ØKSE

ØKSE's eponymous debut album was released in 2024, on the prestigious Backwoodz label. It's a bold experimental jazz project featuring some of hip-hop's most singular voices. The band itself brings together an international team comprising New York-based drummer Savannah Harris, Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, Haitian electronic musician Val Jeanty and Swedish Petter Eldh on bass, synthesizers and sampler. Each is already well-established as a solo artist, but as ØKSE, they collectively explore new terrain, pushing and pulling at the boundaries of genres.

ØKSE means “axe” in Danish. The axe has many connotations, being one of mankind's oldest tools. The axe is also Ashe, the vital force that flows through all things, whether living or inanimate. Ashe is a current or flow, a groove that initiates can channel to carry them along their life path. These are the energies that run through ØKSE and drive their first album and concerts.

“...the real pleasure comes from the instrumentalists, who have forged a dense, versatile and butt-shaking world of sound.” Peter Margasak, The Wire.

Mette Rasmussen, alto saxophone
Petter Eldh, drums
Savannah Harris, drums
Val Jeanty, turntables, percussion