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The core
The core

From Oslo, here comes The Core, out to rehabilitate any notions of Norwegian jazz as somehow austere and hymnal. Bristling with dark resolve, The Core have conjured a neat trick, with an unashamedly retro take on Coltrane’s great post bop toward free quartets of the late ’60s, made sound as though it were minted yesterday. The sense of excitement and discovery can be attributed to the positive collective psyche of four outstanding young Norwegian musicians in drummer Espen Alberg, pianist Erlend Slettovel, bassist Steinar Raknes and saxophonist Jørgen Mathisen, who attack the band’s largely modal repertoire with real gusto and then back it up with both energy and stamina, the grit that’s often conspicuously absent in today’s jazz.

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