The Scandinavian contributions for the present status of that music called jazz are no longer possible to dismiss. And a fundamental one is given by the quintet All Included. At his axis are the rock solid rhythm duet formed by double bassist Jon Rune Strøm and drummer Tollef Østvang, the same of bands like Friends & Neighbors and Universal Indians. The first is a tension builder, capable of maintaining an obsessive groove or to explore the limits of the lowest sound world, the other keeps things close to the roots, but with a rare sense of surprise – his procedures can be conventional, but they appear when you less expect. On the top are three sometimes angry, sometimes lyrical, horns played by Martin Küchen, Thomas Johansson and Mats Aleklint – three of a kind, seeming an entire orchestral blowing section with its unisons, counterpoints and crossed challenges. Küchen is all emotions, but with a brain In the core of his heart, capable of the most complex phrasing work with extended techniques. With his vocabulary emerging from the hard bop and the free traditions, Johansson makes old ideas entirely new. Aleklint can be open-minded to the extreme, but even in abstract contexts he swings like if his life depended on it. Remember the Blue Note records from the Fifties and Sixties? “Satan in Plain Clothes” is the next step…

Tracks 1, 3 and 5 by Jon Rune Strøm (TONO/NCB), tracks 2 and 4 by Martin Küchen (STIM/NCB) and track 6 by Leo Küchen and Martin Küchen (STIM/NCB)

Recorded June 15th, 2014 by Michael W. Huon at Zuiderperhuis, Antwerp, Belgium / Mixed and mastered at studio Air Odeon, Brussels by Michael W. Huon
Produced by Universal Indians w/Joe McPhee / Executive production by Trem Azul / Design by Travassos / Photos by Geert Vandepoele