Biography
Brooklyn-based bassist Mathias Højgaard Jensen fuses his Scandinavian heritage with a global perspective across multiple ensembles and collaborative efforts in contemporary jazz. Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, he pursued studies at the Jazz Institute Berlin and the Manhattan School of Music, where he worked with instructors including Greg Cohen and Buster Williams. From 2014 onward, attention turned to his Holon Trio, documented on the releases Holon (2016), Shields Down (2019), and Ad Astra (2022), the last of which captures an orchestral composition by Jensen performed jointly with Ensemble Reflektor. In 2018 he assembled the chordless quartet Quiet People, whose self-titled debut appeared in 2020. Additional appearances include multiple projects alongside saxophonist David Mirarchi, among them two duo improvisation albums. Jensen issued his debut leader date, Is As Is, in 2024, featuring an exploratory quartet that included Mirarchi.
Born in Copenhagen in the early 1990s, Jensen taught himself to read notation on piano at age nine and took up electric bass the following year. Early development occurred through a talent program at the Hørsholm music school, followed by time at Sankt Annæ Gymnasium and the Musikalsk Grundkursus, where jazz entered his focus and prompted a shift to double bass. He also played in the reggae/dub group Twillusion during this period. Between 2011 and 2013 he attended a jazz program at Fridhems Folkhögskola in Sweden and contributed to Pernille Mejer's album Fugleliv (2012).
Jensen enrolled at the Jazz Institute Berlin in 2013, receiving guidance from figures such as Greg Cohen and Marc Muellbauer. There he established Holon Trio with pianist Povel Widestrand and drummer Lukas Akintaya; the ensemble received the Young Artists' Jazz Award in Burghausen, Germany, in 2015 and gained exposure on Bayerischer Rundfunk. Their first recording, Holon, emerged in 2016. After earning a bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance from the institute in 2018, Jensen continued with the trio on its second album, Shields Down, issued the next year.
From 2018 to 2020 he completed a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music under Buster Williams and Jim McNeely. That same year he launched Quiet People with saxophonists Vittorio Mura and David Mirarchi plus drummer Angus Mason, releasing the self-titled debut in 2020, and appeared on singer Chelsea Lee's album Badlands, which also featured Mason and Mirarchi.
During the pandemic period Jensen returned to Europe yet remained active through numerous ventures. Two remote duo improvisation albums with Mirarchi, Nonlocal (2021) and Nonlocal II (2022), were recorded, and he received a commission for an orchestral work premiered in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2021 by the Holon Trio alongside Ensemble Reflektor under conductor Holly Hyun Cho; that piece appears on Ad Astra (2022). Further credits include the Vejslev Exploration Band's Parallels (2022) and David Mirarchi's Paper Attic (2022) together with Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam (2023).
In 2022 Jensen formed Bramble, comprising guitarist Max Light, pianist Evan Main, and drummer Steven Crammer, whose self-titled debut EP arrived in November 2023. The following year brought the release of Is As Is, Jensen's first album under his own name, recorded with a quartet that included Crammer, Mirarchi, and pianist Jacob Sacks.
Born in Copenhagen in the early 1990s, Jensen taught himself to read notation on piano at age nine and took up electric bass the following year. Early development occurred through a talent program at the Hørsholm music school, followed by time at Sankt Annæ Gymnasium and the Musikalsk Grundkursus, where jazz entered his focus and prompted a shift to double bass. He also played in the reggae/dub group Twillusion during this period. Between 2011 and 2013 he attended a jazz program at Fridhems Folkhögskola in Sweden and contributed to Pernille Mejer's album Fugleliv (2012).
Jensen enrolled at the Jazz Institute Berlin in 2013, receiving guidance from figures such as Greg Cohen and Marc Muellbauer. There he established Holon Trio with pianist Povel Widestrand and drummer Lukas Akintaya; the ensemble received the Young Artists' Jazz Award in Burghausen, Germany, in 2015 and gained exposure on Bayerischer Rundfunk. Their first recording, Holon, emerged in 2016. After earning a bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance from the institute in 2018, Jensen continued with the trio on its second album, Shields Down, issued the next year.
From 2018 to 2020 he completed a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music under Buster Williams and Jim McNeely. That same year he launched Quiet People with saxophonists Vittorio Mura and David Mirarchi plus drummer Angus Mason, releasing the self-titled debut in 2020, and appeared on singer Chelsea Lee's album Badlands, which also featured Mason and Mirarchi.
During the pandemic period Jensen returned to Europe yet remained active through numerous ventures. Two remote duo improvisation albums with Mirarchi, Nonlocal (2021) and Nonlocal II (2022), were recorded, and he received a commission for an orchestral work premiered in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2021 by the Holon Trio alongside Ensemble Reflektor under conductor Holly Hyun Cho; that piece appears on Ad Astra (2022). Further credits include the Vejslev Exploration Band's Parallels (2022) and David Mirarchi's Paper Attic (2022) together with Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam (2023).
In 2022 Jensen formed Bramble, comprising guitarist Max Light, pianist Evan Main, and drummer Steven Crammer, whose self-titled debut EP arrived in November 2023. The following year brought the release of Is As Is, Jensen's first album under his own name, recorded with a quartet that included Crammer, Mirarchi, and pianist Jacob Sacks.
Albums
Singles
