Label: We Jazz Records, 2023
Personnel - André Roligheten: tenor sax, bass saxophone, bass clarinet; Per ”Texas” Johansson: tenor sax, contrabass clarinet, Bb clarinet; Kjetil Møster: tenor sax, baritone saxophone, Bb clarinet; Mette Rasmussen: alto sax; Maciej Obara: alto sax; Signe Emmeluth: alto sax; Eirik Hegdal: sopranino sax, C-melody sax, Bb clarinet; Thomas Johansson: trumpet; Goran Kajfes: trumpet; Erik Johannessen: trombone; Guro Kvåle: trombone; Petter Eldh: double bass; Ole Morten Vågan: double bass; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: double bass; Håkon Mjåset Johansen: drums; Hans Hulbækmo: drums; Gard Nilssen: drums, composition.
Known for his remarkable tonalities and explosive charts, Norwegian drummer and composer Gard Nilssen is a prominent figure in the creative jazz sphere. The new material, comprised of eight tracks co-written with saxophonist Andre Roligheten (a colleague in his trio Acoustic Unity) and recorded live in the Netherlands in 2022, is excellent. This marks his second outing with the chord-less Supersonic Orchestra, composed of 11 horn players, three bassists and three drummers. Inspired by the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band, the work consists of firmly played expressionistic textures topped by dazzling improvisations from a number of top-class creatives.
The program begins with “The Space Dance Experiment”, which, bursting as a fanfare-ish parade, sets an asymmetric groove that is perfect for trumpeter Goran Kafjes’ enthusiastic blows. There’s a change of pace and ambience in the boisterous angular designs of saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, a flame-thrower whose sound takes us to Albert Ayler and Frank Lowe. At some point, her statement meets powerful and motivic orchestral elements that give place to Nilssen’s boiling drum solo, which segues into “Spending Time With Ludde”. Channeling Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman, the drummer wrote this one for his son with a fine crossing between melodious spiritual folk and swinging avant-jazz in mind. Saxophonists Per ‘Texas’ Johansson and Signe Emmeluth are spotlighted here.
The elated “Boogie Stop Tøffel” will force you to move your feet to the contagious rhythm. Following Roligheten’s discourse, the band finds room for an extended bass prowl by Swedish bassist Petter Eldh. “Supersonic” is where things catch fire with a rambunctiously cacophonous collective explosion followed by massive unisons, a pungent rhythm, a two-way trombone conversation, and a fragmented if sinuous alto solo by Polish saxophonist Maciej Obara.
The ensemble probes surprising paths in “The Healing Force of the Trojan Horse” and “Dolphin Disco”. Whereas the former piece offers a sustained Brazilian samba rhythm and innocuous flute rambles, the latter, more composed, infuses modern classical elements at the outset before veering into amiable disco with a defiant tempo that would make the Bee Gees a little bemused.
Closing out the album, “SP68” feels like a Sun Ra epic space voyage enlivened by Kjetil Møster’s free-wheeling tenor blows over a tapestry of percussion and a bass saxophone groove provided by Roligheten.
With rapid-fire interlocked passages and deliciously unhinged improvisations, Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra keeps generating vanguard sounds that travel through the air with aerodynamic agility.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Space Dance Experiment ► 02 - Spending Time With Ludde ► 08 - SP68