By Paul Acquaro
Ada is one dirty delicious hell raising improvisation. Within a minute of the sets start, Nilssen-Love’s wash of percussion stacks, Longberg-Holm’s cello stokes, and Brötzmann’s sax sparks the fire. This blazing recording, a single 33 minute set by the Ada Trio, begins full blast, ends full blast, and runs the gamut of intensity between.
An apt description of this blazing nugget of a recording can be found on the Squidco website :
“A short but inspired set from the trio of cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and saxophonist Peter Brötzmann performing live at Cafe ADA, Wuppertal in 2011. Bringing Chicago and Europe together for essential free jazz from the new and old generation of improvisers.”
True to the description above, Nilssen-Love propels the music along with angular accents and tenacity. Lonberg-Holm adds both texture and depth, sounding a bit like an electric guitar at times, and a bit like nothing you’ve really heard before as well. Brötzmann’s playing is expectably dramatic, if not more so.
However, while there are of course squalls of fury (and I would be disappointed if there were not), there are also many melodic passages and moments of space that lends the fiery parts even more potency and power.
The seamlessly flowing contrasts that occurs as the group plays makes the music emotional and engaging.
I left this one repeating in my iPod for at least three full cycles through the tune and felt as if I was hearing new ideas each time. A recording of fresh intensity that makes for a rewarding listening.
