Copenhagen (No-)Jazz Festival

A throwback to a few highlights from this year's Copenhagen Jazz Festival, including Vanishing Twin and EHM.

The first part of July in Copenhagen is usually reserved for one of the city’s longest-running festivals. Spanning a little over two weeks – with events ranging from open-air shows in parks, to concerts in small venues as well as in large concert halls – Copenhagen Jazz Festival presented a dense program that could have just as easily been stretched over two months. Although such a rich program might seem difficult to navigate, there were a few shows that stood out for those of us not here for the festival’s titular genre only. This especially goes for a string of free-admission double bill concerts that took place at Pumpehuset’s Byhaven every day from 5 pm.

One of the definitive highlights of Byhaven’s open-air program was the show by the trio EHM. EHM’s performance is grounded in Marcela Lucatelli’s dramatic vocal stunts and imposing stage presence, as well as in Erik Kimestad Pedersen’s and Henrik Olsson’s intriguing trumpet and guitar work. At some point, I noticed a group of teenagers hesitantly entering the Byhaven yard with their mouths agape… Which is, frankly, how one should enter a good avant-garde concert. It was definitely not your usual easy-listening, afternoon concert material, but that only made it more exciting.

A few days later, Byhaven was packed with hip crowds that came to see the shows by Francesca Burattelli and Slim0. Hot off the heels of her new album Battle Fatigue, Burattelli delivered a captivating performance with a minimalist live setup. 

Slim0 seems to be a rising local attraction, even though the band’s been around for a few years now. The all-female four-piece casually switched between different styles of alternative music, culminating in a rap-rock song that had the audience throwing their hands up and nodding their heads. The whole event gave off a bit of a high school show vibe, the yard packed with young audiences avidly supporting their friends and/or local heroes.

The same day the aforementioned show at Byhaven took place, there were another few concerts catering to somewhat similar audiences, making it feel like a proper festival day. Apart from the Francesca Burattelli and Slim0 double bill, there was also the Nadah El Shazly show at Onkel Dannys Plads. Later in the evening, Vanishing Twin played at Christiania’s Musik Loppen. The latter was surely the highlight of the evening.

There is one thing that never ceases to amaze me about Copenhagen audiences. Different shows that seemingly cater to similar audiences often end up being crowded with a completely different, highly specific subset of the city’s underground music fans. The Vanishing Twin show at Loppen brought out all the geeks to see a group of seasoned musicians demonstrate how it’s done. 

Due to the band’s wide range of influences and technical prowess, they definitely didn’t seem out of place in the festival’s Future Sound of Jazz program. And while mad playing skills may not be something I usually get off on, sometimes it is really nice to see a band so effortlessly crush it and have a good time while at it. The rhythm section, made up of drummer Valentina Magaletti and bassist Susumu Mukai, seemed to be especially into it, having their own thing going on while the frontwoman Cathy Lucas kept all the loose pieces of the puzzle together. 

Although one might have expected the international four-piece to base most of the live set on their 2021 record Ookii Gekkou, the band split the setlist equally between all their three full-lengths, saving a couple of gems from 2019’s wonderful The Age of Immunology for the encore. Although one might not think of Vanishing Twin’s music in terms of smash hits, “Magician’s Success” proved to be just that. Perfectly balancing their dense, tight sound with jamming inclinations, Vanishing Twin’s lightly psychedelic take on electronic and kraut music made for a delightful, memorable part not only of this year’s Copenhagen Jazz Festival but of the entire summer concert season.

Photos: Lea Anic