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Jazz Articles about Andre Roligheten
Friends & Neighbors: Circles
by John Sharpe
Even some 60 years after its birth, the free jazz of the American New Thing remains a fertile source of inspiration in 2024. On its sixth album, Circles, Norwegian quintet Friends & Neighbors continues to find rich avenues to explore in its updated repurposing of the naked expressionism of the 1960's avant-garde. An unchanged line up comprises some of the most in-demand players on the European scene in saxophonist André Roligheten (Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity and Supersonic Orchestra), trumpeter Thomas ...
Continue ReadingFriends & Neighbors: Circles
by Mark Corroto
Let's talk about Bird. Bird, not as in the sobriquet given to Charlie Parker but the actions of a bird, such as a parrot. Many a musician mechanically repeats the music of their musical heroes. For example, after Parker, we hear Phil Woods and Sonny Stitt recycling bebop. The Miles Davis' quintet of the 1960s begat the so-called young lions of the 1980s and 90s repeating the discoveries of post-bop jazz. So, when a Scandinavian quintet chooses a band name ...
Continue ReadingAndré Roligheten, Angelica Sanchez, Ron Horton, Bright Magus & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
This episode features music inspired by Miles Davis, Andrew Hill and Buddy Emmons, but also by the Amazon Forest and the rivers of the Brazilian North-East.Happy Listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Bright Magus “Long Legs" Jungle Corner (Irma) 0:16 Host talks 5:20 André Roligheten “Whale Waltz" Marbles (Odin) 7:38 Rich Hinman “Slow Drip" Memorial (Colorfield) 14:21 Host talks 17:37 Verneri Pohjola “Bebe" Monkey Mind (Edition) 19:31 Amaro Freitas ...
Continue ReadingAndre Roligheten: Marbles
by Chris May
Tenor saxophonist André Roligheten is best known outside his native Norway, and wider Scandinavia, as a member of drummer Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity and as a composer/arranger in the berserker big band, Supersonic Orchestra. Nilssen returns the favour on Marbles, one of Roligheten's infrequent own-name releases. The album has grown out of a band Roligheten put together in spring 2021 for the Trondheim Jazz Festival, which had commissioned a new piece from him. The band was called ...
Continue ReadingGard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra: Family
by Mark Corroto
Why can't all music be supersonic? That does not mean supersonic as in a speed exceeding that of sound, but sound that is sonically superlative. Drummer, composer, and bandleader Gard Nilssen's music is seemingly always sonically superb. His 17-piece Supersonic Orchestra was captured in 2022 at the Mondriaan Jazz Festival in Den Haag, Netherlands, for Family, his follow-up to If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours (Odin 2020). The Supersonic Orchestra is made up of seven saxophones ...
Continue ReadingGard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity: To Whom Who Buys A Record
by Chris May
In July 2019, Gard Nilssen will be Artist-in-Residence at the prestigious, future-facing Molde Jazz Festival. It will be a busy week for the Norwegian drummer, composer and sonic adventurer. As well as guest appearances, he will perform with several of his bands--SpaceMonkey, an electronica/dance music mash-up he co-founded five years ago; Bushman's Revenge, which may be the missing link between Albert Ayler and Black Sabbath and which he co-founded in 2003; the more recently formed Amgala Temple, which draws comparisons ...
Continue ReadingGard Nilssen Acoustic Unity: Elastic Wave
by Chris May
The last time we heard from Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen as a leader was with his Supersonic Orchestra—a three-drummer, three-bassist behemoth whose 2020 album, If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours (Odin), proved that, contrary to the precedent set by Stan Kenton, it is possible to assemble a big band packing Death Star-level ordnance which nevertheless allows for subtlety, agility and humanity. Extraordinarily prolific, Nilssen has since 2007 recorded over seventy albums, a fair few of ...
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