Live In Europe (Clean Feed)

Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity Trio

Released September 14, 2017

DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review

YouTube:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kb06go6IWU8_KhV22AcotDcdYL5rRWWbw

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About:

If we were in the seventies and a release like this – a triple LP – crossed our way, we would think that progressive rock was receiving its most ambitious conceptual album ever, but no. The year is 2017 and “Live in Europe” is something else entirely: a celebration of improvised music in its purest form, recorded in concert – as it should. Gard Nilssen’s trio Acoustic Unity played in the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Ljubljana Jazz Festival and the Oslo Jazz Festival in 2016 and the entirety of those performances were documented. Only in the first vinyll we find the triangle formed by the drummer with André Roligheten and Petter Eldh. The second has the contributions of Fredrik Ljungkvist and the third of Kristoffer Alberts and Jørgen Mathisen. The effect, anyhow, is very similar: this is a very special edition, and it has the same impact in the present creative jazz scene that it would have 40 years ago if it was something coming from King Crimson or Frank Zappa. The importance of this group in instantaneous composition with jazz as its foundation is equivalent. Nilssen’s enthusiasm on the liner notes is very clear: this is «one of the best bands I’ve ever been a part of by far». Why? Because these musicians are re-inventing melody and rhythm while improvising, and that’s not a common task.

Track Listing:

CD1

1. When Pigs Fly (André Roligheten) 4:53

2. Hymne / Roundtrip (Gard Nilssen)     11:31

3. Mormor (Gard Nilssen) 5:27

4. Jack (André Roligheten / Gard Nilssen) 6:47

5. Zig Zag (André Roligheten) 3:07

6. Rushen (Petter Eldh) 3:47

7. Gammal Rottegift (Gard Nilssen) 5:47

CD2

1. Summer Ale (André Roligheten) 7:09

2. Rushen (Petter Eldh) 4:59

3. Gammal Rottegift (Gard Nilssen) 7:35

4. Hymne / Roundtrip (Gard Nilssen) 9:35

5. Zig Zag (André Roligheten) 3:12

6. Salad Days (André Roligheten) 4:51

CD3

1. Hymne / Roundtrip (Gard Nilssen) 13:40

2. Mormor (Gard Nilssen) 7:56

3. When Pigs Fly (André Roligheten) 5:53

4. Utleimegleren (André Roligheten) 4:30

5. Zig Zag (André Roligheten) 5:14

6. Adam’s Ale (André Roligheten) 4:58

Personnel:

Gard Nilssen: drums

Petter Eldh: double bass

André Roligheten: tenor & soprano saxophones

Featuring

Fredrik Ljungkvist: tenor saxophone & clarinet (CD2)

Kristoffer Berre Alberts: alto, tenor & barytone saxophones (CD3)

Jørgen Mathisen: tenor saxophone & clarinet (CD3)

CD1 recorded at North Sea Jazz Festival 8th of July 2016 by Alex Fiennes

CD2 recorded at Ljubljana Jazz Festival 2nd of July 2016 by Luís Delgado

CD3 recorded at Oslo Jazz Festival 18th of August 2016 by David Solheim

Mixed by Ingar Hunskaar, January-February 2017

Mastered by Fridtjof Lindemann, March 2017

Produced by Gard Nilssen and André Roligheten

Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul

Photos by Petra Cvelbar, Tore Sætre, Eddy Westveer, Ketil Hardy & Gard Nilssen

Cover design by Travassos

Review:

Live In Europe is a three-disc set, captured last summer, as Nilssen appeared at the North Sea, Ljubljana and Oslo jazz festivals. The North Sea disc features the core trio of Nilssen with tenor and soprano saxophonist André Roligheten and bassist Petter Eldh, whereas the Ljubljana and Oslo sets welcome guesting reedsmen. The writing credits are divided between trio members, but their compositions are all ammunition for intense improvisatory roaming. Nilssen is continuously propulsive, but Roligheten is driving, too, with Eldh frequently providing the almost-stable pivot. The trio’s expressive qualities can range from enraged to pensive. And besides rolling momentum, Nilssen also manages to include a steady run of articulate accents and embellishments. In Ljubljana, Fredrik Ljungkvist guests on tenor saxophone and clarinet. With two horns dancing, Ornette Coleman comparisons are cemented. But there is also more opportunity for radical divergence: As one tenor solos frantically, the other builds a tonal surface. The Oslo set counts three saxophonists, adding Jørgen Mathisen and Kristoffer Berre Alberts (who along with Nilssen is a member of Cortex). This hometown gig is the most exciting of the three, as the flaming solo torch is passed around, with full potential realized amid thematic grandeur.

Martin Longley (DownBeat)