Saxophonist Jan Harbeck’s enthusiasm and faith in the quartet he’s led since 2007 is stronger than ever, and with good reason. They’re still developing and pushing the envelope, as evidenced on their latest album Balanced.

The Jan Harbeck Quartet has been packing venues around Denmark and Europe for years now and have recorded several critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums, including In The Still Of The Night (2008), Copenhagen Nocturne (2011) and Variations In Blue (2014), the last of which featured American saxophonist Waleter Smith III. Harbeck has often cultivated works from the Great American Songbook, but on the most recent album, 2019’s The Sound The Rhythm, he began to put more focus on his own compositions, including the opening track ‘Lighter Shades’ which quickly rocketed to over 6 million Spotify streams.

The new album consists exclusively of compositions by the saxophonist, bandleader and ever-develo