Mia Dyberg: Hometown Duos

By Paul Acquaro 

Two duo recordings from saxophonist Mia Dyberg from the tail of 2025...

Mia Dyberg and Axel Filip - HobbyHouse (Relative Pitch Records, 2025)

Danish saxophonist Mia Dyberg and Argentinian percussionist Axel Filip both currently call Berlin home and work together in a trio they've named "HobbyHouse." Avant-garde and experimental, their debut as a duo seems to focus on the intersection and overlay of timbre and textures as much, if not more, than the melodic and rhythmic sensibilities that also permeate their playing.

 

HobbyHouse starts with 'Feet in the water,' where long, hushed tones and gentle percussive vibrations intermingle gingerly, making for an expectant atmosphere. Then, they light off some small fireworks on 'Running horses,' spryly skipping rhythmically about. Next, 'Snow plow racer' combines the two approaches as a slowly unfolding, intervallic melody emerges over the splash of cymbals and taught figures.

 

A stand out track is the very short 'When they jump,' just slightly under two minutes of indeed jumping intensity. Here Dyberg's thoughtful playing bounces delightfully off Filip's agile figures for a fun romp. Skipping to the end, the closer, 'Swimming in the air' exudes a cool calmness, a gentle wrap up to a rich recording, which throughout the duo seems to be able to say quite a bit in the short duration of the tracks.

 

Mia Dyberg & Rieko Okuda - Glasscut (Kassiani Records, 2025)

Dyberg's duo with Japanese pianist and also current Berlin resident Reiko Okuda marks the debut not of their recorded work but of the Kassiani Records label, which has released Glasscut digitally and as a very limited edition LP. The album fits quite well sonically alongside Okuda and Dyberg's previous releases, Nigatsu 二月 from 2019 and Naboer from 2020. At times pensive and other times exuberant, the duo artfully follow their intuition.

 

The opening track's reservation is nerve wracking. The tension is palpable, first introduced by gentle breathiness from Dyberg and followed by a building of austere notes from Okuda that stretch a dissonant filament between the two instruments. It only gets more intense, suddenly breaking only when the next track begins. 'No Cut' is uptempo, starting with a curlicue melody from Dyberg, adorned with trills from Okuda. Here, one can hear the pianist's modern classical roots, which were long ago the focus of her studies before being drawn into the experimental fold, in the harmonic accompaniment. The track is both dense and light, moments of wildness tempered with more deliberate passages.

 

The final track, 'Jikan' begins with Dyberg with long solo introduction, demonstrating her jazz sensibilities and fragmented approach to melody. When Okuda joins, it is with single note lines that interject and intertwine for short stints. The piece develops in fits and starts, mixing restraint and eruptive play.

 

Glasscuts is an enjoyable and diverse recording from a two dynamic musicians in the contemporary improvisation scene.