Danish pianist, composer and pioneer within improvisation Carsten Dahl has, over the last four decades, established himself as a master composing pianist.
Noted as a remarkable, wild and wide-ranging artist on the European jazz scene, his personal imprint is unmistakable in all of his diverse projects – from solo recordings to orchestral works, from free jazz to Bach's Goldberg Variations and the Well-Tempered Clavier.
Any attempt to give a brief description of Carsten’s musical style would have to be quickly abandoned. He is a musician with absolutely no desire to tie himself to any form or genre, and there is literarily no musical expression he hasn’t tried.
Solo piano is very important to him, a challenge where he finds the greatest potential to work with space and time, to create music that relates to the moment searching for eternity.
It’s for his two solo albums that he has received the DMA Jazz Prize for Best Record in 2004 and 2011. Here he takes inspiration from both classical pianist Glenn Gould and jazz pianists like Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans and Bud Powell; cultivating improvisation in extreme situations. There are also clear inspirations from contemporary music and different world regions and folk music - one of very few people able to bring together many global inspirations into one comprehensive personal expression with a clear artistic signature.
Carsten is without a doubt among this century's greatest pianists.
Latest he has been known for his highly acclaimed classical compositions and piano works, such as The 5th Dimension that premiered in 2013 and the double concerto for two pianos and orchestra The Sadness will Last Forever in 2022.
Accolades
Goldberg Variations, nominated for a grammy for best album of the year, 2015
Prize of JazzNyt Magazine - premiered for a persistent, unique, necessary and highly relevant representation in Danish music, 2014
Papillon, Carl Nielsen Prize, 2014
DreamChild, grammy for best album of the year, 2013
Metamorphosis, Jazz Specials Prize for best album of the year, 2011
Effata, grammy for best album of the year, 2011
Django D'orPrize, 1. prize, Master of Jazz, 2006
Solo Piano, grammy for best album of the year, DMA Jazz, 2004
Drums Across, South African grammy for best album of the year, 2003
Moonwater, honoured by the Danish Music Council, 2003
Charlie Butterfly, film score nominated for the Robert Music Prize, 2002
Jasa Prize, prize of honour, awarded by the jazz music journalist's association, 2002
Prize of honour, Edition Wilhelm Hansen (together with NHOP & Per Kirkeby), 2002
Ben Webster Award, 1997
Rodovre Music Prize, talent of the year, 1997
Biography
Starting out as a drummer at 9, Carsten was already a professional studio musician at 14 and at 19 he entered the Rhythmic Music Conservatory.
After two years of being taught by legendary jazz drummers Ed Thigpen and Alex Riel, he put drums aside in favour of the piano - an instrument he had never been taught in his life - and applied again to the conservatory… now as a pianist greatly influenced by Jørgen Nielsen, and later, Butch Lacy, who had a significant impact on his musical identity both as a mentor, icon and spiritual teacher.
At the age of 25, he was asked to lead The Rhythmic Conservatory in Esbjerg, and came to influence a generation of pianists setting new standards for practical didatics and transforming a range of learning principles for rhythmic music during the years 1992-97.
It was in the early 90's that Carsten began to play with Embla and Niels Præstholm, Thomas Agergaard, Anders Hentze and Staffan Svensson. Their first and only recording EMBLA was a high point in Danish jazz and displays his freeplaying strongly. Something that he would put aside for some years to go deep into the Be Bop tradition.
During this time of busy collaboration, Carsten started to develop his unique style, and met via saxophonist Agergaard drummer Thomas Blachman and bassist Lennart Ginman. Carsten appears in various of Thomas Blachman's jazz / hip-hop projects during the 90's, as well as records from the trio he formed with Ginman and drummer Frands Rifbjerg. Significant are the worldwide highly acclaimed two trio albums Will you make my soup hot and silver and Message from Bud. This trio went on to record a series of albums for the Japanese label Marshmallow - Blue Train and Be Boppish Rubbish Rabbit. They also recorded A child is born with Bob Rockwell.
Along with Thomas Blachman and Lennart Ginman he achieved great success in the trio GinmanBlachmanDahl, earning a reputation for fiery live performances. Also he found the time to reunite with his old teacher and drum mentor Ed Thigpen and his trio, including Joe Lovano. They made three recordings together. From the mid-90's and well into the 00's Carsten played with a great range of artists:
Eddie Gomez, Didier Lockwood, Johnny Griffin, Dave Liebman, Phillipe Cathrine, Bent Jædig, Håkon Broström, Richard Boone, Charlie Mariano, Billy Harper, Fredrik Lundin, Jerry Bergonzi, Ludz Büchner, Ed Neumeister, Anders Berkrantz, The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Midtvest, Reuben Rodgers, Gregory Hutchinson, Elliot Zigmund, Bob Rockwell, Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen, WDRBIGBAND, Palle Mikkelborg, Helen Davies, Michala Petri, Ulf Walkenius, NHØP, Hanne Boel, Lars Danielsen, Putte Wickman, Ted Curson, Joe Lovano, Nisse Sandström, Cæcilie Norby, Mads Vinding, Tomas Franck, Lars Moller, Phil Wilson, Jim Snidero, Tom Kirkpatrick, Thomas Hass, Niels Ryde, Richard Boone, Alex Riel, Wynton Marselis, Jesper Lundgaard, Jan Lundgren, Finn Ziegler, Jesper Thilo, Per Goldschmidt, Jens Winther, Warren Wulf, Rodney Green, Chris Funn, Slide Hampton, Torhild Ostad, Tommy Smith, Paulo Vinnacio, Didier Lockwood, Klaus Rifbjerg, Suzanne Brøgger and many more.