Putting labels on music is often hard to do. Putting musicians on labels, however, says quite a lot more, with less words. Danish alto saxophonist Mia Dyberg released her debut album, Ticket! on the prestigious Portuguese label, Clean Feed, whose roster includes Mary Halvorson, Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Evan Parker, and other luminaries of the free jazz world. Dyberg’s music is inspired, in large part, by the swing and poetry of William S. Burroughs, emphasizing playfulness, cut up techniques, pulse-awareness and what she describes as “the silver smoke of dreams”. This is energetic free jazz of the highest calibre, in the fertile format of the ‘chordless saxophone trio’, underpinned by a tight rhythm section of Narvesen & Thomsen who aren’t afraid to groove, and groove hard. While recording their debut, Dyberg chose a selection of Burroughs’ material; radio excerpts and other voice recordings, as a jumping off point for improvisation informed directly by these recordings. Focusing on textures, timbre, and group-sound, the results are self evident. In this freewheeling music, it’s clear that while Dyberg nods affirmatively to the past, she is staring steadfastly at the future. Gripping stuff.

Performing at 12 Points on Thursday night at 8:00pm
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