ANDERS NILSSON'S AORTA ENSEMBLE With FULMINATE TRIO/CENNET JöNSSON -
Aorta Ensemble (Kopasetic 026; EEC) With Anders Nilsson on electric
guitar, Mattias Carlson & Cennet Jönsson on reeds, David Carlsson on
electric bass, Ken Filiano on acoustic bass and Michael Evans & Peter
Nilsson on drums. This is local guitar great Anders Nilsson's dream
project combining the talents of both of his bands from Sweden (Aorta)
and New York (Fulminate Trio). Over the past few years Anders Nilsson
has become of the most exciting and inventive guitarists to emerge
from the downtown scene working with Ras Moshe, Fay Victor and
leading his own bands. Each performance of both live and on disc has
knocked me out so I was excited to hear this new combined band
project.
Three of the five tracks were written by Anders with two Ensemble
improvisations. "Soundfear" begins with an ominous vibe, the guitar
quietly leading the ensemble while the reeds (flute & sax) play
spooky, simmering harmonies. The piece drifts and builds very slowly,
the sound harkens back to the great days of 70's jazz/rock without
any bombast. On "Tuning In' the entire ensemble swirls powerfully
around Anders guitar, eventually hitting their stride when that great
fusion groove kicks in midway. Both the blisterin' saxes and waves of
basses and drums provide a storm-like waves that pull us in for the
exhilarating ride. "3D" is an epic length piece that again ascends
majestically from its stark beginning. When Anders enters with that
dark, mysterious riff after 5 minutes, it sends chills up & down my
spine like those nightmarish moments on the first Mahavishnu
Orchestra album. The great music on this disc has the original charm
of mid-seventies jazz/rock without any of the excess or cliches. This
is one of the best electric jazz discs I've heard in a long while.
Anders Nilsson will be playing here at DMG on Sunday, November 22nd
at 6pm, a free performance not to be missed. - Bruce Lee Gallanter,
Downtown Music Gallery
http://www.downtownmusicgallery.com