Jakob "Dino" Dinesens Afro Cuban dream is here

Jakob Dinesen is without a doubt one of Denmark’s busiest and most significant jazz musicians. Jakob Dinesen (or DINO as he is known among friends) is unique on the Danish jazz scene – or more to the point: the Danish music scene as a whole, for he is no puritan. The 41-year old saxophonist plays in an endless variety of constellations and idioms: Collaborations with African musicians, Cuban and Australian musicians, duo with vocalist and guitarist Paul Banks... We could go on and on – the world is his stage. He is a traveler in music in the very best sense. Wherever it’s happening, that’s where you will find him.

He has recorded several records in his own name, and worked as a sideman or co-leader on numerous others. Twice he has won a Danish Grammy for Jazz Album of the Year: In 1997 with Once Around The Park, and in 2000 for his collaboration with Kurt Rosenwinkel on EVERYTHING WILL BE ALLRIGHT.

In 2004, Dino received the prestigious Danish jazz award, the JAZZPAR, which for 15 years honoured a long list of jazz personalities. The prize allowed him to put together a group of his choice, which resulted in the Danish Muisc Jazz Award nomination with the  release of LADY WITH A SECRET featuring Eddie Gomez and Nasheet Waits among others.

Jakob Dinesen has played in countless constellations with most of the major Danish musicians playing modern jazz. But it was in the trendsetting Once Around The Park that a really personal side of his playing was revealed for the first time. The band name originates from a composition by Paul Motian, who has been a great source of inspiration for Jakob Dinesen. Other musicians who have inspired are Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell, Eric Dolphy and Thelonious Monk.
Dinesen can play the jazz standards with intensely swinging raw power. When he writes original music he always uses the piano. He has one leg comfortably in the post-bebop, and the other in something modern here-and-now. It’s the open point of view – the vibe – that makes the difference, Dinesen says. His lines are energetic and self-assured, and his tone is disciplined with body and soul and wonderfully free of gimmicks.

With his latest album for Stunt Records ”EN AMORADO EN COPENHAGUE” finds Dino flying supernaturally in a delectable and musically satisfying project involving a handful of outstanding Cuban percussionists, a horn section, Dawda Jobarteh from Gambia and the vocals of Raisa Reyes Castro and Thomas Helmig. Dinesen combines these elements brilliantly, placing his own national identity in the center of an orgy of Afro-Cuban rhythms in songs with origins in Denmark and Cuba.

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