The Thing - Again

Avant Music News

Thu May 31 13:52:46 GMT 2018

The Free Jazz Collective 90


By Eyal Hareuveni

Again? Yes, The Scandinavian power trio revisits its roots on Again, the American fiery-spiritual free jazz of the sixties, as explored on its first albums - the self-titled debut album from 2001 (titled, as the trio name, after Don Cherry composition from Where is Brooklyn?(Blue Note, 1969)) and the second one with Joe McPhee, She Knows (Both released on sax player Mats Gustafsson’s short-lived Crazy Wisdom label). The Thing leave behind the brutal and immediate garage-active jazz pieces and covers of rock anthems, and relies on its extensive experience on free-improv meetings. Even the instrumentation of Again reflects on The Thing roots. Gustafsson sticks to tenor and soprano saxes (no bass sax, as featured on Fire!’s recent The Hands, not even a one blow on the baritone sax) and Håker-Flaten plays most of the time the double bass. Again fits perfectly the length of the vintage format of a vinyl, only 38-minutes long. Again, Fire!’s bass player, Johan Berthling, produced this album, after producing The Thing’s last studio album, Shake! (Trost/ The Thing, 2015).

But, naturally, The Thing, as a trio and and its three musicians, are wiser and more experienced. Gustafsson, Håker-Flaten and Nilssen-Love do have an encyclopedic knowledge about the history of free jazz and Nordic jazz, but none of them is going to rely on this glorious past. All of them are ambitious and bold composers, leading their own groups, some even orchestra-size outfits. Gustafsson’s 21-minutes “Sur Face” demonstrates this approach. This suite is still charged with the familiar, uncompromising, tons energy of The Thing, but is developed with no sense of urgency. Gustafsson’s sonic spectrum is more varied, moving freely from familiar, charismatic-rawl Ayler-ian blows to much more emotional, lyrical tones, sometimes even exploring delicate and surprising melodic, chamber jazz textures. Håker-Flaten and Nilssen-Love suggest an open yet massive, rhythmic support that embraces Gustafsson shifting themes and tones.

The cover of tenor sax player Frank Lowe “Decision in Paradise” (taken from Lowe’s album with the same title, Soul Note, 1974, featuring Don Cherry), offers an obvious connection to The Thing’s past, as well as to jazz spiritual legacy. Lowe has played with Sun Ra and with Alice Coltrane, and Gustafsson updates their spiritual calling to a call to action, telling his audiences that we all taking part in a fight against global stupidity. The Thing already covered Lowe’s composition, “For Real” on She Knows with McPhee. Again, McPhee joins The Thing with his pocket trumpet, and he and Gustafsson interpret beautifully the balladic lines of Lowe and Cherry, but patiently transform the original theme into an intense and fierce eruption.

Håker-Flaten’s “Vicky Di” suggests a link to The Thing’s recent past. Håker-Flaten takes the lead, playing a mean, nervous electric bass, Gustafsson alternates between the tenor and the rarely played soprano saxes, and Nilssen-Love, as usual, builds layers upon layers of of nuanced rhythmic storms, references even Brazilian music. Mid-piece, Håker-Flaten’s turns his bass into a generator of distorted, feedback-laden noises. This solo bass marks a return, again, to The Thing’s unmistakable, ecstatic rhythmic grind, leaving you breathless, but crying for more, much more from this right stuff.

Tue Jun 05 04:00:00 GMT 2018

The Free Jazz Collective 80

By Martin Schray

If you count The Thing’s collaborations with Joe McPhee, James Blood Ulmer, Ken Vandermark, Neneh Cherry, Barry Guy, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O’Rourke, Thurston Moore and DKV Trio too, Again is their 20th album (including the compilation Now and Forever and the split album The Music of Norman Howard with School Days, another Gustafsson project). Literally speaking, The Thing have done it again. After 17 years in the same line-up (Mats Gustafsson on saxes, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on acoustic and electric bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums) you might think that the band’s music has become predictable, that their mélange of free jazz, blues, rock and noise is actually a cul-de-sac because the musical options are exhausted. However, it isn’t.

Though Again is the well-proved mixture of cover versions and original compositions, this time the focus is rather on jazz. The only cover, Decision in Paradise, is an old, rather conventional Frank Lowe piece. The Thing turn the tempo down considerably and a trumpet provided by Joe McPhee, the guest star on this track, transforms the falling lines of the original’s opening passage into painfully bruised sounds before Gustafsson strips the delicate melody to the bone (doing this, it reminds me of Gershwin’s “Summertime“). Bass, trumpet and saxophone dance around each other in slow motion and only after four minutes Nilssen-Love enters the game in order to give the piece more drive and tension. It’s the band’s typical way to take possession of a composition which is not their own.
The center of the album is the 21-minute “Sur Face“, presenting the band at full throttle featuring Gustafsson at his most effective and juxtaposed with more aggressive playing from the rhythm section. In a typical The Thing way they let this part implode and after a short solo from Håker Flaten, Gustafsson and Nilssen-Love paint a beautiful downtempo and introspective interlude. Gustafsson plays vibrato-drunk Ayler lines here, the way he’s sometimes done it on his solo recordings. For the rest of the track the group comes back together in their familiar rough style, bone-dry, taking no prisoners.

Vicky Di rounds out the album, it’s the only composition that recalls the old, more rock-ish days at the beginning of their career. After a rather chaotic beginning, which is brutally ended at the 3:40 mark, the song is propelled by a monstrous distorted bass solo from Håker Flaten, which prepares the ground for a solid groove over which Gustafsson’s soprano soars with intense lines reminiscent of Coltrane and Brötzmann.

The Thing is still archetypal free jazz/rock of the 21st century - it’s a group you might recommend to someone who wants to explore a more adventurous genre, although they work for experienced listeners as well. I’m surprised how this band wins me over again …. and again.

Again is available on vinyl, CD and as a download. You can buy and listen to the album here.

Again by THE THING

Tue Jun 05 04:01:00 GMT 2018