The Electrics - Chain of Accidents

Julian Cowley, The Wire

Axel Dörner may be ubiquitous these days, but there's no danger yet of this exciting trumpeter running short of meaningful things to say. Varied company helps.

"Chain Of Accidents", recorded in April 2001, finds him in concert in Copenhagen with Sture Ericson on reeds, percussionist Raymond Strid and bassist Ingerbrigt Håker Flaten.

The Electrics shift smoothly across adjacent genres, edging over from free jazz simmer to intricate small sound mosaics. They vary pace and dynamics expertly, and the energy flow is unaffected by their collective descent to the molecular level of buzz, tap, purr and whirr. It's like total music conception fully realised by highly skilled players who impose no limits on their instruments.