Jazz Articles about Thomas Strønen

Thomas Stronen: Parish

by John Kelman
March 9, 2006

While Parish's first album, the live Rica (Challenge, 2003), was more collaborative from a compositional perspective, the group's new eponymous record continues to be the brainchild of Norwegian percussionist Thomas Strønen. With strong players like fellow Norwegian double-bassist Mats Eilertsen, Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson and clarinetist/saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist, Parish couldn't be anything but highly collaborative. The sixteen tracks on the new record may be considerably shorter than the extended workouts on Rica, but this time the bulk of the actual ...

Iain Ballamy: Organic & GM Food

by AAJ Staff
July 25, 2003

Iain Ballamy’s Food peppers the aural senses with 2001’s Organic & GM Food, paying tribute to its inspiration while pushing the music into subconscious areas. If this record is a meal, its contents are not to be easily digested by everyone. It drives forward with a potent musical sensibility and aesthetic sense. The less traditional your tastes are, the better. I hated avant-garde music-- until now.

Free (or avant-garde) jazz sometimes gets a bad rap for being too emotive. Iain ...