Laura Toxværd

Toxvaerd’s music is sometimes called quasi-Weillian eurofolk, heavymetaljazz, and geometric post-jazz. It has been compared to Charlie Parker and John Zorn. Laura Toxvaerd (b. Laura Toxvaerd (b. 1977) is a Danish composer and saxophonist who was raised in the tradition jazz music. Her interests were avant-garde, free jazz, and then contemporary music. She is a prolific composer who often works in the area of graphic notations. This special method combines visual art with music. Brian Morton, the author of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings describes her scores as “a clever mixture of visual material”, music that is “as sensuous and intellectually challenging as it is sensuous” and compositions that “are simply amazing”. The graphic score “Cackle Cabin” is published in the book Antology Notations21 (Ed. Theresa Sauer (Mark Batty Publisher, NYC), and Edition S also publish the graphic score ‘Cackle Cabin’. Laura Toxvaerd received the prestigious three year working scholarship from the Danish Arts Council in 2009. The committees for rhythmic and classical music jointly awarded the scholarship. She has already released three albums as a leader of a band: Laura Toxvaerd No. Do Drugs (ILK 168), 1 (ILK127), and Phone Book (ILK190). The first was among the “Top 5 Best Debut Albums of 2007” in AllAboutJazz-NewYork. Andrey Henkin, from The New York City Jazz Record, recommended all three albums as “Recommended New Releases”. Andrew Male, who reviewed Phone Book, stated that “if jazz was dead, then no one has told Denmark about the news.” 2013 Toxvaerd received a Master in Arts (Education), from Aarhus University in Denmark. The final thesis was given an A and is a phenomenological/hermeneutical empiric study of the processes in musical ensemble playing. She studied at Rhytmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, 1998 to 2004. During her studies she spent six months at Conservatoire Nationale Superieur, Paris. She went to Stockholm to study improvisation with Mats Gustafsson, saxophonist, and Raymond Strid, drummer. She studied graphic scores in Ireland with Barry Guy. She has recorded with John Tchicai and Peter Friis Nielsen, P. O. Jorgens. http://www.lauratoxvaerd.dk

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