The Thing

The Thing: Again

by Mark Corroto
June 9, 2018

Wait for it. Wait. At some point during a performance or recording by the trio known as The Thing, the band attempts to rip your face off, beginning with your ears. It's been that way since they were founded in 2000. The Swedish/Norwegian free jazz/garage band have become a kind of jazz/punk royalty, cutting huge swaths into jazz conventions without ignoring jazz traditions. Yeah, their apparent contradictory nature is part of the attraction. Again is their 20th release, ...

French Connections - The Jazzdor Experience

by Henning Bolte
January 25, 2018

Jazzdor is a French festival with two annual editions. The main part is held in the Strasbourg area (France) in November and the other one in Berlin (Germany) in June. Both editions present a considerable number of bilateral and multilateral collaborations; an essential part of the festival's philosophy and policy. The Strasbourg festival is the older part and home of the organization. The Strasbourg festival covers two weeks in November, collaborating with the neighboring German city of Offenburg ...

The Thing: Boot!

by Mark Corroto
November 18, 2013

Somebody should inform the members of the Scandinavian free jazz trio The Thing they are not rock stars. I repeat, somebody tell saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, you are not lizard kings. The release of Boot!, their sixth studio album since forming in 1999, is a follow-up to the widely celebrated session The Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound, 2012) with Neneh Cherry. The band has also collaborated with the likes of Thurston Moore, ...

The Thing, London, October 4, 2011

by John Sharpe
October 28, 2011

The ThingCafe Oto,London, UKOctober 4, 2011 Back in London for the second time in under a year, The Thing held court in north London to a Cafe Oto rammed with a gratifyingly young crowd. When the Scandinavian trio, comprising the Norwegian rhythm pairing of drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, in consort with Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, started out back in 2000, their book contained mainly tunes by trumpeter Don Cherry (hence the ...

The Thing: Bag It!

by Andrey Henkin
June 1, 2009

One of the most appealing facets of The Thing-- saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love--is the visceral experience of seeing them play live. Huddled closely on stage, wearing matching Ruby's BBQ of Austin t-shirts, dripping with sweat and manhandling their instruments, the trio is one of the modern wonders of avant-garde jazz. The band, with Gustafsson solely on tenor instead of the expected baritone, headlined a bill at Brooklyn's Zebulon last month ...

The Thing: Action Jazz

by Eyal Hareuveni
August 3, 2006

The Scandinavian trio known as The Thing--Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and two Norwegians, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love--seems to be rewriting the definition of its brand of brutal jazz. After being compared to Peter Brötzmann's early trios, being called a power jazz trio, and being compared to garage rock, The Thing has settled on the term Action Jazz to describe this delicious hell of a noise.

Action Jazz, recorded in Stockholm in December 2005, is the fourth ...

The Thing: Live At Blå / Mats Gustafsson: Catapult

by Andrey Henkin
September 16, 2005

Last summer, this reviewer was first exposed to the Scandinavian group The Thing in the best possible way; he was run over by them. The trio, Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love (both Norwegian), played a brutal set at the Oslo club Blå as part of that city's Jazz Festival. Blå, Oslo's answer to Tonic, is The Thing's homebase and a new record documents a performance from there in June 2003. ...

Perfection: David Allyn - Love Is a Serious Thing (1962)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 13, 2025

Frank Sinatra had a soft spot for singer David Allyn. His affection and help in Las Vegas wasn't based on pity. David had suffered psychologically during his service in World War II and went to prison for eight years on drug charges after attempts to self-medicate led to addiction. Sinatra admired Allyn because he was a superb emotional jazz balladeer who also could swing. But they shared more. Both singers had major professional turning points at virtually the same time—in ...
read more

Backgrounder: Al Sears - Swing's the Thing (1960)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 1, 2025

Al Sears was one of those versatile tenor saxophonists who could slide between jazz and R&B in the 1950s. Born in 1910, he landed his first major professional job as the replacement for Johnny Hodges in Chick Webb's group in 1928. In the 1940s, he played with Andy Kirk (1941-42), Lionel Hampton (1943-44) and Duke Ellington (1944), replacing Ben Webster. To teens in the 1950s, he was known as Big Al Sears, recording R&B on a series of independent labels ...
read more

Rebecca Coupe Franks - New Release - Every Little Thing Counts - With Sheryl Bailey, Jessica Jones & More!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations
August 6, 2020

Rebecca Coupe Franks (aka Coupe) was born and raised in Aptos, California and currently resides in Gardiner, New York after living in New York City for 10 years. Coupe's new release Every Little Thing Counts is a blend of styles; blues, jazz and singer/songwriter. It consists of 15 original songs/lyrics. All the songs are sung by Coupe who has a subtle and distinct voice. Coupe also plays her trumpet which she is renowned for throughout her 35-year career in the ...
read more

Rebecca Coupe Franks "Every Little Thing Counts" Release Date: July 1st

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations
June 20, 2020

Rebecca Coupe Franks (aka Coupe) was born and raised in Aptos, California and currently resides in Gardiner, New York after living in New York City for 10 years. Coupe's new release Every Little Thing Counts is a blend of styles; blues, jazz and singer/songwriter. It consists of 15 original songs/lyrics. All the songs are sung by Coupe who has a subtle and distinct voice. Coupe also plays her trumpet which she is renowned for throughout her 35-year career in the ...
read more

New Orleans’ Next Great Big Thing! Quiana Lynell To Play Toronto's George Weston Recital Hall

Source: Grant Ramsay
December 14, 2019

TO Live presents “New Orleans’ next big thing”—Quiana Lynell—at the George Weston Recital Hall on February 15, 2020. Part of TO Live’s “Jazz at the George” series, all tickets are $35 and are available online at meridianartscentre.com, by calling 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754, or in person at select TO Live box offices. Winner of the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition Award, the prize afforded her the opportunity to record an album for Concord Jazz. The result, 2019’s A Little ...
read more

US Streaming Growth Is Slowing, But That's Not A Bad Thing

Source: HypeBot
July 11, 2019

Streaming growth is slowing down in the US according to the Nielsen Music Mid-Year Report.  But don't hit the panic button, writes Bobby Owsinski, There's still plenty of room for growth worldwide. By Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 The latest Nielsen Music Mid-Year Report shows that streaming has actually dropped by 5% in the U.S., which is causing some unneeded panic to occur in some sectors of the music business. With streaming growth predicted to continue for the next 10 years, any sign of ...
read more

Trombeatz 'A Caribbean Thing' - Hot Premiere Release & Upcoming Dates!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations
July 6, 2019

The Trombeatz Story The members of Trombeatz are all professional artists, but above all else, they are friends, whose only interest is to create and disseminate music. This premiere release came out April 14, 2019. Hommy Ramos Trombonist Hommy Ramos, who also serves as the ensemble's musical director, began forming the initial incarnation of Trombeatz in 2005. Nelson Bello Nelson Bello is the band's primary percussionist and conga player. Ramos and Bello met while working together in different “Latin" bands ...
read more

Jazz this week: The Thing, Denise Thimes, Charlie Hunter, Victor Wooten Trio, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 21, 2018

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features several stellar singers; the local debut of an esteemed free jazz trio; some straight-up bebop; funky sounds from New Orleans, California, and beyond; and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, March 21 Singer Brian Owens will performs for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, revisiting some of the jazz material he did earlier in his career, with backing from pianist Adam Maness' ...
read more

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on The Thing

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 10, 2018

Today, let's check out some videos featuring The Thing, who will be in St. Louis later this month for a show presented by New Music Circle on Thursday, March 22 at Off Broadway. With an energetic, extroverted style that's sometimes been called “Action Jazz" (after their 2006 album of the same name), saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten draw as much inspiration from punk rock and various world musics as they do from the jazz ...
read more

Composers Sing Their Thing

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 11, 2016

I thought we'd do something a little different to start the week. Here are five nifty clips of composers playing and singing their own songs: Here's Joe Bushkin with Rosemary Clooney and the Hi-Lo's in 1956 singing Oh Look at Me Now. Dig Rosey's confidence and beautiful phrasing (and who knew Bushkin could sing this well!)... Here's Matt Dennis singing Violets for Your Furs on the Rosemary Clooney Show in 1957... Here's Bobby Troup singing It Happened Once Before in ...
read more