Ken Vandermark's School Days - live

After an excellent Dave Holland concert, BBC's Jazz on 3 is now hosting a School Days concert, a group consisting of Chicagoans Ken Vandermark (reeds) and Jeb Bishop (trombone), the Swede Kjell Nordeson (vibes) and Norwegians Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums). You may remember the last two from such albums as Atomic's Boom Boom and Feet Music.

The present concert is that brand of accessible, energetic, fun-loving and free-wheeling 60s free jazz inspired music Vandermark loves so much. In a sense, it's not so much free jazz as looser and more ragged hard bop, with earthiness to spare and in which swing is not sacrificed on the altar of "freedom" or "sound exploration."

The three main soloists contrast nicely, as Vandermark likes to slip'n'slide'n'squeak'n'honk, whereas Bishop is more straight-forward and strong tone and Nordeson is suitably coloristic and ambiguous (his comping is often reduced to a stunted riff, which often seems to go playfully against the harmonic direction of the piece). The rhythm duo provide incessant drive and energy, it's a shame they are so low in the mix.

I was somewhat distressed to learn, in the interview preceding the concert, that Paal Nilssen-Love (featured in the January 2004 issue of The Wire) faced a life-threathening illness last year. Thankfully, it sounds like he's back at full strength.