This 1973 concert makes for a portal into the Scandinavian Jazz movement that was dawning at the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s. These musicians had their own look, borrowing from the social revolutions of the previous decade, as well as the folk, rock and pop scenes that had come to symbolize a rising global youth voice. If, historically, this new boldness was born by a process of tension and release, push and pushback, that same essence is echoed in the music.
We begin with Terje Rypdal's trio, featuring Jon Christensen on drums and Sveinung Hovensgo on bass. The Norwegian leader is majestic on electric guitar, delivering a strained, intriguing sound whose beauty lies in the atmosphere it creates, part bliss, part menace. Originally a rock guitarist, Rypdal turned to jazz in 1968, originally joining Jan Garbarek's group before branching out on his own path.
Garbarek's trio comes on next, featuring Arild Andersen on bass and Edward Vesala on drums. The saxophonist's sound, employing generous silence and sharp tonality, is one of the hallmarks of the mythical ECM label, an outfit treasured by jazz fans that also recorded Rypdal's music during the same period. A pioneer of ambient jazz and drawing on Scandinavian folk melodies, he delivers the kind of set you won't see twice, and covers Carla Bley, an artist who, in her own way, also heralded the modernization of the pluralistic, improvized music that began in New Orleans all those years ago.
