The Scandinavian Art Ensemble is a group of musicians of several nationalities from both Scandinavia and Poland, that emerged from a collaboration on the Danish jazz workshop “Summer Session” in 2015. They were brought together by accident by a common interest, desire and opportunity to spend a week of creating music together with legendary Polish trumpet player Tomasz Stańko .

All the musicians are professional established jazz artists with numerous releases behind them. The positive chemistry and energy of this group was evident to everyone from the first note and led to that Stańko wanted to arrange both a concert and recording with the group. Their first concert in “Hotel Cecil” in Copenhagen February 2016, was marking the official formation of the ensemble and was followed up by a live recording in The Village Studio. The ensemble channels on this recording the spirit of Tomasz Stańko, emphasizing individualism, courage, and a commitment to improvised music reflecting the influence of Stańko’s legacy while also showcasing the talents of its diverse members.

The first album, The Copenhagen Session Vol. 1 was released on the Danish label April Records in the late spring of 2025 and followed up in November the same year with The Copenhagen Session Vol.2. The SAE played a release tour visiting The National Museum of Denmark, NOSPR in Poland, Flagey in Belgium and Bimhuis in the Netherlands. New concerts will be announced with the repertoire from the two albums as the ensemble is beginning to look to new horizon’s and plan what will follow next. Needless to say, the bar has been set rather high.

Line up:

Tomasz Stańko – trumpet (PL) (On record) Johanna Elina Sulkunen – vocal (FI) Thomas Hass – tenor sax (DK) Stian Victor Lervik Swensson – guitar (NO) Snorri Sigurðarson – trumpet (IS) Richard Andersson – double bass (DK) Radek Wośko – drums (PL) Martin Fabricius – vibrafon (DK) Artur Tuźnik – piano (PL) Tomasz Dąbrowski – Music – trumpet (PL)


Here is a little insight into the history of the orchestra, and a taste of it’s music.