Jazz Articles about Cortex

About Cortex

Album Review

Jazz Out of Norway: 12th Set 2026

Read "12th Set 2026" reviewed by Daniel Mège

by Daniel Mège
September 28, 2026

Jazz Out Of Norway is a collection on Odin Records that compiles tracks drawn from some of the most emblematic albums released in Norway since 1989. The 12th Set is a valuable document that takes stock of the situation in 2026. This edition is remarkable for its musicality, its diversity of styles, but also for the sequencing of the 36 tracks (almost three hours), which highlights each one within the setting created by the tracks surrounding it. The ...

Album Review

Cortex: Legal Tender

Read "Legal Tender" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 8, 2021

The Norwegian quartet Cortex answers the question, what would have happened if the Wynton Marsalis and Branford Marsalis, had advanced the jazz canon instead of looking backwards for inspiration. Remember when the two young lions burst onto the scene in the 1980s with their self-righteous mission to save jazz? They did so by stuffing it, much like a taxidermist, to preserve an endangered species. Their neocon approach actually can make us grateful for bands like Cortex with their inclinations to ...

Radio & Podcasts

A Musical Portrait Of Cortex

by Centro d'Arte Padova
July 25, 2018

For this new installment of our “50/50" series, we asked the members of Cortex (Thomas Johansson, Kristoffer Berre Alberts, Ola Høyer, Gard Nilssen), one of the most interesting groups in the burgeoning Norwegian jazz scene, to choose five tracks that inspired them in their music making. We then completed the selection with five other tracks taken from the band's already rich discography. Playlist Cortex “Opening" from Live! (Clean Feed) 00:00 Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath “Mra" from ...

Album Review

Cortex: Avant-Garde Party Music

Read "Avant-Garde Party Music" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
April 3, 2018

Fossero tutte così le party-band! Cortex e Clean Feed colpiscono ancora e questo nuovo e ironico Avant-Garde Party Music la dice lunga sulle prospettive dello straordinario quartetto norvegese che dà alle stampe un nuovo capitolo della loro fortunata discografia. Se qualcuno cercasse una naturale evoluzione di un moderno hard-bop che attraversando gli insegnamenti di Ornette Coleman giunge ad un iper-realista punk-jazz mediato dalle filosofie del “free," lo può certamente trovare nelle spire di questa incisione e, più in ...

Album Review

Cortex: Avant-Garde Party Music

Read "Avant-Garde Party Music" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 1, 2018

Why change a winning formula? If Norwegian crew Cortex has considered that question, then the response was likely an unconcerned shrug. Studio session Avant-Garde Party Music continues firmly in the winning vein established by Clean Feed predecessors Live! (2014) and Live In New York (2016), mashing 1960s New Thing tropes with contemporary inside/outside soloing. Trumpeter Thomas Johansson pens all eight pieces in the 38-minute program, for the by now familiar cast list, completed by reedman Kristoffer Berre Alberts. bassist Ola ...

Year in Review

Mark Corroto's Best Releases of 2017

by Mark Corroto
December 14, 2017

And what a year it was. With all hurricanes, raging fires, and end-of-the-world politics, we were fortunate to have the magical salve that is music. Complied here are my favorite releases of this past year. I tried to pare down a long list of 50 to 10, but it was impossible. The music you see below has continued in heavy rotation in my house, my car, and on my phone. Matthew Shipp Trio Piano Song

Album Review

Cortex: Avant-Garde Party Music

Read "Avant-Garde Party Music" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
October 26, 2017

Do you have Blue Zone envy? You know the places where people live the longest and happiest lives on the planet. They seem to get more physical activity then we do, eat better, love their communities and politicians. Politicians? I know. They even make some of the best modern jazz. Case in point the Norwegian quartet Cortex. It includes trumpeter Thomas Johansson (Friends & Neighbors, Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit), saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts (Saka, Snik, Starlite Motel), bassist Ola Høyer ...