Stille Grender is a quartet of four jazz musicians who love jazz almost as much as they love Christmas.

The name of the group translates into «Quiet Hamlets» and is borrowed from the lines of a beloved Norwegian Christmas song by the author and poet Jakob Sande (1906-1967) called «Det lyser i stille grender» («Lights shining from quiet hamlets»). This song is honoured as the first track on the new album.

The name of the album, “Svart senker natten seg” (“Black the night descends”), is taken from the first line of a Norwegian version of a song about Saint Lucy, “Santa Lucia”, the patron saint of sight. The celebration of Saint Lucy in the Nordic countries, on December the 13th, is the start of

the Christmas celebration and is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year. The name of the album says something about the fear we have of figuratively an impending darkness in the world, but hopefully also, through the connection with Saint Lucy, it says something about the profound value of insight, dedication and clarity of vision during

difficult times.

The distinct sound of the band clearly demonstrates that the members are all jazz musicians at heart. The material however is all about Christmas, and the entire repertoire is taken from traditional and more contemporary Christmas music, from different parts of the world, including one new original song. On the album there are also traditional melodies from both Palestine and Ukraine, something that they think is important to highlight, especially now.