A top figure in the unique musical melting pot of Chicago, Ken Vandermark is a man of a thousand projects and bands, and many of them are different combinations of the musicians with whom he usually plays. Very fascinated by the highly creative Scandinavian jazz scene, a number of his musical partners come from that part of the world. Pianist Håvard Wiik is one of them – he’s part of the “joint venture” Free Fall, a collective co-founded by Wiik, Vandermark and Håker Flaten, but he’s also part of the swedish seminal group Atomic. Now, they join again, and in the company of another prodigal son of the Windy City, Chad Taylor. Besides Taylor’s involvement in some of the most important formations of that jazz circuit- like the Chicago Underground Duo, Trio and Ensemble, Exploding Star Orchestra and Sticks and Stones- the drummer has also made himself internationally recognized through work with pop bands such as Sam Prekop’s solo projects and Iron and Wine. The music composed by the trio, Side A, is anchored in the post-bop tradition and adopts the openness of free jazz with the energy coming from rock. The compositions are refined, but conceived only as frames for improvisation- this method gives it a fluid cutting edge. “A New Margin” is a new surprise coming from the never-ending creativity of these three superb musicians, and surely you won’t want to miss it.