ØKSE is NYC based drummer Savannah Harris, Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, Haitian electronic musician Val Jeanty, and Swede Petter Eldh on bass, synths and sampler.
ØKSE means AXE in Danish. Axe is also Ashe; the life-force that runs through all things, living and inanimate. Ashe is a current or flow, a groove that initiates can channel so that it carries them along their road in life. Silence and eruption, groove and atmosphere — a sonic obliteration of genre boundaries
Their debut album, released in 2024 on Backwoodz Studioz, is a rare document: free improvisation meets hip-hop, collective sound meets lyrical intention. In 2025 the album won the German Jazz Award for International Album of the Year.
“The band seems to have recognized where the revolutionary momentum of the music has drifted and improvises on beats that are relevant to a younger generation. The consequence is a new music that demands new standards.” – Martin Schray
