National Danish acoustic bass-icon Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHØP) left our world way too soon in 2005. As tradition goes, this evening four musicians show their deep respect and pay their homage to this great innovator.

Bo Stief has been a close ear and eyewitness to NHØP's life, mainly because the two friends had large parts of their musical upbringing at Montmartre. Stief talks about his experiences with NHØP, and the music played will be related to these stories. Stief will be accompanied by three great Danish musicians; Hans Ulrik, Henrik Gunde and the drummer, who has been touring endlessly with NHØP, Alex Riel.

The group enters NHØP’s musical universe and gives us their interpretations of his musical output. We will witness a glorious journey in music, where US-jazz walks hand in hand with traditional Danish songs. And through the entire concert, the spirit of NHØP and his enormous position in Danish jazz will be present.

Klara Kristin's debut album "Lullaby & Drum Machine" is packed with iconic French song gems from the 60's and 70's, and will without question make any Francophile heart melt. With her seductive and velvety smooth voice, Klara Kristin pays homage to French culture and the Nouvelle Vague, when she interprets Brigitte Bardot, Francoise Hardy and Serge Gainsbourg with an almost supernatural elegance.

The album is produced by Jonathan Bremer from the well-known duo Bremer/McCoy and jazz guitarist Johannes Wamberg. The lineup also includes a selection of some of Denmark's best young jazz musicians; Oilly Wallace, Andreas Svendsen and Zier Romme.

Aloft Quartet is a Scandinavian band whose music largely reflects the world around us, albeit with a great respect for the American jazz tradition mixed with a highly recognizable and dynamic Nordic touch.

They released their debut album "First Year" in 2018 and the sequel "Farewell Old Ways" in 2020. In connection with their upcoming release "Heart Rate", the well-played quartet can be experienced at Jazzhus Montmartre with lots of new exciting tracks as well as some from previous albums.

Toots Thielemans has set massive footsteps in jazz history with his unique approach to the chromatic harmonica. On his own he managed to unite this peculiar instrument with bebop and modern jazz and thus became one of jazz's legends. Mathias Heise is an award-winning Danish harmonica player who has won the World Cup in chromatic jazz harmonica and is seen by many as Toots' successor.

On this evening, in the company of an eminent team of musicians, he will take up the mantle of the famous Belgian and at the same time show new and exciting roads for this particular instrument. The repertoire will feature both Toots' big hits, but also exciting, original compositions.

Mathias Heise Quadrillion has been playing together since 2012 and has since managed to create a different, unique and very personal contemporary expression that appeals to both young crossover fans and hardcore jazz fusion nerds. This evening, the elegance of jazz and the hard-hitting rhythms of funk music will merge into an exuberant set up, with four amazing musicians.

In addition to mastering the chromatic harmonica, 27-year-old Mathias Heise is an outstandingly skilled composer and pianist, and he surrounds himself with a skilled fusion-team consisting of peers and equally brilliant musicians who play a fusion of funk, rock and jazz. Ivan Rod from GAFFA describes the music as "Deeply original, engaging and totally elaborate."

Come join an exceptional musical experience filled with charming energy and joy, when Jazzkollektivet presents Øresund Triplettes and their “Tribute to The Andrew Sisters”. The Andrew Sisters was an American close-harmony vocal trio that made a name for themselves in the swing and boogie-woogie era. The trio is behind songs as “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and “Shoo Shoo Baby”. The concert will offer several of their original songs and continue the tradition to vocal jazz in the year 2020.

Jazzkollektivet is a community that consists of Nordic jazz talents. The ambition with the collective, which were founded in 2016, is to support a sprouting growth layer of young musicians and contribute to these talents making a living of their arts.

The Ellen & Svend Asmussen Prize is given to an artist selected in the spirit of Svend Asmussen. Since the 1930s, the violinist Svend Asmussen (1916-2017) was an incredibly prominent figure in Danish and international jazz. Throughout his great career, he has made a huge contribution in the shaping of the Danish jazz scene. Asmussen was an artist who was not afraid of musical challenges, and with his enormous talent he was constantly seeking new frontiers.

This evening he is celebrated by artists who, like Asmussen himself, possess an enormous musical curiosity and an uncontrollable desire to play music. Across different genres, Asmussen's everlasting innovative music will be interpreted, and his musical originality will be celebrated by jazz pioneers of today, hereof two of the earlier prizewinners: Jan Lundgren in 2019 and Bjarke Falgren in 2017. The prize is awarded by Svend Asmussen's widow, Ellen Bick Asmussen.

One of the country’s busiest bassist’s, Jesper Bodilsen, has – at the request of Jazzhus Montmartre – gathered his “dream team”, which makes its debut this evening.

Bodilsen proudly carries the Danish bass torch on and adds extra sparks, which are highly inspired by his great international work. The Swedish tenor saxophonist Joakim Milder has with his always well-considered and tuneful play been one of the sister country’s most respected musicians for many years and will contribute with the special Swedish melancholy. The German pianist Florian Weber has a grand international career with releases at the record company ECM among others, and the Italian drummer Roberto Gatto will contribute with his Southern European temperament. Overall, we can expect an evening with richly varied, contemporary European music with emphasis on jazz.

It’s always a pleasure when jazz musicians decide to concentrate on an already defined musical expression and then work on giving it its own colors. Drummer Snorre Kirk is the best example of this succeeding. He has through the years continued to simplify and refine his play and compositions, and today stands as one of the country’s finest torch bearers of the “classical” jazz.

The music is well laid-out, but never academic. The great groove is always present. And then Kirk always surrounds himself with musicians who think analogously. Here is his regular and solidly well played-together trio extended with the fine, American tenor Stephen Riley – also a cherished guest in Jazzhus Montmartre throughout the years. Great and persuasive jazz played by musicians who love the music.

Pelle von Bülow has eventually become an established musician and guitarist who has played alongside a great number of talented national as well as international musicians the last couple of years. Bülow has mainly performed as a sideman but has now assembled his own trio with two outstanding Danish jazz musicians; organist Mads Søndergaard and drummer Jeppe Gram. The trio will be playing a mixture of jazz, funk and blues focusing on melody, groove and improvisation.