Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen: Farvefisen Blomstrer

The band Sweet Banditry asks the musical question, "if a post-punk jazz band sings in Danish, does the sound still scare you?" The answer is definitely, yes! Saxophonist Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen of The Slow Food Cook Book, Louie's Spaced-Out Ensemble, and the duos Herbert Eckardt with percussionist Luca Marin and Seiki with drummer Andreas Pichler, composed and organizes Sweet Banditry with her New York partners.

The music, dedicated to controversial Danish filmmaker Jens Jørgen Thorsen, stacks a punk performance upon composed and improvised heavy metal jazz. Jensen matches her husband, bassist Tom Blancarte (Peter Evans Quintet) with Mostly Other People Do The Killing, drummer Kevin Shea and their newest member Brandon Seabrook, who replaces his banjo here for guitar.

The full frontal assault of "Charlotte" opens with the walking bass over roiling drums and some eerie spoken, then wordless vocals. The hammer of Seabrook's guitar charges Jensen's rant. She's the Danish version of Naked City's Yamatsuka Eye. Barely a moment of respite is obtainable here. The heavy heavy sound of "Drone War (my life is more important than yours)" comes thundering down with pummeling bass and speed-bag drumming. The piece flows into a parade of reverberating sound against the speed-shredding of Seabrook.

The eerie freakish "Det usynlige, Lille Land" (The Invisible, Small Country) is a horror movie of apprehensive sound. Jensen weaves whistling electronics and flute through a minefield of anxiety. The theatrical "FY SKAM JER!" rubs echoey guitar against spoken/sung lyric. When the band isn't in full assault mode, they are focused on such grim fairy tales.

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