Vinterjazz: BITOI (SE/DK) + support: Oswald/Andersson/Asheim

BITOI (Bass Is The Original Instrument) is a Swedish-Danish bass-voice hybrid featuring award-winning composer and bassist Cassius Lambert alongside singers Alexandra Shabo, Lise Kroner, and Anja Tietze Lahrmann. 

Though small in size, BITOI delivers a lush and razor-sharp sound. The female trio blends raw power with delicate textures, layering close harmonies and dissonance over deep, pulsing bass lines. Their lyrics, drawn from phonetically transcribed bird songs, transform into chants that feel both ancient and fresh.

Formed in Malmö for Intonal Festival 2023, BITOI has since performed at Roskilde, Le Guess Who?, Rewire, Clandestino, Spot, Stanser Musiktage, Paesaggi Sonori, Babel XP, toured Japan with Aragaki Mutsumi, and earned Newcomer of the Year at Folk och Världsmusikgalan. They released their debut EP – O – in 2023, followed by their first album Sirikulu in 2025 on Supertraditional Records. 

BITOI embodies Cassius’s miximalism—extracting the richest sound from the barest tools: bass, voices, polyrhythms, and prepared textures—minimalism pushed to its edge. 

On stage:

Cassius Lambert - Bass Guitar
Alexandra Shabo - Vocals
Lydia Cronberg - Vocals
Ella Cronberg - Vocals

Support: Oswald/Andersson/Asheim

Oswald/Andersson/Asheim is a powerful encounter between three distinctive voices from Copenhagen's improvised and experimental music scene. Margaux Oswald (Switzerland) on piano and Ivar Asheim (Norway) on drums – who normally play in a trio with Lithuanian bassist Aurelijus Uzameckis – are joined on this occasion by Danish bassist Richard Andersson. The trio has a particularly sensitive approach to their improvised music, with great dynamic variation and attention to detail. Their music contains elements of contemporary music and modern jazz and moves through textural, atonal, melodic, and rhythmic landscapes.

In the fall of 2025, Oswald, Uzameckis, and Asheim released their debut album, The Third Place, on the Norwegian record label Nakama. The album has received good reviews and captures the trio's precise interplay, dynamic variation, and spaciousness, recorded live at the Concert Church in Copenhagen.

“This trio has a curious, exploratory, collective approach to improvised music.” 
- Eyal Hareuveni, Percorsi Musicali 2025

“The trio presents a recording that shows improvisational depth and sonic presence in a rare balance.”
  - African Paper 2025

Line-up:

Margaux Oswald - piano
Richard Andersson - double bass
Ivar Asheim - drums