AALY TRIO: Sustain

The previous recording by the AALY Trio, comprised of saxophonist (and flutist) Mats Gustafsson, double bassist Peter Janson and drummer Kjell Nordeson, was recorded 25 years prior (Double Or Nothing, Okka Disk, 2002). The reunion of this Swedish outfit is cause for celebration.

If we rewind the clock a bit, Gustafsson and Janson began playing together in the early 1980s. They formed this trio in 1986 and named it after an Art Ensemble Of Chicago composition, "Lebert Aaly: Dedication To Albert Ayler." Gustafsson was heavy into the music of Roscoe Mitchell, Ayler, and Swedish free jazz legend Bengt Nordstrom. After utilizing several bassists, they settled on Janson. The trio released five previous albums, all with the edition of Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark. The transatlantic connections were made, and so were the careers of many a Nordic and American musician.

The artists have aged, but have lost none of the intensity of those early recordings. The disc opens and closes with a cover of Mitchell's aptly titled "Rock Out." With Janson's funk-heavy pulse, Gustafsson duels Nordeson over groove assault. This trio knows its free jazz history with covers of compositions by Frank Wright, Norman Howard and the lesser-known American bassist David Wertman. They also cover Vandermark's "Why I Don't Go Back," which can also be heard on their releases Hidden In The Stomach (Silkheart, 1997) and Stumble (Wobbly Rail, 1998). Returning to this piece sans Vandermark, we hear a corpulent, lumbering baritone saxophonist squeezing every drop of screaming emotion from his lungs.

Of the eleven tracks, four were improvised by the trio. Each of those could easily be transcribed and presented as compositions, as the trio is adept at instant composing. "Dustdiver Kneeling" sounds as if it is constantly falling forward, that is, without falling apart, and "Deepfreeze Pretend" stutters with Gustafsson's baritone saxophone vocalizing an array of chirps and pops. To quote Thelonious Monk, "You've got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"