Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit, FLAC; ACTMusic ACT 9831-2 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

The emotional tenor of this journeyman jazz ensemble ranges from joyous and celebratory, as in the title track, to imploring (‘No. 9’, ‘Lycklig Resa’), to near-rock frenetic (‘Bullet Train’) to insistently screechy (‘The Poet’). Among the eleven tracks are a few that touch on all these (‘Song For Jorgen’), then there’s the mysteriously compelling ‘Dance Of Masja’. Capable of swinging hard or taking it easy, Lundgren and bandmates Jukka Perko, Dan Berglund and Morten Lund are never far from moody traditional late-night musings (‘Never Too Late’), nor are they strangers to extended improvisation (‘Twelve Tone Rag’). Some of it will make you want to get up and dance – a rare occurrence with modern jazz. There’s an amazing compositional and interpretive variety in this near one-hour set, a collection that grows increasingly enjoyable with repeated playing. BW

Sound Quality: 85%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

A generally ‘clean’ release from ACT [see Tolstoy, reviewed here]. Noise is typically very low except for trk 11 where it is ~20dB higher. Trk 7 is the hottest but free of clipping while low-level spuriae is only evident on trk 9’s piano feed. PM