NEW JUNGLE ORCHESTRA Line Up
Pierre Dørge (Denmark) : conductor & guitar
Gunnar Halle (Norway) : trumpet
Jakob Mygind (Denmark) : saxes
Anders Banke (Denmark) : bass clarinet & sax
Kenneth Agerholm (Denmark) : trombone
Irene Becker (Denmark) : piano & synthesizer
Thommy Andersson (Sweden) : bass
Ayi Solomon (Ghana) : percussion
Martin Andersen (Denmark) : drums
Pierre Dørge – composer, bandleader & guitarist has been interested in creating his own original music from the beginning of his career in 1960. Through the years, however, he has also displayed an unremitting curiosity about other cultures and genres. Accordingly, elements from European, Asian, African and Afro-American music traditions have been assembled by Dørge into a most original synthesis.
Gunnar Halle is a Norwegian trumpet player living in Oslo, playing mainly with Norwegian, Danish and Swedish groups. The first album in his name, Istanbul Sky came out in 2015 on Ozella Music, and the second album Halle’s Planet in nov 2019. He is now touring with his band Gunnar Halle Quartet. He has played with Pierre Dørge & The New Jungle Orchestra for two decades, and in recent years also with Kirsti Huke – Weaving, duo with pianoplayer Espen Eriksen, Lars Andreas Haug – LaBand, Josefine Lindstrand, Mari Boine, Eivind Aarset Sonic Codex, Kim Kristensen and many others.
Jakob Mygind – ts & ss
From 1977 Mygind manifested himself as leader of avantgarde-rock group Coma based in Northern Jutland. His sax has since then been heard in lots of bands and on records. Own groups as Matchbros, Myginds Summit etc. And from 91 as member of New Jungle Orch. Has received prizes: Djambazza, Jazzmusician of the year in Nortjutland, Go Global prize etc.
Multireedist Anders Banke plays in a wide variety of groups from the Danish jazzscene including The Firebirds, Banke/Solborg/Heebøll and Torben Westergaards ‘Tangofied’ to name a few. Anders appears on more than 50 albums as a musician, composer and arranger, and has worked with the likes of Django Bates and Bon Iver as well as Egberto Gismonti and The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Kenneth Agerholm, trombone player in New Jungle Orchestra. He has tributed to the band’s music and style since the start with his intense, expressive and sensitive style of playing. Kenneth is equally inspired by the Ellingtonian period, classical tailgate and more introvert jazz players. Kenneth has recorded more the 100 albums. And he has played and worked with musicians like Tom Waits and danish jazz icons like Jørgen Emborg, Marilyn Mazur and Frederik Lundin. Kenneth is also a sought after keynote speaker on creativity and facilitation https://www.flok.dk/
Irene Becker – composer, piano & electronics – is known as a solid and unifying cornerstone of the New Jungle Orch. Her music cannot be categorized in a particular genre – well-grounded in classical composting music and with clear traces of years of work in many different musical cultures, world, jazz and free improvisation. She has composed for small and large ensembles, theater, choir and film music. – www.irenebecker.com
Ayi Solomon – is from Ghana, born in Accra the year 1956 at Mamprobi a suburb of Accra. Music has been his passion from his youth age. In 1982, Ayi arrived in Denmark with a 6 piece reggae band called Classique Vibes to honor then the annual Afro Festival. In 1990 Pierre Dørge invited Ayi to Perfom with the band in Hamburg, Germany. He then became an active member of the New Jungle Orchestra.
Thommy Andersson – bass & cello, has established himself with a warm & “woody” personal playstyle from the Swedish folkmusic tradition. He has been working with a big variety of musicians all over the globe in a almost all genres. He participates on more than 200 albums and has released 5 albums as a leader. He is also a composer and arranger for large and small ensembles. As an educator he works as assistant professor at the music conservatory In Denmark within composition and ensemble playing.
Martin Maretti Andersen – drums is a true musical dynamo behind the drums with exceptional expressive playing. Intuitive and with virtuoso technique he finds himself at home in a broad range of settings. An eclectic musician who has worked with a wide range of Scandinavian and international artists, he comes either with a tornado or a whisper, but always with a smile and a magical touch. www.martinmarettiandersen.com