Lana Trio - Live in Japan

[CraigP]

The Norwegian trombone/piano/drums Lana Trio have released their second CD, Live in Japan. Here's an excerpt from my review:

“One gets the sense that the Lana Trio looks at things a little differently upon inspection of the cover of Live in Japan. Sharing space with images of Japanese food and someone wearing traditional garb is a shot of fishermen on a dolphin hunt. Couple that with the name of the Norwegian label that released it, Va Fongool, an Italian phrase that translates to “Go f_____ yourself”, and things could get bumpy.

Although The Lana Trio is a free improv group, it turns out things never get totally out of hand. The members of the trio traverse territory ranging from sparse, minimalist ruminations to sections of high intensity…

There are some really nice sections where Jerve (piano) and Wildhagen (drums) engage in intense dialog, the pianist mixing traces of Bley with some of the dissonance and lower register work of Cecil Taylor.

Live in Japan is good, no-holds-barred free improv, even if some of the “lower case” stuff doesn’t work as much for me.”

My full review is at improvised blog.