The Doldrums

The Danish drummer Jeppe Gram has long been a prominent figure on the Danish jazz scene. The Doldrums features nine new compostions and is his fourth album as a composer & bandleader. For this project Gram has brought together three generations of musicians who are all key figures on the Copenhagen jazz scene.

Tenor Tomas Franck is orignally from Sweden but has been one of the greatest personalities on the Danish jazz scene for decades.

The middle generation is represented by cornet player Tobias Wiklund who moves freely between modern artistic expression and a more traditional sound, and Anders Fjeldsted who has played with acclaimed local and international jazz musicians and in 2017 was one of the recipients of the Bent Jædig-Award.

Jacob Artved and Ollie Wallace represent the younger generation, but are already well established musicians and are celebrated as two of the greatest young talents on the contemporary Danish jazz scene.

The mix of musicians from Gram’s life from past to present is an essentiel part of the album and he describes the music as instinctively relatable for the musicians, regardless of the age differences. Musically, The Doldrums is centered around variations on the blues: both the lamenting feeling and, in a more music-theoretical sense, the blues as a form or shape with great inspiration from Gram’s own jazz heroes, such as Kenny Garret, Joshua Redman and Charlie Haden.

“This album is my way of saying THANK YOU to all the music and all the people who meant a lot to me back then and still continue to do so today – musicians who have helped me develop into who and where I am today. – Jeppe Gram