The Thing - Now And Forever (Smalltown Superjazz, 2008)

All right, not much time, just a short one today. This is a re-release of Swedish/Norwegian free jazz luminaries "The Thing", with Mats Gustafsson on sax, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. The first two discs were released before, as "The Thing" (2000), which is a Don Cherry tribute, and "She Knows" (2001), which still has a Don Cherry composition ("The Thing") and adds Joe McPhee on sax and pocket trumpet. As an extra now, there is a third disc, with as yet three unreleased long tracks, called "Gluttony 1", "Gluttony 2" and "Gluttony 3", recorded in 2007. The musicians are the same but the music is not. There are no references to Don Cherry anymore, even the jazz element is pushed to the background, and the music is closer to free improvisation and avant-garde, with long moments of just sounds at times : scraping, whispering, clacking, grunts and groans, and yet listening to the whole movement of the three pieces is rewarding. The musical scope, ideas and rich interaction of these musicians are excellent, and the music evolves nicely over the three pieces, with luckily some very lively jazzy moments. The three discs are certainly totally different in style and approach, but all three have their merits. Enjoy!