Label: Rune Grammofon Records, 2024

Personnel - Mats Gustafsson: baritone saxophone; Johan Berthling: bass; Andreas Werliin: drums.

The explorative Swedish trio Fire! - comprising saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin - first convened in 2009 before expanding successfully into an orchestra. Their eighth album, Testament, comprises five tracks presented in a more skeletal form, stripped down to pure sax-bass-drums tapestries devoid of electronics or additional elements. All the same, these cuts exalt the artistic and improvisatory leanings of the musicians.

“Work Song for a Scattered Past” imposes circularity with a patterned bass phrase, invigorated by dynamic drumming and growling saxophone blows. They elastically push apart but, at the end, converge into consonance. “The Dark Inside of Cabbage” displays relaxed if lumbering baritone lines over a rhythmic bed of bass drones and skittering drum chatters.

“Four Ways of Dealing With One Way” unfolds as a hypnotic, repetitive exercise, its mutable saxophone tones deceptively floating through time. Gustafsson’s performance on “Running Bison, Breathing Entity, Sleeping Reality” captivates as he blends growling expressions, breathing techniques, multiphonics, and a mix of popping and flapping sounds filled with rich tonal resonances. Over time, it becomes chanty with the assistance of rumbling and tidy bass as well as percussion, gradually evolving into a mesmerizing slowcore enchantment.

Strangely accessible, the album comes to a close with “One Testament, One Aim, One More to Go, Again”, where a plain eight-beat cycle bass figure, neatly backed by Werliin’s understated percussion, gives free rein to a smoky rock stride and flavorful Eastern influences. Testament was recorded live in the studio on analog tape and expertly mixed by renowned rock audio engineer Steve Albini.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Work Song for a Scattered Past ► 04 - Running Bison, Breathing Entity, Sleeping Reality ► 05 - One Testament, One Aim, One More to Go, Again

Label: Clean Feed, 2019

Personnel - Avram Fefer: alto and tenor saxophones; Marc Ribot: guitar; Eric Revis: bass; Chad Taylor: drums.

Avram Fefer has been part of the New York jazz scene for a quarter century, over which he played with illustrious figures such as Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, and Roy Campbell, among others. His second outing on Clean Feed, Testament, is a very personal statement comprising eight exciting pieces, which apart from one of them, are culled from his self-penned repertoire. Despite five of them have been previously recorded, they appear here with an exceptional new instrumentation thanks to a fresh partnership with guitarist Marc Ribot, with whom Fefer had played before but never recorded. The other two elements of the quartet on display, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor, are also members of Fefer’s stellar trio and their musical excellence and rapport are pretty much in evidence throughout.

Fefer’s African influence can be testified on old and new tunes such as “African Interlude” and “Magic Mountain”, respectively. Both are put in motion with a three time feel, but where the former breathes a warm, dry air from the sub-Saharan region, the latter falls into an electric Afro-funk permeated with playful avant-garde passages. Unison sax-guitar agreements are frequent, and if Ribot often brings staccato strokes into his cool funky comping, Fefer makes use of his excellent articulation to generate soul-transporting narratives intonated with enormous passion and motivic flair. Having lots of fun, Revis and Taylor stand behind the thrilling percussive throb of these chants.

Also sliding at a medium 3/4 tempo, the breezy “Essaouira” evokes the Moroccan port city cited in its title with fascinating lyricism and a steady groove often engraved with Ribot’s ardent bluesy licks. The guitarist brings them again on “Wishful Thinking”, a rock-washed tune propelled in five and populated by Fefer’s staccato expressions, rhythmic figures, and winding phrases molded with chromatic exuberance. The final stretch has Taylor emphasizing rim-clicks and the metallic ringing of the ride cymbal.

Taylor’s “Song For Dyani” initially offers a relaxing Americana atmosphere. However, the tune’s last section attests the drummer’s departure from the mallet vibrancy and cymbal sparkle in order to join forces with Revis on another African-tinged groove.

All differing in nature, but enunciated in a way we can immediately identify their author, “Dean St. Hustle” captures the quartet in moments of swinging bravura and elevated state of interaction, “Parable” takes the shape of an acoustic folk ballad before evolving into anthemic rock, and “Testament”, an old spiritual hymn written for Ornette Coleman, bonds together avant-jazz nerve and rock density while Eastern melodic flavors take its place atop.

As usual, Fefer points for ambition and his receptiveness of other musical sources is sincere and liberating. Testament tells us who he really is as a musician.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - African Interlude ► 04 - Song For Dyani ► 08 - Essaouira