Aaly Trio

Swedish free jazz group AALY Trio was formed around Umeå natives <a href="spotify:artist:76w5atatALEaxzKTmZbefS">Mats Gustafsson</a> (reeds) and Kjell Nordeson (drums) in the mid-'80s, after they had been collaborating for a few years. The earliest recording of AALY is one track, "Albumblatt," which documented the group's late-'80s incarnation with bassist Niklas Billström and appeared on the compilation Sounds: Contemporary Swedish Improvised Music. 1995 brought new bassist Peter Janson to the group and, a year later, Chicago reedsman <a href="spotify:artist:55Wpgt1Y1RISpita5RLxGm">Ken Vandermark</a> was on board as a permanent guest. The chemistry of this group explodes into passionate and exciting albums filled with such energetic urgency the band can cover <a href="spotify:artist:2wn2nqzITvJ1vcMRO8Wzv6">Ayler</a>'s "Ghosts" (and they do, twice), and it fits right in with the other material. Their debut full-length, Hidden in the Stomach, came out on Silkheart in 1998. The next two albums, Stumble and Live at the Glenn Miller Cafe, were released by <a href="spotify:artist:7lmde7T1WJPFwv1eR6melP">Superchunk</a> guitarist/vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:3pLUCmcxLXGeLoYI5rw3O4">Mac McCaughan</a>'s small imprint Wobby Rail. <a href="spotify:artist:76w5atatALEaxzKTmZbefS">Gustafsson</a> launched his own label, Crazy Wisdom, which released the group's 2000 recording, I Wonder If I Was Screaming, a release that unfortunately failed to find wider release or distribution. ~ Joslyn Layne, Rovi