Toftemark/Benack III Quintet | Roadmap | November 14, 2025

Denmark’s leading outlet for forward-thinking jazz, April Records, proudly presents a new signing in the Toftemark/Benack III Quintet. Bridging Nordic lyricism with the hard-driving energy of New York, their debut album ‘Roadmap’ is set for release on November 14th, 2025.

The project is co-led by Copenhagen-born saxophonist Andreas Toftemark, a European Jazz Master and recipient of the Bent Jædig Prize, whose career has taken him from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam to The New School in New York. He is joined by Benny Benack III, the multi-award winning Emmy-nominated trumpeter and vocalist lauded for his charismatic performances with the likes of Christian McBride, Chad Lefkovitz-Brown, Peter Bernstein and more.

Rasmus Sørensen adds a vital piano voice, fresh from winning a Danish Music Award in 2024 and releasing Balancing Act (2024) featuring modern drum icon Kendrick Scott. On bass, Finnish talent Kaisa Mäensivu – leader of her own project Kaisa’s Machine – brings international credentials shaped at the Sibelius Academy, Manhattan School of Music, and festivals including Pori Jazz. Completing the lineup is New York drummer Joe Peri, a Grammy-winning artist featured on Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga’s Love for Sale and a familiar face at Birdland, Mezzrow, and other NYC institutions.

Together, they craft Roadmap – a set of originals born from tours around the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and honed on the road. Each member contributes compositions: from Toftemark’s modal-driven title track and brisk swinger What Gets You to Peri’s hard-hitting opener Icebreaker, Mäensivu’s funk-tinged The Lemur, and Sørensen’s harmonically dense New York Attitude. The quintet also delivers moments of intimacy, with Again – a co-write between Toftemark and Benack – adding lyrics penned on tour and sung with understated warmth.

As Benack reflects: “When I play with Andreas, I’m thinking of Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham, of Clifford Brown and Harold Land. But this isn’t just a revival of a classic hard bop record—the heart and soul of it is the Copenhagen–New York connection.”

Line up

Track Listing

Roadmap
Icebreaker
Again
New York Attitude
Underground
The Lemur
Tilværelse
What Gets You

PR Quotes

All That… (DK)
“The combination of an international lineup, original compositions and a modern hard-bop aesthetic makes the album a fresh and distinctive addition to the international jazz scene.“

Jazz.in (JP)
“Toftemark delivers a work marked by a sense of fulfillment”

Jazz Views (UK)
“Roadmap doesn’t try to reinvent anything—it just hits that sweet spot where good tunes, great players, and real chemistry meet. You can tell everyone’s listening, pushing, and enjoying the ride. It’s straight-ahead jazz done right.”

The Walker (JP)
“It is a work that can be seen as a milestone of a new generation of jazz connecting the Nordic countries and New York.”

JazzBuzz (GR)
“the sound immediately brings to mind the Blue Note of the 60s”

Jazznyt (DK)
“It’s jazz of the right kind, where five of the best jazz musicians of our time meet and make each other better.”

Valonkuvia (FI)
“the band plays such fresh swinging acoustic jazz.”

Jazz Journal (UK)
“Toftemark has a lovely, expressive and rounded tenor sound as well as an unhurried command of dynamics”

Jazzthing (DE)
“a slice of New York on the streets of Denmark — a time-travel reimagining rooted in the enduring spirit of jazz”

SK Jazz (SK)
“Roadmap connects Nordic lyricism with the energy of New York, the city that brought both protagonists together”

Jazz-fun (DE)
“With Roadmap, April Records once again delivers a gem of European jazz production – uncompromising, inspired, and played at the highest level. A magnificent album that truly thrilled us!”

Esensja (PL)
“Roadmap,” is dominated by music that would brighten the faces of such greats as John Coltrane and Miles Davis.”

UK Vibe (UK)
“a perfect encapsulation of the modern tradition this band is inhabiting, put simply, it sounds like they’re having an absolute ball playing this stuff.”