Here we go: Peter Brötzmann on tenor and clarinet, Peter Friis Nielsen on electric bass, and Peeter Uuskyla on drums. What does this say to you? It says Last Exit without Sonny Sharrock, that’s what. Somehow it’s both more and less than that, however. Stridently more European than that ensemble, the saxophonist and friends have six relatively brief (around the eight-minute mark) tunes and one 20-minute monster jam at the end. What more is there to say about the way Brötzmann improvises in these situations? He goes for the throat, always. There may be some repetition, but if so it’s because of the rhythm section that he wisely employs here to keep things from moving into an overdrive from which there is no return. It’s difficult sorting out track to track what’s happening, because it’s all constant, all notes, all turning interminably on the axis of Brötzmann’s propensity for the long line. And thank God. This is endurance improvisation to be sure, with no regard for boundaries, traditions, histories, or genres. There is no quarter given and none taken in this skronk-fest. And as a result, it’s one of the more glorious, mind-expanding Brötzmann dates we have. Not for the faint of heart. – Thom Jurek
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