Stefan Pasborg - The Firebirds (2015)

One of Denmarks most renowned drummers, Stefan Pasborg, has created a trio interpreting some of the most iconic composers like Igor Stravinsky. Pasborg’s mother was a ballet dancer at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, and this personal album honors the heritage from a very musical family.

The last months has been very busy and versatile for the energetic drummer, with no less than two releases exhibiting the scope of Pasborgs musical venture. The potent and dynamic band Ibrahim Electric released their eigth album in November, and just before christmas it was an abstract and fully improvised duo album with Carsten Dahl which entered the market. This February the debut album from The Firebirds will finally be released, named after Stravinskys suite, The Firebird.

Stefan Pasborg says:

“In this trio I get to fulfill a dream about playing classical music, which has been haunting me since my childhood, in my own way. It’s incredibly fascinating to capture a large and complex universe like Stravinsky’s, and study what happens when you make use of his compositions as a starting point for improvisation, and at the same time gives it a new scaffolding and frame.“

With artists as versatile as Tomasz Stanko, Ray Anderson, Enrico Pierranunzi, Marc Ducret, Carsten Dahl and Alex Riel as well as Pasborgs own orchestras Ibrahim Electric, Odessa 5 and others, his drumming has taken him from Shanghai to Vancouver, from Monte-Carlo to Moscau, from Varanger to Casablanca, and from New York to São Paulo in the course of the last decade.

The forthcoming album is a search back towards the beginning, the roots of his musical itinerary. The final constitution of the band was found in 2011 with the two acknowledged musicians, pianist Anders Filipsen and saxophonist Anders Banke. Together the three of them create a perfect combination to capture the complexity of the music. Simultaneously the three members has a well established determination towards galvanizing peoples contemplation of genres:

”In Firebirds we can experiment by mixing pieces which the audience only knows as symphonies for large orchestras, ’zoom in’ and play parts of it for just three parties. We are using references from divergent musical styles such as jazz, surf, improvisation, blues a.o. It’s our agenda to discover what music can and cannot do: Can you play ’Sabre Dance’ as a medium-blues-shuffle. Yes, actually you can. The music is delivered with a deep respect for the originals and a serious take on the interpretations – but, also with a great deal of humor.”