All sorts of jazz, free jazz and improv. Never for money, always for love.
If it's live at the Glenn Miller Café, it's on Ayler. Label boss Jan Ström has his own corner at the bar and he's probably signed a partial lease on the stairs in the adjacent apartment building where the sound engineer usually sets up his gear. (There's no room in the GMC itself, take it from me.)
This time it's The Electrics - Sture Ericson (tenor sax and clarinets),
Axel Dörner (trumpet), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass) and Raymond
Strid (drums) - with the long awaited sequel to Chain Of Accidents (in the
strange numbering system Ström uses that was aylCD-035, whereas this
new one is aylCD-034, even though it was recorded four and a half years
later).
It's also the best recording yet to emerge from the GMC, thanks to some
serious mixing by Ericson and Strid which helps capture the stereo image
of the tiny venue better than anything I've heard from there before. They
obviously thought the music was worth the effort, and they were right.
The Electrics is another one of those groups after my own heart, one that
can play free and swing hard and see no contradiction between the two. Improvised
Free Jazz, I called it elsewhere.
It's wonderful to hear Dörner playing crisp and clear, the Tony Fruscella
of new music, instead of gurgling and hissing (which he also does, and very
well too). The interplay between him and Ericson, especially when the latter
takes to the bass clarinet, recalls the mighty Die Enttauschung (and, standing
behind them in the shadows, the Dolphy / Little Five Spot quintet.. though
of course there's no piano here).
Not all the music is at the same high level - as with any improv, there
are peaks and troughs, and the fact that the musicians consciously choose
to work with the more recognisable vernacular of free jazz means that it's
easier to spot the latter - but when these lads start cooking they're a
match for the chef at the Glenn Miller Café, who's pretty damn good
too.
It's a great place to eat as well as catch fine live music. Next time you're
in Stockholm, check it out. Reserve in advance though; you won't believe
how small the place is.
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