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Br?nda broar: R?jer P? Vinden

By Dave Wayne
March 1, 2016
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After gigging around their native Sweden for a few years,

Brända Broar

" data-original-title="" title="">Br?nda Broar (Burnt Bridges) have finally issued their first album, R?jer P? Vinden on Anders Ahl��n's tiny Signal and Sound label. An EP-length vinyl-only audiophile quality 45-rpm album limited to 300 copies, R?jer P? Vinden (literally "Delays in the Attic") is another powerful musical statement from greater Scandinavia's thriving, youth-dominated modern jazz scene. Sporting a rather conventional instrumentation, Br?nda Broar consists of four young virtuosos—Niklas Persson, Rasmus Borg,

Vilhelm Bromander

bass, acoustic
b.1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Vilhelm Bromander, and Erik Carlsson—who are just getting their careers started. Even for established jazz artists, R?jer P? Vinden would be a startling statement. The skill, wit, fearlessness and chops on display here bode well for the long-term health of creative music in northern Europe.

Of course, all of these guys have collaborated on a wide variety of musical projects before forming Br?nda Broar. Persson and Borg are both members of

Kvintetten Som Sprängdes

" data-original-title="" title="">Kvintetten Som Spr?ngdes (whose music Br?nda Broar's resembles), and Persson has gigged and recorded with guitarist / label honcho Anders Ahl��n's group. Bromander has worked with, among others, the Afrobeat band Music is the Weapon. Of the four, Carlsson has the longest and most diverse resume, encompassing indie rock and free improvisation as well as various forms of jazz. His most well-known musical partners include

Mats Gustafsson

woodwinds
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Mats Gustafsson and

Kjell Nordeson

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Kjell Nordeson in the band Swedish Azz.

YouTube clips of Br?nda Broar's performances from a few years ago suggest they've taken a cue or three from Spy vs. Spy,

John Zorn

saxophone, alto
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">John Zorn's hyper-energetic, thrashy late 1980s tribute to the music

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman. The music on R?jer P? Vinden suggests the quartet has broadened their approach somewhat over the years. Persson, also the chief composer for Kvintetten Som Spr?ngdes, is the sole composer represented here. Though Br?nda Broar's music is similar, Persson's writing for this band eschews a lot of the avant-garde elements that characterize a good portion of Kvintetten Som Spr?ngdes' music. It's impossible not to connect R?jer P? Vinden to the Coleman /

Eric Dolphy

woodwinds
1928 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Dolphy /

Anthony Braxton

woodwinds
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Anthony Braxton continuum of modern avant-garde jazz. Persson's use of the sopranino saxophone is especially redolent of Braxton's previous work, as are his convoluted math-jazz melodies. Pianist Rasmus Borg is, in every respect, an ideal foil for Persson. Combining a rigorous, classically-informed technical approach with a deep knowledge of modern jazz styles, Borg's sometimes wayward comping is always sympathetic and complementary; his solos are consistently inventive, witty and original.

The rhythm section has a real muscularity to it that propels Persson's compositions implacably forward. The opening section of "D?md F?r Olaga Utseende" is a case in point. Though taken at a moderate tempo, Carlsson's overtly feathered bass drum locks into Bromander's throbbing bass line to produce an insanely hard-swinging base from which Persson launches the piece's tricky melody, full of intervallic leaps and odd pauses. A similar rhythmic urgency infuses "Borta Bra Men Bebben B?st," a piece that is as full of unbridled energy as any free jazz foray. Yet it's not free jazz: unusual compositional elements are, in fact Br?nda Broar's bread and butter. Persson's music, like Braxton's, is full of repeated phrases which are broken up in various ways and reconstituted. Many of these compositional roads lead to swinging, edgy-yet-post-boppish solos. By sheer contrast, "Stenlunga" progresses at a sludgy, bass-heavy lope underneath Persson's wildly impassioned alto. Br?nda Broar's investigations also veer into a form of European avant-gardism that resembles contemporary classical composition as much as it does modern jazz. These elements pop up on several pieces, most notably "Rocka R?ven Av H?gern" and "Br?nda Broar."

Startling, fresh, and risky, the music of Br?nda Broar is yet another pleasant reminder that jazz is youthful, alive and well, all over the world.

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Track Listing

Borta Bra Men Bebben B?st; Rocka R?ven Av H?gern; Stenlunga; D?md F?r Olaga Utseende; Br?nda Broar; Han Steg In Med En J?vligt Bra Dikt I V?skan; Det Var Pin Livat, Inget Tu Tal Om Annat

Personnel

Br?nda Broar

Niklas Persson: alto and sopranino saxophones; Rasmus Borg: piano; Vilhelm Bromander: bass; Erik Carlsson: drums.

Album information

Title: R?jer P? Vinden | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Signal And Sound Records

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