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The Thing: Boot!

By Mark Corroto
November 18, 2013
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Somebody should inform the members of the Scandinavian free jazz trio The Thing they are not rock stars. I repeat, somebody tell saxophonist

Mats Gustafsson

woodwinds
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Mats Gustafsson, bassist

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten

bass
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Ingebrigt H?ker Flaten and drummer

" data-original-title="" title="">Paal Nilssen-Love, you are not lizard kings.

The release of Boot!, their sixth studio album since forming in 1999, is a follow-up to the widely celebrated session The Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound, 2012) with Neneh Cherry. The band has also collaborated with the likes of

Thurston Moore

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Thurston Moore,

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee, Cato Salsa Experience,

Otomo Yoshihide

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Otomo Yoshihide, Ken Vandermark, and Jim O'Rourke. Their garage band genesis was a tribute to the music of

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry, but they quickly expanded into the a free jazz punk esthetic, covering music by The Stooges,

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler, PJ Harvey,

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman, Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, and

James Blood Ulmer

guitar
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">James Blood Ulmer.

Boot! opens with an allegedly sacrilegious version of

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's "India" that becomes sacred. With Gustafsson blasting overblown notes from his baritone saxophone, the Indian Vedic chants and religious music Coltrane modeled his Indian drone sound from is infused with the electric of H?ker Flaten's plugged-in bass and Nilssen-Love's drumming that is more Keith Moon than

Elvin Jones

drums
1927 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Elvin Jones. Trane's rapture is duplicated in a punk-garage euphoria.

Coltrane's music is also hinted at with the title track. The slow burn of "Boot!" finds tenor saxophone tracking the H?ker Flaten's bass guitar, which is applied as more guitar than bass, to resemble "Psalm" from A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1965). Elsewhere, they remake

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington's "Heaven" into a slow-burning ballad with a churning undertone of pounding drums and thunderous bass. "Red River" draws from the heavy blues rock of Black Sabbath, fusing rock and free jazz into a liberating energy of sound.

These three musicians are, to be sure, rock stars. Ones that can also make Duke and Coltrane smile.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

India; Reboot; Heaven; Red River; Boot!; Epilog.

Personnel

The Thing

band / ensemble / orchestra

Mats Gustafsson: bass saxophone, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophones; Ingebrigt H?ker Flaten: electric bass; Paal Nilssen-Love: drums.

Album information

Title: Boot! | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: The Thing Records

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