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Svaneborg Kardyb: Superkilen

By Chris May
September 25, 2024
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Denmark's Svaneborg Kardyb, comprising keyboardist

Nikotaj Svaneborg

keyboards

" data-original-title="" title="">Nikotaj Svaneborg and drummer

Jonas Kardyb

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Jonas Kardyb, are in direct line of descent from Brooklyn's

Benevento/Russo Duo

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Benevento/Russo Duo, composed of keyboardist

Marco Benevento

organ, Hammond B3

" data-original-title="" title="">Marco Benevento and drummer

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Russo, the second generation jam band who lit up the mid 2000s with psychedelic groove and whose Best Reason To Buy The Sun (Ropeadope, 2005) was the movement's highwater mark.

The Danish duo has its own personality. It is more jazzy, less psychedelic and more digitally enabled than its US forebears. But the bloodline is unmistakable. Check out "Superkilen" on the YouTube below, and follow the ancestral tree further back to

Medeski Martin & Wood

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Medeski Martin & Wood and beyond that into prehistory with

Jimmy Smith

organ, Hammond B3
1925 - 2005

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimmy Smith.

Svaneborg Kardyb are also more moderate than Benevento Russo Duo, who liked nothing better than to go volcanic. And whereas it sometimes sounded like the Brooklyners ingested mescaline in mouthfuls as big as those Lenny Bruce used to enjoy, the Danes prefer to stay rational.

But Svaneborg Kardyb are on the right side of the barricades. Their 2024 album is named after the Superkilen Park in Copenhagen, which runs through one of most ethnically diverse areas of the city and is designed to promote positive relationships between the different communities who use it. The group has authenticity, without which all art is nothing. This undemanding but fun music can put a spring back in one's step when it is needed.

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Track Listing

Superkilen; Cycles; St Pancras; Vakler; Balancen; Tvillinger; Tide; Udsigten; Arendal.

Personnel

Nikotaj Svaneborg

keyboards

Jonas Kardyb

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Nikotaj Svaneborg: Wurlitzer, synth, piano; Jonas Kardyb: drums, percussion; Milo Fitzpatrick: upright bass (1, 8); Maria Martine Jagd: violin (2).

Album information

Title: Superkilen | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Gondwana Records

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