Oùat (FR/SE/DE)

Moving away from the sound of acoustic piano trios of the 50s and 60s, Oùat explores the memory and contemporary perspectives of artisanal music-making together. The members of the trio interpret jazz in the most open way possible, leading them to confront and then scrutinise the sounds and movements of today. In this mode of operation, the act of listening attentively is elevated to the same level as risk-taking. It is not by chance that their name can be broken down into the phrase Once upon a time: this trio, always in conversation, strives to find the resonant meanings of 'where, when, what'.

The trio began their career by covering the music of Duke Ellington, Hasaan Ibn Ali, Elmo Hope, Per Henrik Wallin and Sun Ra. Their debut album, Elastic Bricks (Umlaut, 2022), is composed in a mix of sounds and tempos, sometimes in a recognisable mess, sometimes in an unrecognisable order. On their second album, The Strange Adventures of Jesper Klint (Umlaut, 2023), they realized their ever-increasing enterprise of pushing boundaries and questioning through the music of Per Henrik Wallin. And their digital advent calendar, Trial of Future Animals (2023), more eloquently than ever before, demonstrates the collective, focused creativity of making the most of ideas, shared space and shared time.