Vein/Norrbotten Big Band - Symphonic Bop

The Guardian 80

(Double Moon)
Charismatic Vein join much-feted Norrbotten Big Band for a set of dizzying mashups that will be great live

Despite jazz’s aptitude for pushing the envelope and keeping a finger on the popular pulse at the same time – from inflaming Charleston-kickers in the 1920s, to jivers in the 50s, acid-jazzers in the 90s and rappers today – its adherents still sometimes find themselves fending off complaints of smart-ass elitism. Switzerland’s Vein trio embody the ideal reply to that (because they’re very good at being both impossibly smart-ass and charismatically engaging), and Symphonic Bop joins piano-and-drums siblings Michael and Florian Arbenz and bassist Thomas Lähns with Sweden’s much-feted Norrbotten Big Band. This two-decade-old powerhouse specialises in meeting the challenges of maverick jazz guests, including the UK’s John Surman and Django Bates, so they’re seasoned handlers of Vein’s simultaneous virtue and occasional problem – of knowing how to make a blur of musical scene-changes happen dizzyingly fast without losing the sense of a plot.

On five full-ensemble tracks, plus a fast-cornering, Chick Corea-like piece, Vein seamlessly merge their jump-cut methods with sophisticated, classically influenced orchestral scoring (on Florian Arbenz’s 15-minute Boarding the Beat), confirm their delicacy with soft-toned nuances (on the spacey Passacaglia), their languid hipness at juggling jazz hooks and abstract improv (Lähns’ Willi’s Pool), and their exuberant appetite for slamming together old-school swing riffs, boneshaking funk, and shapely free-piano improv at warp speeds (the closing Groove Conductor). Symphonic Bop music might veer a little close to hyperactivity for some – but it’s a crossover tour de force, and would make an enthralling live show, too.