What don't these guys play?
June 17, 2008
You need a lot of hyphens to describe The Thing.
The Swedish-Norwegian trio - (from top to bottom) bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love - has free-jazz cred, but its material includes not only avant-garde jazz (Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman), but also rock ranging from "Louie Louie" to the White Stripes and PJ Harvey. Here's the catch: They play it with a punk sensibility. And when they team up with a rock band like the Cato Salsa Experience, all heck breaks loose. What results? Hold the hyphen key down, because here it comes: a sort of free-jazz-punk-rock-garage-band-dance-metal free-for-all.
I got caught up on The Thing's catalog recently and - well, holy cow. These guys don't sit still. Each album has a unique aesthetic; a good place to start is "
Garage," which blends straight-ahead rock beats with skronk blowing. I'm partial to
"Two Bands and a Legend: I See You Baby," which combines The Thing and the Cato Salsa Experience with free-jazz saxophonist Joe McPhee. The record features just three tunes, but do they ever run the gamut: McPhee's own "Nation Time," Donald Ayler's "Our Prayer," and - hyphen alert - a 13-minute funk-punk-jazz version of Groove Armada's dance-floor hit "I See You Baby."
Wish I could make it to Vancouver this month, because The Thing will play the jazz festival there with Boston-bred saxophonist Ken Vandermark, celebrating the release of their new album,
"The Thing With Ken Vandermark: Immediate Sound," which features just one tune, a 38-minute improvisation called "Hide Out." Technically it's one song, but it goes everywhere imaginable in those precious minutes. That's a good Thing. (
Steve Greenlee)
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/artic...s_play?mode=PF