Andreas Toftemark - La Gare (2023) Hi Res

Having spent the past ten years gathering musical experiences from living in New York, Paris, the Netherlands and Denmark, award-winning saxophonist Andreas Toftemark presents his sophomore album ‘La Gare’, set to release on November 17th on April Records.

Co-founder of ‘A Plane To Catch’ and member of ‘Oh People’, Toftemark’s quartet sound oozes 60’s hard bop and contemporary Danish jazz. A followup to his 2021 release ‘A New York Flight’, ‘La Gare’ is similarly rooted in the American tradition, with further influence from the world of Nordic European folk styles.

With a rhythm section composed of some of Denmark’s most in-demand players in Matthias Petri on bass, Calle Brickman on piano and Andreas Svendsen on drums (coincidentally the very same rhythm section as in April Records artists OTOOTO), Toftemark invites influential British trumpet player Gerard Presencer to join the group with his warm, experienced sound and rhythmic dexterity. A featured soloist of the Danish Radio Big Band and having performed with royalty such as Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, his effortlessly melodic playing pushes the ensemble to new heights.

Comprised of eight original compositions, with each piece on ‘La Gare’ the listener visits a different place or story that had a profound impact on Toftemark’s musical development: ‘La Gare’ is a tribute to a jazz club in Paris, ‘Waltz for Alex’ is dedicated to a former roommate in Washington Heights in New York, and ‘Dagmar’ is an ode to Toftemark’s saxophone of the same name.

With the saxophonist's delicate writing in the foreground, the quintet interprets the repertoire with subtlety, maturity and playfulness. Bearing European complexity and American attitude in equal measure, ‘La Gare’ is an intricate and personal reflection of Toftemark’s rich musical identity.