Live at the Glenn Miller Café [Live]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Dedicated to exploring the legacy and music of Albert Ayler, Sweden's Aaly Trio is once again aided by the iron lungs of Chicago-based saxophonist Ken Vandermark. And while this live document covers some of the same ground Stumble explored, these agile, taut performances bristle with enough energy and excitement to make the return trip as exciting as the initial visit. Both Vandermark and Mats Gustafsson are in top form, and whether they are coloring inside or outside the lines, you can be sure their figures are rendered with the fearless confidence and peerless imagination to which fans have become accustomed. This is intense and hard-hitting, and it sparks with that jump-out-of-your-skin electricity that only a live performance (from a great band) can provide. Turn this one up--loud! --S. Duda

From Jazziz
This is the second live record to come from Mats Gustafsson's AALY Trio with Ken Vandermark. In 1996, the Swedes and their American friend recorded a studio album, Hidden in the Stomach (Silkheart), and since, the quartet has done more touring than you'd expect from collaborators who call different continents home. This new album was recorded in March of 1999 at a Stockholm club. Collectively, the three albums have included some free-jazz "standards," if you will, and a couple of tribute pieces. This recording features Albert Ayler's "Ghosts," Joe Harriott's "Idioms," and Vandermark's homage to the late alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, "Unit Character." The only other tune is a Gustafsson piece called "Alva Jo," which alternates between a slow, sultry groove and more spastic sections. Vandermark plays tenor and clarinet; Gustafsson, alto and tenor. As always, they are joined by bassist Peter Janson and drummer Kjell Nordeson, each of whom take an extended solo during the set. On "Ghosts," it's as if the band members are intentionally italicizing the compositional quirks that spooked them as headphoned youths. The tune is already a rollercoaster, but Vandermark and Gustaffson lean into the anthem's sharp turns, making it even more over-the-top than it was in Ayler's hands. Just the same, the song has lost some of its rough edges - it's missing some of the wonderful mess Ayler made of it. There is an almost-accessible, garage-band feel to aaly's free jazz, and it's not just the raucous covers. Perhaps it's Vandermark and Gustafsson's penchant for using melody as a touchstone. Perhaps it's how their solos often progress in a logical, symmetrical manner, or even their conventional use of tension-and-release. Most likely, it's just that they so clearly are having fun.

Live at the Glenn Miller Café,AALY Trio & Ken Vandermark,Wobbly Rail,Avant-Garde Jazz,Free Improvisation,Free Jazz,Jazz,Pop,Post-Bop

Jazz Music: