The Thing @ The Bridge. Newcastle. October 3rd

Mats Gustafsson (tenor & baritone saxophones), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (double bass) & Paal Nilssen-Love (drums)

Splinter @ The Bridge promotes the very best musicians on the regional jazz and improv scene with occasional national and international visitors taking to the stage.

The Thing - Scandinavian hard-core improvisers - were in the UK and this Newcastle date was an all-to-rare opportunity to catch them.

A good crowd of hard-core improv fans were ready for the assault to begin and boy, they weren't disappointed! Swede Mats Gustafsson is from the Peter Brotzmann school of saxophone playing i.e. full-on flame throwing, merciless blowing. The power, the volume were something to be heard. Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love had played the room a couple of years ago and on this return visit he matched Gustafsson with some brilliant, powerful playing. Fellow countryman bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten did well to be heard in this company and he contributed equally to this triumphant triumverate.

During the interval one dazed fan had noticed that the paint had been stripped from the walls and he wanted more of the same in the second set! Unrelenting stuff it most certainly was yet abundant references to a jazz lineage were evident - Rollins, Dolphy, Ayler and a fleeting quotation from There Is No Greater Love. The performance was of the highest standard. The concert was a joint promotion by Jazz Action's Splinter @ The Bridge and Jazz North East.

Photos by Adrian Tilbrook.

Russell