Wrapping Up 2025 – And What’s Ahead in 2026
Last week I attended the Danish Music Awards Jazz at Store Vega in Copenhagen, where I was nominated in the category Album of the Year with Winther / Andersson / Watts - Steep Steps. No award for us this time, but it was a fantastic celebration of Danish jazz, and I can never say no to a good party!
My better half, Anne (AKA Anne Efternøler), was nominated in two categories: Jazz Musician of the Year and with Anne Efternøler & Lige Børn - Brugskunst for Alternative Release of the Year. She didn’t take home any awards this time either, but she did receive Tivoli’s Jazz Award for “New Breakthrough of the Year” back in September. Anne and I were both thrilled that Anders AC Christensen, who plays in Anne Efternøler & Lige Børn, won Jazz Musician of the Year. He means so much to Danish jazz, fully deserved!
New Live Recording & February/March 2026 Tour
Right now I’m getting a live recording mixed from our Hobby Horse Studios, which we somewhat boldly call our rehearsal room. The session features the phenomenal Rudi Mahall on clarinet, along with my old friends Artur Tuznik (piano) and Kasper Tom (drums).
We’re playing a short tour at the end of February 2026, with concerts in Berlin, Łódź, Warsaw, and finishing at NOSPR in Katowice. We performed there with the Scandinavian Art Ensemble in June this year - an amazing venue! I’m really hoping to finish the album so we can bring a CD on tour. The set includes Thelonious Monk and other bebop standards.
Hobby Horse Records & New Plans for Publishing
Most of you know, I release all my music through Hobby Horse Records, but maybe you didn’t know that I also run a music publishing company called Hobby Horse Publishing. A music publisher’s job is to help composers get their music out into the world. Until now I’ve mainly done that through physical and digital releases, but lately I’ve been thinking about making our catalogue available for film as well. To do that, you need to partner with a sync agency, and I’ve found one that I’m hoping will take ourmusic on: Nordic Sync, who work exclusively with Danish publishers. All of this extra work is far from the music itself, which is of course what I love the most, but it would be great for the Andersson family to have a more steady income. And honestly, it would be exciting to hear some of our music on TV!
2025 - A Wild Year
2025 is almost over, and it has been an
absolutely wild year in many ways. I literally tumbled down a
staircase at 2 AM on January 1st and ended up at the hospital getting stitches. Then our house burned down on March 10th. Since then, we’ve been waiting for it to be rebuilt, and as of December 11th, absolutely nothing has happened yet. It does take a toll on the nerves, but we’re trying to stay positive.
At the same time, 2025 has been the most productive year ever for Hobby Horse with five releases. Wow! I think 2026 will be closer to two or three releases...