By Martin Schray

Seven minutes of hellfire. That’s the way in which Smash and Grab begins, the brand new,
now eleventh album by Ballister, probably the very best band on the earth. From
the primary second Paal Nilssen-Love’s drums pound away mercilessly, Fred
Lonberg-Holm beats his cello as if it have been a heavy metallic guitar and Dave
Rempis performs a veritable St. Vitus’ dance on the saxophone, up and down
the scales, horizontally, vertically, proper as much as the ache threshold. There
isn’t any escape, it’s important to undergo it. It’s like being thrown overboard a
ship to keelhaul. The one distinction is that this isn’t a punishment, however
a pure pleasure.

After which – after purgatory – there’s an abrupt cease. As if the engines have been
switched off, as if everybody was wanting round, having no thought what was
occurring. A drumbeat right here and there, the cello scratches and mumbles to
itself. The saxophone is fully gone for 3 minutes, then it trills
its method again into the improvisation. It appears the three of them have
a hangover after the livid begin and are staggering by lonely
alleys. Left alone by his rhythm part, Rempis then takes off like a
drone, soars into the air and hovers above the clouds – solely to ignite the
identical hearth as at the start three flooring larger. What a monster observe!
What superb pleasure! What a heavenly maelstrom! Though Smash and
Seize is split into three tracks, it’s clearly one set (“Smash“ and
“Even Extra Smashing“) plus an encore (“Seize“). “Even Extra Smashing“ extends
the constant ups and downs of the primary a part of the improvisation.
Depth, brutality, intimacy and subtlety alternate completely elegantly,
the obvious opposites are seamlessly linked. “Seize“ then summarizes the
first two items in a nutshell.

The album was recorded in December 2022 on the Catalytic Sound Competition in
Chicago – and it was the first live performance for the band after a six-month
break. In April of the identical 12 months, that they had accomplished a two-week tour of the
USA, their first performances collectively after an virtually three-year break due
to the pandemic. And as is commonly the case, you don’t know what’s going to occur
with freely improvised music. It may vary from mediocre routine to pure
magic. Right here it’s positively the latter.

“On Smash and Seize, a punk aesthetic wraps itself into the mature
sensibility of seasoned improvisers to create a type of uncommon units that
merely unfolds calmly in entrance of you want an origami flower“, the liner
notes declare, and there’s definitely some fact in that.

2023 was a tragic 12 months for the free jazz neighborhood. A number of the final of the
outdated guard have left the ship – for instance Tristan Honsinger, Tony Oxley
and Peter Brötzmann. However Fred Lonberg-Holm, Paal Nilsson-Love and Dave
Rempis have captured and breathed their souls. There’s no want to fret
in regards to the new torchbearers. They know what they’re doing. After Fireplace!’s
Testomony, Smash and Seize is the second album launched early within the 12 months
that’s assured to finish up within the Prime 5.

Smash and Seize is obtainable on vinyl (in a restricted version), as a CD and as
a obtain.

You may hearken to it and order it right here.