Tingo: ‘Medvind Modvind’

The links between jazz and folk are oft-acknowledged but when Danish quartet Tingo got together for their latest album, they brought both together with an engaging energy.

Both jazz and folk (in this case Scandinavian influences) seem to invoke both nature and dance and when they come together all that seems increased. With Medvind Modvind (Headwind Tailwind), Tingo take Nordic folk melodies and sensibilities and bring them into a contemporary jazz setting. The album ends with the title track and, by then, the listener is in no doubt about the combination of brilliant improvisation with catchy and memorable folk melody.

Tingo is Tim Ewé (trumpet and cornet), Cecilie Strange (tenor sax and percussion), Benjamin Gower-Poole (bass) and Per Rask (drums and percussion). All four studied at the Danish National Academy of Music in Odense.

I interviewed saxophonist Cecilie Strange for Harmonious World in June 2025 and I was impressed by her ability to combine elements of classical music with jazz. Joining with Tingo, she enhances that still further in her music. Her opening on Stam Villum as she is joined by percussion and then trumpet is deeply, deeply melodic and takes us off into counterpoints and interweaving complexity.

Tingo shows its depth on På flugt with a darkness that seems intensely Nordic, bringing contemporary jazz and a groove beneath the lilting melody and harmonies.

Tingo’s 'Medvind Modvind' is out on 30 October from April Records