gaudreau

The performance of Christoph Götzen (electric guitar) and Laurence Gaudreau (cello) is a result of the continuous efforts of Klankhaven in encouraging young and adventurous musicians from Antwerp and around to seek out new challenges and inspiring collaborations. This recently resulted in some surprising projects, such as the electroacoustic improv-session between Yves De Mey and Strange Meeting in Rataplan earlier in October. Next in line, is a duo of cello and electric guitar.

Laurence Gaudreau is a French-Canadian cellist currently based in the Netherlands, where she is completing a master’s degree at the HKU Conservatorium in Utrecht with Jeroen Den Herder. She is part of the Flare Quartet and is also an experienced performer and classical soloist. Besides her work in the classical realm, she performs in all kinds of genres such as electronic music, tango, folk and hip hop. Joining her on stage, is the German, Antwerp-based guitarist Christoph Götzen, who, in recent years, has been expanding his circle of like-minded musicians, performing in many different places. He is part of the Strange Meeting quartet, that has been curating nights of improvised and new music at the famous music bar Witzli Poetzli in Antwerp.