Jonas Cambien's Maca Conu: Maca Conu

While Oslo-based Belgian pianist Jonas Cambien's Maca Conu may be a new venture, it has a lot in common with his trio which made a series of acclaimed albums, including A Zoology of the Future (Clean Feed, 2016) and We Must Mustn't We (Clean Feed, 2018). Not least of that is down to the continued tenure of Andreas Wildhagen on the drum stool. Keeping him company are fellow Norwegian, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, perhaps still best known as one third of Scandinavian power trio The Thing, and in-demand Danish saxophonist Signe Emmeluth, as well as Cambien himself on both piano and organ.

Wildhagen's canny amalgams of timbre and cadence, often with an anarchic clattery edge, remain critical for Cambien's conception, where one of the main compositional tools is the intersection of stacked rhythms and sequences of angular interlocking phrases. The often wayward-inclined saxophone of Emmeluth proves another notable asset. Thanks to the excitement and unpredictability of her playing she has become almost a ubiquitous presence, leading not only her own dates, but also adding firepower to Paal Nilssen-Love's Circus, Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra and Andreas Roysum's Ensemble, to name just a few.

Cambien himself presents as an especially propulsive player. The inclusion of Håker Flaten to supplement and reinforce the forward motion might be expected to free up Cambien. But if that happens it is less to solo than to contribute yet more layers. The opening "A Terrible Misunderstanding" exemplifies the band's modus operandi as saxophone, drums and piano jerkily navigate staggered unisons, with Emmeluth's fractious asides in the cracks suggesting she can barely be contained. The ensuing "Holy Fishtail" highlights another of the unit's characteristics: the relentless drive.

Although the group sometimes they maintain a particular feel for the duration, as on the primal stomp of "Blue Eyed Peco," they more often favor the sort of dizzying mix found on "Question The Answer," which veers from a skirling bagpipe vibe through a Sun Ra-style freakout, a rapid-fire drum tattoo, and a squiggling organ and saxophone duet, all capped by a concluding celebratory outburst. Special guest Guro Kvåle's trombone interweaves with Emmeluth to pleasing effect on "Once Low Now High" and bulks out the front line on "Good Frenemy." Although Håker Flaten enjoys an extended fleet-fingered excursion on "The Lesser Evil Is The One That Hits You," generally individual features are pithy and integrated.

Cambien's outfit bewitches and enthralls as it infuses tightly scripted charts with an air of exuberant spontaneity.