A core group of musicians from the world-renowned orchestra will join forces with a dozen young Danish experimentalists from the collective Movement Shaped Like A Heart to establish a new, site-specific incarnation of Fire! Orchestra, presented in two concerts in Aarhus and Copenhagen.

The concert is presented in collaboration with Vinterjazz, Movement Shaped Like A Heart and Final Descent.

FIRE! ORCHESTRA

Fire! Orchestra is a Sweden-based experimental jazz ensemble founded in 2009 by saxophonist and composer Mats Gustafsson in collaboration with bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werliin. Emerging from the trio Fire!, the orchestra has since established itself as one of the most significant ensembles in European free jazz, improvised music, and genre-defying big band music.

Over the years, the ensemble has featured up to 30 musicians and operates at the intersection of free improvisation and open, flexible compositions. Fire! Orchestra is known for its uncompromising approach to the big band format, where spontaneous composition, graphic structures, and open-ended improvisation merge into overwhelming, psychedelic works drawing on spiritual jazz, the European avant-garde, and the American big band tradition.

MOVEMENT SHAPED LIKE A HEART

Movement Shaped Like A Heart is a musician collective and independent record label based in Copenhagen and Aarhus, operating at the intersection of free improvisation, experimental jazz, noise rock, and alternative pop.

The collective functions as both an artistic community and a curatorial platform, unrestricted by rigid genre conventions. Through its own concert activities, record releases, wide-ranging collaborations, and self-organised initiatives, Movement Shaped Like A Heart has helped create visibility and cohesion within a scene characterised by scattered initiatives and temporary projects.

The project's participants come from a wide range of bands, including Tegn, Hands on Fire, Asta Band, Spiderpeople, Psychobillyjazz 3, and Bending Backwards.

LINE UP:

Fire! Orchestra:

Alex Zethson (keyboards, grand piano), Mads Forsby (drums), Mariá Portugal (drums, vocals), Johan Berthling (electric bass), Mats Gustafsson (baritone saxophone), Mette Rasmussen (alto saxophone), Mats Äleklint (trombone)

Movement Shaped Like A Heart:

Miamaja Vinter (tenor saxophone), Isak Schiødt (tenor saxophone), Flora Carbo (alto saxophone), Jo Hoxer (trumpet), Petra Sanggaard (trumpet, viola), Maiken Thunbo (cello), Claire Dickson (vocals, electronics), Magnus Munk Tækker (pedal steel guitar, electronics), Signe Østlund Jacobsen (synthesizer, piano), Halfdan Magnus Stefansson (guitars), Samuel Tiger Richmond (electric bass), Jens Højbøge Mosegaard (drums), Mikkel Wilstrup (drums)

PROJECT FUNDING:

Statens Kunstfond, Koda Kulturs Projektpulje, turkis, Jazzpuljen, Vinterjazz / Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Jazz Danmark, Dansk Artist Forbund

Graphic design by Island Made of Sand and Clay