''Boot!'' is an album by The Thing, the trio of saxophonist

Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...

, bassist

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (born 23 September 1971 in Oppdal, Norway) is a Norwegian double bass, bassist active in the jazz and free jazz genres. (in Norwegian) Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian) Career Flaten played electric bass in local f ...

and drummer

Paal Nilssen-Love Paal Nilssen-Love (born 24 December 1974) is a Norwegian drummer and composer in the jazz, free jazz and free improvisation genres. (in Norwegian) Early life Nilssen-Love was born in Molde, Norway. His parents ran a jazz club in Stavanger, and ...

. The album was recorded in February 2013 and released that year by the band's new, eponymous, label.

Recording and music

The album was recorded from 11 to 13 February 2013 at Grand Sport studio in Oslo."Boot!"
thingjazz. Retrieved 21 February 2016. Two of the six tracks are jazz standards, three were written by the band and one was composed by Flaten.

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

's "India" contains white noise bass, repeated baritone saxophone patterns and aggressive drumming around them, then breaks into low baritone improvisations. On "Reboot", "bass and sax trade riffs; they establish interlocking sound patterns as Nilssen-Love's drums forcefully prod, until all hell breaks loose, as Eastern European wedding music ripples against metallic vamps and driving free improvisation." "Heaven", a

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

composition, was arranged by Gustafsson. It begins quietly and gradually moves away from the melody and then the harmony of the theme. Flaten's "Red River" is a threatening,

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

piece. "Boot!" develops gradually, with bass and drums providing support for Gustafsson's playing. "Epillog" starts with repeated bass and saxophone tones that become stretched. "When Nilssen-Love enters with rumbling, stampeding tom-toms, things are already unhinged, the music pushes the margin and cuts free of restraint, entering into its own sonic language, dialoguing poetically with color, tone, space, and texture. It moves so far out, it has to come back; and so it does via the drummer's accelerated, circular funky breaks; they prod the band to climb down, eventually finding a grooving rock & roll center to close".

Releases

''Boot!'' was released in 2013 as the first album from the band's eponymous record label.

Reception

The ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' reviewer commented that "The exclamatory bark of the album's title captures its attitude, which amasses the low end of the sonic spectrum for a blunt-force kick to the gut" and "The trio members continue to be masters of intensity, never losing focus or form no matter how punishing their approach." In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Thom Jurek wrote: "''Boot!'' not only refines what The Thing do, it extends them into a breathtaking sphere where a Babel-like musical conversation takes place, elevating all of its singular elements into a rough, raucous, glorious whole." Writing for

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, Mark Corroto commented: "These three musicians are, to be sure, rock stars. Ones that can also make Duke and Coltrane smile."

Track listing

#"India" (

) – 6:54 #"Reboot" (

) – 10:16 #"Heaven" (

) – 9:50 #"Red River" (Flaten) – 8:01 #"Boot!" (Gustafsson, Flaten, Nilssen-Love) – 7:10 #"Epilog" (Gustafsson, Flaten, Nilssen-Love) – 13:59

Personnel

– bass sax, baritone sax, tenor sax, alto sax *

– electric bass *

– drums

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Free jazz albums The Thing (jazz band) albums