International relevance: ***
Recorded the same year as Bengt
Berger's ”Bitter Funeral Beer” with basically the same people:
only Kjell Westling is missing while Björn Hellström on bass
clarinet and flute, and sarod player K. Sridhar are added. It's an
all-star line-up with too many names to mention, but the individual
efforts aren't as important anyway as the pan-continental collective
outcome.
This live recording made by Frankfurter radio at the
annual jazz festival at the Alte Oper in 1982 is more ragged and
unkempt than the studio album. More on the edge, if you will. The
nervous energy runs through the entire set, and comes through even in
the slow ”Bitter Funeral Beer” which is given a particularly
bluesy, mournful rendition.
While I really like the studio album,
this recording is a more vivid document of the band. Even if you know
you're in the safe hands of masterful musicians, they conjure up a
loose spirit that keeps the music uncertain to the right degree. You
never quite know exactly what will happen at what moment. It's
a generally thrilling perfomance that grows in strength until the 25
minute jubilant ending (not counting the short afterthought "Gahu") with ”Funeral Dance”.
Also check out the TV broadcast of the show here!
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