Play Ballads Lennart Ginman, Thomas Blachman, Carsten Dahl

• 1 Angel Eyes 03:54
• 2 Gone With The Wind 04:35
• 3 Autumn in New York 03:20
• 4 But Beautiful 03:39
• 5 Take the 'A' Train 03:51
• 6 Chelsea Bridge 06:05
• 7 Blue Monk 03:54
• 8 Here’s That Rainy Day 02:52
• 9 Work Song 03:47
• 10 There’s No Greater Love 04:52
• 11 C Jam Blues 04:12
• 12 Don’t Go To Strangers 03:24
• 13 Satin Doll 04:42
• 14 Come Sunday 04:51
• 15 Things Ain’t What They Used To Be 02:43
• Total Runtime 01:00:41

Info zu Play Ballads

The acclaimed Danish jazz trio GinmanBlachmanDahl, consisting of pianist Carsten Dahl, bassist Lennart Ginman, and drummer Thomas Blachman, return with the album Play Ballads, a collection of 15 jazz standards rendered in their signature, contemplative style on Storyville Records.

The trio’s deep musical rapport is immediately apparent. Each note and silence are measured with care, revealing a rare comfort and understanding cultivated over decades of collaboration. Play Ballads is distinguished by its contemplative approach to well-known standards such as Matt Dennis’ Angel Eyes, Vernon Duke’s Autumn in New York, Billy Strayhorn’s Take the ‘A’ Train, Thelonious Monk’s Blue Monk, and Duke Ellington’s Satin Doll. Each track is performed at deliberately slow tempos, allowing the trio to explore the subtle beauty and emotional depth of each melody. Dahl’s piano often leads with sensitive, improvisational statements, while Ginman’s bass and Blachman’s drums provide understated yet essential commentary.

Highlights include a sparse and intimate Angel Eyes, the reflective melancholy of Gone With the Wind, and a subtle reinterpretation of Ellington’s Things Ain’t What They Used To Be. The album reveals new facets of these standards, balancing tradition with innovation and showcasing the trio’s ability to make each melody their own.

Their shared history stretches back to the late 1980s, encompassing projects with Page One, Thomas Agergaard, Claus Hempler, and numerous individual recordings. Separately, they have worked with American jazz luminaries including Ed Thigpen, Joe Lovano, and Eddie Gomez, and together they have explored standards and original compositions across multiple albums since 2004.

Play Ballads is a testament to the trio’s mastery, musical intuition, and their ability to make every note and every silence count. This album is not only a must-listen for longtime jazz aficionados but also an invitation for new audiences to experience the artistry of three of Denmark’s finest jazz musicians at the height of their powers.

Carsten Dahl, piano
Lennart Ginman, bass
Thomas Blachman, drums

Lennart Ginman, Thomas Blachman, Carsten Dahl
is a unique trio on the Scandinavian jazz scene in 2022. Behind the name are three of the country's biggest musical personalities.

Thomas Blachman is not only an X-factor judge, but also a producer and Grammy winner alongside his drumming career.

Carsten Dahl is a former professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory and a Grammy-winning pianist and soloist.

Lennart Ginman had a breakthrough far beyond the jazz world with Ginman / Jørgensen in the 90s, was curator of Summer Sessions at Vallekilde Højskole for more than ten years and is the former music director of Copenhagen Jazzhouse.

The three manage better than any other Danish jazz trio to combine sound, hard swing and spirituality with fun and tradition with personal innovation. The trio was the first Danish jazz act ever to be released on the legendary Verve Records label.

The trio's profound trust in the magic of improvisation between the three instrumentalists is one of the pillars of GinmanBlachmanDahl's open musical universe. The blurring of the line between composition and improvisation makes their concerts a state of almost musical telepathy.

While many jazz artists focus their expression within a limited number of jazz branches and sub-genres, GinmanBlachmanDahl fearlessly and courageously chooses a starting point that includes the entire history of music, from complex compositional music to standard jazz repertoire to understated timeless minimalism. From tightly pulsating swing beats to abstractly dissolved free structures.

Contemporary music that may be rooted in the beautiful melancholy of classic jazz, but at the same time points towards a universal meeting between three virtuoso instrumentalists. An attempt to stop time in a moment of self-forgetfulness in the service of music. Three instruments speak to each other in a language stripped of small talk and automatisms.

Each of them are top profiles in the Danish music industry. All three have extensive productions behind them and an extreme artistic diversity and freedom in their approach to the moment of creation. GinmanBlachmanDahl also occasionally participate in selected musical encounters with other artists. These include Palle Mikkelborg, Nils Petter Molvær, Claus Hempler and Stephen Riley.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet