Reviews and articles

All About Jazz Interview Henning Bolte CPHJ 2018 The Community Series

Press in New York City Jazz on Herb Robertson/Mia Dyberg/Oscar Noriega

Mia Dyberg Trio Reviews:

‘The young generation of ‘free’ musicians can build on their predecessors’ achievements. They are free(d) to switch between different modes of playing and create
their own voice, throws and furrow of sound and music:
THIS TRIO –
highly energetic, bold, subtle, wild, melodic, far out, far in, visceral and emergence of deep groove ….’ All About Jazz, Henning Bolte

‘Bebop inspired beat authors to invest their writing with more rhythm, soul, spontaneity and unpredictability. Now, the Mia Dyberg Trio, a collection of Danish and Norwegian musicians with strong connections to Berlin’s improvised music scene, brings things back around by claiming the influence of beat writer William S. Burroughs. In addition to working through the varied dimensions of his oeuvre, Burroughs was a vivid performer, a serpentine narrator, a bone-dry comic and an unsparing truth-teller. The trio’s music, whether composed by alto saxophonist Dyberg and bassist Asger Thomsen or collectively improvised, matches its inspira- tion with impact and clearly has the edge when it comes to lucidity. Thomsen has a strong instinct for structure, which ensures direction and cohesiveness, even during the music’s most free-flowing moments.The saxophonist’s adroit phrasing and tonalflexibility express a variety of moods and tex- tures quite clearly, and her melodic imagination ensures that each gesture lands with emotion. “Party Ist Vorbei” captures the reflective mel-ancholy one might experience when a long eve- ning’s fun winds down; “Claws Out” stretches and twists with feline elasticity. Ultimately, it matters less that one can spot the literary influence here than the music suc- ceeding on its own merits. With its strong writ- ing, responsive interaction and expressive play- ing, the trio delivers’. —Bill Meyer DownBeat Magazine

‘Danish alto saxophonist Mia Dyberg is a bracing and exciting musician who uses the influence of William Burroughs to create a memorable and thought provoking album of free jazz. She is in fine company with Asger Thomsen on bass and Dag Magnus Narvesen on drums. “Ticket” begins the album with raw saxophone and bass in open space, probing the silence for an opening. The drums crash in and the music lunges forward in a predatory fashion, building to an exciting collective improvisation of thick elastic bass, ripe saxophone and drums. The music becomes very exciting with gales of saxophone pushing the band forward relentlessly amidst thrashing percussion and stoic bass. There is a swooping and free sounding nature to “Wil’s Swing” with long tones of saxophone against deft bass playing, though the entry of the drums is the cue to unleash the full power of the trio, with Dyberg’s rending howls approaching Pharoah Sanders territory, and her inventive use of sounds that are released from restraint makes this track particularly thrilling. There is a rattling, clanking drum feature akin to controlled chaos that is tethered to the saxophone by the unflappable bass planing. “Mia’s Pulse” continues mining this vast sound the trio achieves, as she leaps with abandon along with the bowed bass and drums creating waves of sound that course forward from the band. Another short track, “Claws Out” is a potent collective improvisation that gives each member equal footing in a sharp blast of concentrated energetic free jazz. “Topical” builds its own majestic pace through strong interplay between deeply toned alto saxophone, tight bass and drumming that opens a subtle pocket which is perfect for exploration. The longest performance on the album, “The First Track,” is among its most memorable, with the group developing a firm rhythmic foundation that allows for unrestrained expression by each member and the trio as a whole. Dyberg gets a rich and emotional tone from her instrument which gives her a unique sound while the bass playing is thick and powerful, and the drumming free ranging and unpredictable. The music gradually builds becoming faster and stronger as the group whips up a frenzy of resonant improvisation, dynamically moving between full out blowing and abstract improvisation. The album ends with the blistering act of free fun called “How Do You Know When You Are Through?” where they through caution into the wind for an all out blast that abruptly cuts off as if they had reached orbital velocity and slipped the bonds of Earth entirely’ – Tim Niland  https://jazzandblues.blogspot.com/2018/08/mia-dyberg-trio-ticket-clean-feed-2018.html?m=1

‘Everything is within a searching, loose rhythmic and melodic framework in the tradition of the European free-jazz tradition with strong roots both in England and perhaps in particular Germany. We have three listeners and empathic musicians that play together well, through listening and not staying alone, but with the collective, at the center’ – Tor Hammero

‘(…)We get some up-tempo tunes that are reminiscent of Henry Threadgill’s AIR trio, while other things are completely downbeat and in the much more free-spirited part of the jazz scale. But all the time it sounds great. Mia Dyberg is an original alto saxophonist who has good ideas in both composition and improvisation. Thomsen has a lovely “voice” in the bass, and Narvesen complements the two in an eminent way. A trio to follow!’- Jan Granlie, 2018 Ticket! CD review http://salt-peanuts.eu/record/mia-dyberg-trio/

For recent reviews please visit www.miadybergtrio.com