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Magnus Broo
Angles + Elle-Kari With Strings: The Death Of Kalypso

by Chris May
As a genre, jazz-opera is thinly populated. The recorded archive is marked more by quality than quantity, with albums by Mike Westbrook and Kate Westbrook, Carla Bley and Charlie Haden to the fore. But the best ever jazz-opera, in this parish anyway, predates anything by these musicians. Composer Todd Matshikiza and lyricist Pat Williams' King Kong premiered in the Great Hall of the University of Johannesburg in February 1959 to rapturous reviews, and went on to romp through sold-out proscenium-arch ...
Continue ReadingMartin Sjöstedt & Stockholm Jazz Orchestra: Horizon

by Neil Duggan
The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra has been together since 1984--40 years at this writing. That is quite an achievement. especially in an age where large ensembles make little financial sense. In 1986, Bob Brookmeyer joined the band as a guest, eventually leading to his compositions featuring on their debut album, Dreams (Dragon, 1988). Subsequently, they have played with artists such as Maria Schneider and The Yellowjackets and undertaken numerous worldwide tours. Operating similarly to a jazz collective, all the ...
Continue ReadingAngles: A Muted Reality

by Mark Corroto
For Swedish saxophonist Martin Küchen, all music is folk music. Proof of that statement is the Angles' release A Muted Reality. Whether he is referencing Balkan, African, Swedish, American jazz or Spanish dialects, he is drawing on kindred spirits in his music. With the various editions of his Angles projects, from trios to 10-piece small big bands, he releases music of the people, i.e. people music. This version of Küchen's Angles is an octet and the eleventh in a continuous ...
Continue ReadingI.P.A.: Bashing Mushrooms

by Troy Dostert
Comprised of an impressive roster of Scandinavian all-stars, I.P.A. might only need a better name if the group is to break through to wider notice. Harnessing its commitment to post-bop freedom to thoughtful tunecraft, the band's music is both accessible and tough-edged, cerebral and hard-grooving in equal measure. The quintet's first Cuneiform release, I Just Did Say Something was a highlight of 2016, and its follow-up on the venerable label, Bashing Mushrooms, is another winner, albeit with somewhat more muted ...
Continue ReadingMagnus Broo Trio: Rules

by Vincenzo Roggero
Tre improvvisatori tra i più attivi e innovativi della scena scandinava (in ordine sparso Atomic, Angles, The Thing, Jan Garbarek, per citare solo alcune collaborazioni) che si cimentano con una manciata di standard che più standard non si può. Non stiamo parlando di fake news ma Rules album a nome Magnus Broo Trio uscito per Moserobie, etichetta che come poche è impegnata a testimoniare la vitalità di quella scena. E giusto per rimanere in linea , nessuna rilettura eclatante, nessun ...
Continue ReadingMagnus Broo: Swedish Wood

by Mark Corroto
Those partial to avant-garde musicians who swing will prefer trumpeter Magnus Broo's Swedish Wood over fans of neoconservatives that embrace freedom. Broo's melodic take on the two-bass (Torbjörn Zetterberg and Joe Williamson) and drummer (Håkon Mjåset Johansen) quartet finds him mostly playing the straight-man to his adventurist and sometime comedic band members. Fans of the Chicago/Swedish jazz connection will be familiar with Broo's trumpet sound in Adam Lane's 4 Corners (Clean Feed, 2007), with Ken Vandermark, and more ...
Continue ReadingAtomic: Retrograde

by Lloyd N. Peterson Jr.
Every time I have the opportunity to attend a performance by Atomic, I find myself asking, how does a band this dynamic and creative miss the radar on so many different media and industry levels? If the Miles Davis Quintet with Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock could have rocked, they would have been the brilliant and ass-kicking Atomic. If they were from New York, my peers would be drooling at the opportunity to discover the arrival ...
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