Mads Granum, an organist and a widely used pianist in several contexts, will open this year's Riverboat Jazz Festival with his quintet for the traditional church concert

Composer and jazz pianist Mads Granum is one of Denmark's most significant innovators of the church music tradition, where, based on his jazz roots, he delivers his own interpretations of church music and the Nordic hymn tradition.

He has released several CDs under his own name, and composed melodies for a number of songs and hymns by newer poets, which are included in the High School Songbook, and most recently his melody for Lisbeth Smedegaard Andersen's beautiful collection 'Du spør mig om håbet' has become a great success.

In the hands of Mads Granum, who is the fourth generation of organists in his family, the combination of jazz and new hymns means that the beautiful and church music is mixed with a touch of jazz's wildness and improvisation, where saxophone, double bass, drums, piano and vocals give contemporary life to the modern lyrics.

Mads Granum has put together a team of the best musicians in his quintet, and we can expect a concert that presents a repertoire of his own beautiful compositions and gives us a super musical and captivating experience.