Mikkel Nordsø (guitar); Thomas
French (tenor sax); Ben Besiakov (keyboards); Anders Christensen (bass); Alvin
Queen (drums).
(Review by Steve T)
Album opener Take Off begins with
acoustic guitar in almost country blues mode before it settles into
straightforward fusion, all Fender Rhodes, sax and semi-acoustic guitar. The
title track follows like a close relative to Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner leading
to a free jazz blow-out on sax with drums - or at least cymbals - underneath.
Nordsø cites Hendrix and
John Coltrane as the major influences on the album and, while there is much
of the intense fire and brimstone those two conjured, on first listen I
heard an intersection between electric Miles and Frank Zappa's jazzier
excursions.
Hendrix and Trane were the convergent
touch-papers that ignited McLaughlin, and his influence in particular seems all
over these recordings, both the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Tony Williams
Lifetime, particularly when an eerie organ sound, reminiscent of Larry Young in
that band, emerges on track four Rock
Train.
Much of the sax playing is more later
Miles, circa Kenny Garrett, and the juxtaposition between sax and guitar
reinforces the connection with Zappa and McLaughlin rather than Hendrix.
If any of these artists are your
thing, there should be plenty here to appeal though, as always nowadays, I
don't know if people would seek this album out ahead of a thousand others,
without them touring. That's not a negative statement about the music, which is
great, but is just the way it seems to be right now, and it's hard to imagine
what will happen to change it. It's currently available.
Steve T
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