"In 2019 PNL Records released “Events 1998-1999” - a retrospective box-set of the short-lived but eventually legendary The Quintet from the late 90s. That box-set documented the meeting of two generation of Norwegian improvised free music – the older generation Calle Neumann and Bjørnar Andresen engaging with the new emerging talents of the time - Paal Nilssen-Love, Ketil Gutvik and Eivind Opsvik. Since that time Andresen had passed away, but for the release party of the box-set Neumann once again got together with Gutvik and Nilssen-Love.
No longer the new blood, it was now a completely different meeting of musical minds, built on experience that didn’t exist 20 years ago. But it was also clearly a reunion of kindred spirits, people that share something special catching up through music. Of course this could not just be a one-off to promote a release, this had to become something more. And one year later the new line-up, now with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on double bass (you don’t need two bass-players with Ingebrigt in the band), making the original quintet a quartet.
The self-titled debut album documents their live debut at Victoria Jazz Club in Oslo, recorded in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic in July 2020. The band recorded before the gig with the intent of a studio album, but the gig itself was such a special event, that it became clear that the album needed to document that performance in full.
Listening to the recording the identity of the musicians is clearly defined, but the music is full of surprises – going from extended full-on blasts to passages of subtle beauty, all delivered with a sense of adventure and humour that only musicians who are completely at ease with each other can deliver. New Dance is a new band for a new decade.
It’s also worth noticing that this is Neumann’s first new recording in more than a decade, which is cause for celebration in itself." - PNL
1. Å så et Frø 11:02
2. New Dance 30:53
3. Det er Kjærlighet 11:24
4. Dett var Dett 09:45
All music by Neumann, Gutvik, Håker Flaten, Nilssen-Love (TONO)
Carl Magnus Neumann - alto saxophone
Ketil Gutvik - acoustic and electric guitars
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - double bass
Paal Nilssen-Love - drums & percussion
Live in concert at Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene, Oslo, Norway, July 9th 2020
Live sound and recording by Louise Lavoll
Pre-mix by Jens Borge at Hjelp vi er i Studio, Stavanger, Norway
Final mix and mastering by Lasse Marhaug
Produced by Paal Nilssen-Love
