Jazz Montmartre

Jazz Montmartre (Jazzhus Montmartre) is a jazz club in Copenhagen, Denmark, where legendary musicians I appreciate have performed, including trumpeter-singer Chet Baker and saxophonist Dexter Gordon. In 2020, right before the pandemic, I was scheduled to record an album with Marlyn Mazur and bassist Thomas Fonnesbaek. Because the recording was canceled, I never had the chance to realize this dream, which had been years in the making. I decided to actualize this vision in another way, as the opportunity to write a duet for musicians of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra presented itself. I became curious about what would happen musically by capturing the essence of an opening set in a jazz club. So, this piece brings the concept of improvised music through a note-for-note transcription of musical ideas instead of relying on improvisation.