Bugge WesseltoftMovingReview

Moving narrows focus from the uneven eclecticism of previous Wesseltoft records, concentrating on live in the studio performances from a seasoned touring outfit. The results are engaging if not quite 'the new conception of jazz' that's been promised by Bugge (pronounced 'Boogie', if you were wondering) and his mates.

Whatever, this music avoids the usual chilly atmospherics associated with Nordic jazz; the band set up infectious, often house derived grooves which, coupled with Wesseltoft's plangent electric piano on the opening "Change", superficially echo the likes of St Germain, except that the improvisational skills on show here are miles ahead of the usual jazz housers. Wesseltoft is the featured soloist throughout but he's more interested in episodic bursts and textures than thematic development; his synth stylings on the almost-techno title track recall ambient pioneers Cluster. "Yellow is the Colour" features Hakon Kornstad's Pharoah Sanders-esque tenor stylings and is simply beautiful - a sampladelic recasting of classic Impulse jazz which sounds completely unforced. Ingebrigt Flaten's springy, warm double bass playing is a joy throughout. Beautiful.