Aleksandra Orbeck Nilssen

Acoustic Unity, driven by the stick work of prolific Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen along with his longtime compositional collaborator and saxophonist André Roligheten and Swedish bassist Petter Eldh, plays explorative post-bop originals that can lean into free jazz or up the tempos and grow agitated, before sliding into a wonderfully melodic slow mode. While the title of the trio's last album, To Whom Who Buys a Record, was a direct nod to Ornette Coleman and his To Who Whom Keeps a Record album, Roligheten, who can at times sound like John Coltrane, here more resembles a friskier, young Sonny Rollins: short honks, streaking statements and fleet galloping.

Fasten your seat belt, please. Get ready for the full tilt, barely tamed, beautiful monster that is Gard Nilssen’s sixteen-piece Supersonic Orchestra. Audacious and experimentalist, like everything the Norwegian drummer and composer touches, Supersonic flouts convention and, in particular, realigns the longstanding relationship between pre-composition and improvisation in orchestral jazz. If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours, its debut, was recorded live at the adventurous Molde International Jazz Festival in 2019, where Nilssen was Artist in Residence. The band’s uniquely configured, all-star lineup features three drummers, three double bassists and ten horn players, most of them saxophonists. It is a big band, Jim, but not as we know it.

Der norwegische Schlagzeuger/Komponist Gard Nilssen debütiert bei We Jazz Records mit seinem neuen Album »Family« mit dem 17-köpfigen Supersonic Orchestra.

Albums by saxophone, bass and drums trios include some of the classics of post-bop jazz. Sonny Rollins set the bar high with A Night At The Village Vanguard in 1957. Albert Ayler raised it even higher with Spiritual Unity in 1964. Those discs are tough acts to follow. Not for nothing was another of Rollins 1957 albums titled Saxophone Colossus. As a conservatoire would judge it, Rollins had more technique than Ayler. But unlike Ayler, Rollins was never a team player. Even when accompanied by musicians as distinguished as Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones, as he was at the Village Vanguard, he considered them accompanists rather than collaborators. They were there to provide a groove for his improvising genius and otherwise keep out of his way.

The association between Norwegian Drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark has seemingly been one of continuously paring down boundaries and borders. As members of the band School Days, the two musicians have met up with equal parts Chicago and Norway in quartet/quintet settings to make the records Crossing Division (2000) and In Our Times (2002). Later Vandermark and Nilssen-Love formed the trio FME (2002) with bassist Nate McBride. Each cropping away of players took away more form and structured music.

Paal Nilssen-Love – *Townorchestrahouse* (2005) is an experimental jazz album by Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Known for his energetic and innovative drumming, Nilssen-Love leads this project that blends free jazz with elements of improvisation and avant-garde music. The album features dynamic rhythms, spontaneous interactions, and bold sonic textures, creating an intense and unpredictable listening experience. *Townorchestrahouse* highlights Nilssen-Love’s ability to push the boundaries of traditional jazz drumming, emphasizing creativity and exploration. It is celebrated by fans of experimental and contemporary jazz for its raw energy and artistic daring.

So many soundtracks being released in the past month or so its hard to keep up with them all, the trouble being is that they are all very very good indeed, which I suppose is a nice problem to have, but how do you (1) afford them all and (2) Which ones do you decide that maybe you could live without? It’s a real problem isn’t it. THE MYSTERY OF THE DRAGON SEAL is one you will not want to miss out on, this is an epic score which is fully symphonic and contains a grandiose array of rich, lush, lavish and sweeping thematic material. It is one of those scores that one thinks where did this all came from and who is the composer? Aleksandra Maghakyan is who She is and wow what an accomplished composer She is too. She has created an opulent and lavish soundtrack, which for me rivals anything written by any one of the A lister film music composers of today.

The best improvisors are the ones that seem to invent and uninvent their instruments right in front of your eyes and ears. Swedish pianist Sten Sandell and Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love are two musical champions with a long experience of doing exactly that. Jacana, the latest in Rune Grammofon's occasional series of unusual duo combinations, features the pair's sparky improvised set captured at the 2013 Kongsberg Jazz Festival in southern Norway.

Northern light made the world look more clear and the colours became more intense. During the long and dark winter evenings I admired the way the people in Scandinavia had mastered the art of lighting their homes. Ever-present candles giving warm, natural light stood not only on windowsills, but also on pavements and streets, creating a mysterious, but also cosy atmosphere. Thanks to absence of curtains on most windows, the anonymous passenger of tram number 19 – running across the Majorstua district, could easily admire the stunning interiors of Scandinavian townhouses.