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You can’t call Nilssen-Love a secret weapon, because his genius is so obvious; he constantly pushed the music forward, changing up grooves and sidestepping between fractured patterns without once losing the flow. The true surprise was Terrie Hessels of the Ex, a self-taught guitarist who’s learned to manipulate his anti-technique to create a compelling lead voice.
A few months back I blogged about some recent recordings by Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haaker Flaten, a former Chicagoan who’s relocating to Austin, Texas. On Play Complete Communion (Bolage) he joins saxophonist Atle Nymo and drummer Håkon Mjåset Johansen, both of the group Motif, to perform the two suites that make up the classic Don Cherry album Complete Communion. The trio has since become a quartet with the addition of superb Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo, who also works with Haaker Flaten in Atomic. They’re called IPA now, and on their fine new album, Lorena, they’ve made the switch to original material. The interplay between Broo and Nymo is particularly impressive, and the rhythm section burrows deeply into the hard-swinging grooves.
Andrew Raffo Dewar, Six Lines of Transformation (Porter)
