An image of a woman with long hair holding a saxophone next to an image of four men playing instruments on a red-lit stage

Jazz Double Bill | Cecilie Strange Quartet + Astral Cinema

Date: Friday 26 September 2025 20:00

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A double-bill of outstanding jazz as part of the Sounds of Denmark Festival, featuring some of the finest musicians from one of Europe’s most creative and vibrant jazz scenes.

Tonight opens with the warm, melancholic folk-influenced Nordic-jazz noir of tenor sax-led Cecilie Strange Quartet, followed by cinematically influenced, dreamy original soundscapes and trip-hop grooves from Astral Cinema.

Cecilie Strange Quartet

Danish saxophonist and composer Cecilie Strange presents music from ‘Beech’, her fifth album as a leader, released in May 2025. ‘Beech’ is rooted in a deep connection to nature, memory, and place. It is a contemplative suite of compositions inspired by locations that have shaped Cecilie’s life and artistry. The rich cultural landscape of her childhood in Odense. A personal love letter to Copenhagen. Time spent studying with jazz greats in New York. Transformative experiences in the awe-inspiring landscapes of Iceland and Norway. At the heart of the album lies the beech tree: a powerful symbol of Danish identity, growth, and renewal.

Cecilie creates spacious, meditative music filled with rich textures and understated lyricism. She invites you to slow down and experience a Nordic-jazz reflection on identity, belonging, and the landscapes we carry within us.

Cecilie Strange saxophone
Peter Rosendal piano
Thommy Andersson bass
Bent Clausen drums

Languid, moody and dreamy…a soundscape painted with tonal colors that are both melancholic and warm…the young Danish saxophonist Cecilie Strange draws a rich, deep tone out of her tenor that blends seamlessly with the minimalist playing of her perfectly modulated quartet.”

Downbeat USA

Watch the Cecilie Strange Quartet

'Hymn To Papa'

Images of Cecilia Strange © Daniel Buchwald

Astral Cinema

Cinematically influenced and dreamy original soundscapes, and enticing jazz and trip-hop grooves.

Astral Cinema is a quartet of renowned musicians and film composers based in Copenhagen and London. They have collaborated on various projects since the early nineties forming an ensemble in 2022. Their musical references range from Francis Lai to the downtempo electronica of Air, Portishead and a touch of Jan Johansson.

The group features award-winning Danish film composer Jonas Struck on guitar, member of The Specials and Grammy-winning musician and composer Nikolaj Torp Larsen on keyboards, renowned jazz bassist Anders ‘AC’ Christensen (Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band and Tomasz Stańko) and special guest Mercury Prize-nominated Scottish drummer and Polar Bear band leader Sebastian Rochford. The band was nominated for the prestigious DMA ‘Composer of the Year’ award in Denmark in 2024.