Jazz Articles about Mellow Motif

Motif: My Head is Listening

by Glenn Astarita
February 2, 2017

This Scandinavian band lives by its moniker. Indeed, most of these works are framed on a sequence of primary motifs, mini- motifs and sub-motifs, interspersed with knockdown, drag-out cadenzas that span free jazz, semi-free jazz, modern jazz and so on. At times this collective seems to thrive on nervous energy amid a surfeit of highs, lows and briskly executed reverse- engineering parameters. They go from one extreme to another, whether it's dainty horns and piano etudes to moments of quietude ...