New in the 1 luv - track of the day - spot 'Earthness' has exploratory saxophone from Josh Arcoleo and like Josh and drummer Marc Michel back in the eco-focused Planet B line-up led by Jasper Høiby - one of the world's greatest jazz bassists of his generation whose pedigree lands in the lineage of the Belonging Band's Palle Danielsson, Arild Andersen and the great Israeli bassist Avishai Cohen. Drawn from September release What It Means To Be Human there is a very open feel to the ensemble sound within which Høiby's role is properly organic (meaning based on the raw material of ideas, staggering technique and the artistic means to deliver his inner vision). Arcoleo, championed early in his career by the late great Pee Wee Ellis, while very disciplined in delivering tightly coiled cell-like motifs that circle ominously also teeters on the brink of going free and a righteous anarchy. Michel plays time a bit but allows himself to go loose or more precisely take the beat so far behind the melodic line that it creates an illusion of timelessness that acts as an analogue to the transmission of humanity that Jasper is after. The bass don himself concentrates on collective action here at the heart of the sound. If Greta Thunberg needs a house band step forward these three to be first in the queue. Jasper Høiby, top. Photo: Edition
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