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Jazz Articles about Thomas Johansson
Scheen Jazzorkester & Fredrik Ljungkvist: Framat!
by Mark Corroto
Scandinavian large ensembles have much to teach their more conservative American counterparts about reinventing the jazz orchestra for the 21st century. Framåt! by Scheen Jazzorkester is a powerful affirmation of this idea. This Norwegian ensemble has consistently pushed the boundaries of large ensemble jazz, and Framåti--their tenth release since forming in 2010--is another compelling addition to their adventurous discography. Preceding this album were two Thomas Johansson-led projects, As We See It (2019) and Frameworks (2014), both released on ...
Continue ReadingScheen Jazzorkester & Cortex: Frameworks
by John Sharpe
Frameworks is the sort of project that would be difficult to envisage anywhere other than the supportive cultural ecosystem of Norway. Calling on diverse funding streams, it brings together the 11-member Scheen Jazzorkester (SJO) and the forward looking quartet Cortex, in a venture masterminded by the latter's trumpeter Thomas Johansson. Established in 2010 as a professional large jazz ensemble, the SJO has become a major force in Norwegian progressive composer-based ensembles with numerous releases to its name. Johansson's roots are ...
Continue ReadingFriends & 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 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 ReadingRodrigo Amado Northern Liberties: We Are Electric
by John Sharpe
Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado hits the jackpot with the debut by his Northern Liberties quartet. He's found gifted collaborators in the Norwegian threesome of trumpeter Thomas Johansson, drummer Gard Nilssen and bassist Jon Rune Strøm. Amado's preferred domain is muscular free jazz. It's territory he's thoroughly explored with his Motion Trio, supplemented by guests like trumpeter Peter Evans and pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, and with his This Is Our Language band with Joe McPhee. While the Scandinavian ...
Continue ReadingRodrigo Amado Northern Liberties: We Are Electric
by Mark Corroto
The predicament with modern albums is that an album is often more than just one album. With the advent of streaming music, and compact discs before it, music expands beyond the unit we traditionally designated as side one or side two of an LP. A perfect example of this concept is We Are Electric by the Portuguese-Norwegian collaboration Rodrigo Amado Northern Liberties. Three of the four tracks here could easily be considered a freestanding LP side and, if that were ...
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