Ahead

This is Sweethearts in a Drugstore's second release, and, like the first, this one defies expectations. For this recording, trumpeter Axel Dorner and bassist Peter Friis Nielsen replace Alan Silva on synthesizer, giving the group a sharper sound. On its surface, this is essentially two horns plus rhythm, but in fact, all six musicians are equal partners in nine different versions of freely improvised landscapes. Pat Thomas and Phil Durrant throw electronics into the mix, which stirs the pot maliciously, while Johannes Bauer's caustic bone burns its way through dense layering, and Dorner weaves in and out with what sounds like bursts (and sometimes sighs) of the trumpet. P.O. Jorgens, the nominal leader, holds it together with well-placed percussive discourses that rarely take the limelight. The results are looser and at times more restrained than other sessions of this type (although there are the usual rough spots), with the focus continually shifting. The consistently high quality of the performances merits it as a decent example of this genre of free improvisation. ~ Steven Loewy