Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2010

Courtesy of Idiolect

Free jazz albums are somehow quixotic—why record something that’s meant to be experienced in the moment? Nevertheless, this document of a Norwegian gig shows a crack trio at the peak of its improvisatory game. Named after the city in which it was recorded, the album brings together German saxophonist Peter Brotzmann with Japanese “hyper koto” player Michiyo Yagi and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love for the latest in a series of group outings. The album’s three tracks, Volda I-III, capture the band’s working method. There’s no beating about the bush: they just leap right in at the deep end with a frenzy of sax skronkings, koto pluckings, and Nilssen-Love’s protean bashings, skitterings, burblings and bubblings. The second track notches the tension level down for 11 minutes of contemplative brushwork and instrumental thoughtfulness before ratcheting it back up for a high-powered closing.