Thomas Strønen, Gard Nillsen, Things Of This Nature & Atlas Maior

Norway is a country that punches way above its weight when it comes to producing excellent jazz musicians, and two of the best drummers from that country have released excellent recordings of late: Thomas Strønen & Time Is A Blind Guide's Off Stillness and Gard Nilssen with an expanded Acoustic Unity, celebrating their tenth anniversary. The contrast between their approaches to drumming, composition and concepts is notable. Speaking of notable, the young quartet, Things Of This Nature, is making a loud noise in the New York Scene, evoking comparisons to Ornette Coleman's first visits to NYC. Their debut is killin.' New releases sampled from Europe include bass clarinetist Ziv Taubenfeld's You, Full Of Sources And Light, bassist Luca Curcio, the German trio TOIY, and bassist Demian Cabaud from Portugal. There's an intriguing use of the oud in Atlas Maior's music; it gives the Austin, Texas' quartet a distinct sound to their improvisations. And if there ever was a time to be discussing freedoms, it's now, and the veteran trumpeter Dave Douglas does just that with his new Four Freedoms. Lots more good music to listen to, not just read about it!

Playlist

• Luca Curcio "Me And The Night But No Music" from La Bomba (Boomslang) 00:00
• Host speaks 04:33
• Things Of This Nature "How Does It Sound Now?" from Things Of This Nature (Mahakala Music) 06:59
• Things Of This Nature "How It Is" from Things Of This Nature (Mahakala Music) 13:02
• Guano Padano & Enrico Rava "Lynch" from La Giostra (Hora) 19:41
• Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity "The Root" from Great Intentions (Action Jazz) 25:55
• Host speaks 35:03
• Atlas Maior "Vespertine Wanderings" from Palindromlar (Self-released) 38:11
• Anna Webber/Angela Morris}} Big Band "Just Intonations For Big Band: Timbre" from Unseparate (Out Of Your Head) 43:52
• TOIY "You Might Have Been Right" from s/t (Aut Records) 51:07
• Host speaks 57:12
• Ziv Taubenfeld "Oluyemi" from You, Full Of Sources And Light (Nobusiness) 59:27
• Satoko Fujii Quarte "Solar Orbit" from Burning Wick (Libra) 1:09:28
• Shawn Lovato "Dirt Doesn't Burn" from Biotic (Endectomorph) 1:22:21
• Host speaks 1:30:31
• Oliver Lake "Six Beats Out" from Rivbea Live Series Vol. 4 (Nobusiness) 1:33:26
• Demian Cabaud "A Mensagem Para Marcos" from Seiva (Timbuktu) 1:42:39
• Dave Gisler Trio "Chillin' With The Dogs" from The Flying Mega Doghouse (Intakt) 2:02:44
• {{m: Schlapitzki} "Polnischer Choral" from 2 (Trouble In The East) 2:11:08
• Schlapitzki "Ostinato" from 2 (Trouble In The East) 2:15:28
• Host speaks 2:18:28
• Thomas Stronen & Time Is A Blind Guide "Dismissed" from Off Stillness (ECM Records) 2:20:58