I’ve been carrying this piece with me for a long time.

From Havana to Jerusalem was born in 2017, after long conversations about Cuban music and hours of listening to recordings with Cuban musician Yohan Ramon. Somewhere in that exchange, I started hearing connections—Cuban rhythmic patterns weaving into the shapes of Middle Eastervn scales.

I recorded it in 2019, between Denmark and Cairo. And then… I left it. Not because I didn’t believe in it, but because I never found the right moment—or the focus—to finish it. In the meantime, it’s lived its own life on stage. I’ve played it with The Fifth String Ensemble, with Ensemble Storstrøm, and once even heard it carried across the airwaves on a live radio broadcast. Audiences have always responded warmly, but the recording itself remained in limbo.

Now, I’m finally back with it. I’m mixing it myself and plan to release it this winter. Before that, I want to share a few raw sketches from the process here—unfinished, but full of the journey that’s brought the piece this far.

Here’s the live version with ENSEMBLE STORSTRØM: