Introducing - 2024 Danish April label 9-track LP

As a young conservatory student back in 2016, Danish trumpeter Anders Malta was invited to participate in a reunion concert with the legendary Ernie Wilkins Almost Big Band. He was so taken with the band and the music, that on the spot he decided that he wanted to form his own.

In 2020, Anders Malta Almost Big Band played its first concert, going on to play a monthly residency at Christiania Jazz Club in Copenhagen for the past two years. Their debut album ‘Introducing’ is set to release on August 23rd on April Records.

Since the early days of jazz, the broad sound pallet and dynamic range of the big band has proven irresistible to composers and arrangers. However, the traditional big band, with its 16-19 individual moving parts, can also at times, and for different reasons, be an unwieldy machine to maneuver. Malta’s 13-piece made up of Denmark’s finest young soloists is agile like a small group, retaining the powerful force of the larger orchestra.
Belonging to a new generation of musicians with a deep love and knowledge of the jazz tradition, ‘Introducing’ sees the band pay tribute to the timeless Hardbop sound of the 50’s and 60’s through the three movement suite ‘Hardbop Conversations’, whilst offering a contemporary European perspective on the classic large ensemble format through ‘Ouverture, Interludium and Epilog’.
Intricate arrangements, rich harmony, soaring trumpet & flugelhorn improvisations and a diverse array of feel and grooves showcase the impressive stylistic and artistic breadth Malta has to offer as a bandleader, arranger, composer and instrumentalist. From the high-energy swing and powerful tutti chords one craves from a Big Band to the more intimate textures of solo instrumental passages, the ensemble’s sophisticated, complex, and joyous debut proves once again that Denmark’s jazz scene is among the world’s most prolific and exciting. 

Tracklisting:

1) Ouverture (2:48)

2) Hardbop Conversations, 1st Mov. - Strange Movements & Hard Lines (5:23)
Solos: Anders Malta - Trumpet, Johan Jep Christensen - Tenor Saxophone

3) Hardbop Conversations, 2nd Mov. - Monotone Reflections (4:27)
Solos: Carl Winther - Piano, Jonas Due - Flugelhorn

4) Hardbop Conversations, 3rd Mov. - The Call, The Wait & The Answer (5:23)
Solo: Aske Drasbæk - Alto Saxophone

5) Interludium (3:34)
Solo: Jesper Løvdal - Bass Clarinet

6) The Isolation Suite, 2nd Mov. (4:32)
Solos: Andreas Toftemark - Soprano Saxophone, Malthe Kaptain - Trumpet

7) Simple Melody For Two (5:08)
Solo: Anders Malta - Flugelhorn

8) Epilog (4:59)
Solos: Anders Malta - Trumpet, Carl Winther - Piano

9) Pelle´s Little Tune (4:34)
Feat. Pelle Von Bülow - Guitar