Jazz turns open and flexible again with this quartet. The music follows the historic grammars of bop and the “new thing”, but from there grows a strong appetite for the future. Energy and form are the most important musical coordinates of the project Chant, and the sense of equilibrium with which the band articulates composed structures and improvisation, inspired by the Fifties and Sixties American jazz, and very specially by the Blue Note aesthetic, is very much in evidence. This particular association of musicians was proposed by Clean Feed’s boss, Pedro Costa, and its first public presentation was a three day series of concerts in Coimbra, Portugal – all the pieces in this album were recorded live there. The musicians involved are some of the best coming from the Swedish scene. Born in Italy, but living in Stockholm, Alberto Pinton is undoubtedly one of the most important baritone saxophonists in the Old Continent. Continuing the steps of Sonny Rollins, Jonas Kullhammar plays the tenor sax with vigor, a round sound and an ever-ending imagination. The bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg may be Mingusian in style, but he has a very personal vision of the role filled by the double bass. Drummer Kjell Nordeson has many credentials as a free improviser, but he also knows how to swing. With a characteristic European elegance and a truly American drive, Chant has the particularity of not confusing urgency with simplification. Each idea is explored to the limit and that exploratory factor makes wonders.