Contemporary jazz from Norway – Amalie Dahl’s Dafnie are a new-ish group and Står Op Med Solen (AGUIRRE RECORDS ZORN105 / SONIC TRANSMISSIONS RECORDS STRCD21) is just their second release.
Amale Dahl is the composer and leader and she plays saxophone in this reasonably conventional grouping – trumpet, trombone, bass and drums – but she occasionally adds a dash of live electronics to juice up the barrel. There’s a tautness and precision to the playing which is excellent, especially on group works like the spirited ‘Algorhythm’ and the down-beat melancholy of ‘Eco-Echoes’, the latter of which puts me in mind of Charlie Haden Liberation Orchestra. Dahl also capably leads her group down avant-ish byways, such as on ‘Weltshcmerz’, where the framework is much more open, and this strategy leads to many inventive and productive contributions from the crew.
Some serious talent here, is my assessment; not many modern jazz groups can show such assurance with tight, melodic compositions and also manage confident forays into “free” playing. The album title translates as “rising with the sun”, and all the pieces are intended to convey nature-friendly, ecological themes, hoping thereby to oppose the unstoppable forward march of capitalism. The bonus cut ‘We Don’t Want Your Stupid War’, a rousing anthem of pacifist sentiment to equal Haden’s ‘Not In Our Name’, was released as a single in 2023 (and as a lathe cut in 2024). Those intrigued may wish to investigate their 2022 album Dafnie for Sonic Transmissions Records. (22/04/2024)