Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit EthioBrazz

Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit EthioBrazz

Dates: 
From 21 March 2022 to 27 March 2022
Musicians: 
Niklas Barnö - trumpet; Mats Äleklint - trombone; Kristoffer Alberts – tenor and alto sax; Julie Kjær – alto sax and flute; Klaus Holm – Bb clarinet, alto and baritone sax; Per Åke Holmlander – tuba; Kalle Moberg - accordion; Ketil Gutvik, Terrie Ex – electric guitar; Tommi Keranen – electronics; Jon Rune Strøm, Cristian Meaas Svendsen – double and electric bass; Andreas Wildhagen, Paal Nilssen-Love – drums & percussion; Celio DeCarvalho - percussion; Melaku Belay, Zinash Tsegaye – dance; Nardos Tesfaye – vocals; Habetamu Yeshambel - masingo (stringinstrument); Mesay Abebaye - kobero (drums); Fasika Hailu - krahr (stringinstrument)
Description: 

Paal Nilssen-Love is one of the hardest working and most prolific musicians there is. Known from bands like The Thing, Ballister, Hairy Bones, Chicago Tentet and Original Silence, as well as collaborations with musicians like Arto Lindsay, Otomo Yoshihide, Akira Sakata, Ken Vandermark, Jim O’Rourke, Peter Brötzmann, Thurston Moore and many others, and with an impressive live activity. In 2013 he decided it was time to start his own big band ensemble, and Large Unit came to life. Consisting of mostly younger Norwegian musicians, Large Unit manifests as an intense powerhouse force on stage, but also veers into more subtle and textural passages. The group is also fortunate to include members from the other Nordic countries; Finland, Sweden and Denmark. In other words: Nordic music at it's best!

Large Unit burst into life at Molde Jazzfestival July 2013 and has since then toured Europe, Ethiopia, Brazil, Japan and USA. 

All Large Unit's compositions are written by Nilssen-Love, but the musicians are always given great freedom to contribute their own flavours to the music. The band is stripped down to single players, duos etc., and at times split into several groups. The power of the whole group is of course a treat in itself when in full blast. 

Nilssen-Love has taken inspiration from his years in groups like Peter Brötzmann Chicago tentet, Ken Vandermark ́s Territory band and FrodeGjerstad ́s Circulasione Totale Orchestra. Traces from this experience are evident, but still with the aim to create a new group with a sound of it's own.

Again in Molde, in 2018, the band was extended to 21, adding musicians from Brazil and from the Ethiopian band Fendika. 
Listen: https://www.large-unit.com/discography
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33bEozlQFo4