Balslev, Øberg & la Cour is a Funen-based trio featuring Povl Christian Balslev on piano and organ, Morten Øberg on saxophone, and Mads la Cour on trumpet and flugelhorn. The group reinterprets songs from the Danish Højskolesangbogen (folk high school songbook) in jazz-inflected arrangements, blending familiar melodies with improvisation - a concept they describe as 'the Danish answer to the real book'. Balslev is organist and cantor at Vor Frue Kirke in Svendborg and a prolific composer whose own songs appear in the Højskolesangbogen. Øberg holds a lectureship in saxophone and music history at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and plays lead alto saxophone in Odense Jazz Orchestra.
Povl Christian Balslev performed at the monthly community singing in Svendborg Forsamlingshus in April 2026.
Balslev recorded new hymns with Salmetrioen during 2024/25, arranged by the trio themselves.
Morten Øberg participated in Odense Jazz Orchestra's podcast 'Backstage' with two episodes about Nordic jazz and jazz history.
Povl Christian Balslev's own compositions were included in Højskolesangbogen in 2020.
