Trio Riot
Trio Riot
Efpi ****
Two saxophonists and a drummer is an unusual combination any way you care to look at it. The debuting Trio Riot, that’s Norway-based alto saxophone-playing Dane Mette Rasmussen, tenor saxophonist Sam Andreae (who’s played with Beats & Pieces over the years), and Zurich-based drummer David Meier, fight fire with fire a little like The Thing at times but the main talking point is the inclusion of an unusual cover, a version of Joy Division’s ‘Disorder’. It’s hardly a case at all of whether they are right “who can tell, and who gives a damn right now” that it’s included here, as the band are convincing from the first notes of the dozen tracks. There’s more stored energy on this record than the contents of a warehouse full of Red Bull and yet to use that old free jazz cliché Trio Riot is surprisingly melodic what with the trio's deployment of fairly edgy routines where three or four notes can combine into a repeated trampoline of energy to build into the next free-for-all. The saxophonists adopt impromptu interchanging rhythm and soloing roles while drummer Meier carefully locates the Tony Oxley-into-Rashied Ali sound space with refreshing resource.
Released on 17 March
Trio Riot, above, play the Vortex, London on 24 March; Newcastle on 25 March; and Free Range, Canterbury on 27 March