Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Hot Four: Eye of the Moose

Hot Four: Eye of the Moose

By Eyal Hareuveni
April 27, 2014
View read count

The Norwegian-Swedish quartet Hot Four was founded by Norwegian vocal artist Andreas Backer as a vehicle for free-minded, free- improvised, free-chamber textures that float, obviously freely, between elements inspired by European influences, modern jazz and contemporary classical music. Backer wisely chose fearless, experienced and highly versatile improvisers—Norwegian drummer St?le Liavik Solberg, who studied with him in the music academy of Stavanger; Swedish guitarist

David Stackenäs

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">David Stacken?s and Canadian-ex-pat double bassist Joe Williamson. Stockholm-based in recent years, both previously played with Backer while he was studying in Stockholm a few years ago. The quartet's debut album was recorded live in Sweden and mixed and mastered by Norwegian reed master

Frode Gjerstad

saxophone, alto
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Frode Gjerstad.

Together the four dive, head on, into a thick, intense exploration of various dynamics, textures and timbres. The notion of playing music receives a new meaning with these highly resourceful musicians. They enjoy the innocent and often eccentric, unattached to any musical conventions. A game-like process of playing— finding and inventing sounds, shaping and mutating these sounds, collides these sounds without any preconceived ideas what might happen next, but react immediately to these sonic occurrences. Songs are performed with a rare collaborative and emphatic manner.

There is a delicate balance between all four players on the first, title-piece, that embraces a gentle flow of wordless, stream-of-consciousness vocals by Backer. This interplay changes course to one that is more dense on "Antler of the Moose," where they establish a nervous, rhythmic world of sound. Nothing is conventional, not human vocals or those produced using extended techniques on drum skins, cymbals, or guitar and double bass bodies and strings. Still, it all sounds organic, nuanced and surprisingly coherent. This inventive, collective improvisation rests and adapts a spare, strangely distant and quiet interplay on "Claw of the Moose," before the quartet finishes the live set with another arresting, noisy outburst.

A highly original and inventive quartet.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Eye of the Moose; Antler of the Moose; Claw of the Moose; Tail of the Moose.

Personnel

Hot Four

Andreas Backer: voice; David Stacken?s: guitars; Joe Williamson: double bass; St?le Liavik Solberg: drums, percussion.

Album information

Title: Eye Of The Moose | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Creative Sources Recordings

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Take Five With Jon O'Bergh
< Previous

Naancore
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.