Midweek pick, August 7th, 2024: Sulida's Utos

Sulida: Utos (Clean Feed)

Marthe Lea: tenor saxophone, flute and percussion
Jon Rune Strøm: double bass
Dag Erik Knedal Andersen: drums and percussion

Sulida is an all-Norwegian trio consisting of tenor saxophonist and flutist Marthe Lea, double bassist Jon Rune Strøm and drummer Dag Erik Knedal Andersen. While all three have been active in various bands and projects — Strøm and Knedal Andersen since the late 2000s, Lea since around 2017 — to my knowledge this trio is their first time playing in the same band.

The meeting does make a lot of sense. While working mostly in free jazz contexts, Lea and Strøm, in particular, have often made use of folk music inspired themes and motifs as jumping off points for improvisations, while all three have shown an interest in rhythms from various forms of music from around the world.

Starting with the jaunty, Lea penned “Furore”, which kicks off with the tenor saxophonist’s brief, folk-like theme over short sprints by the bass and drums, such elements are also on display at various points throughout their debut album Utos, released earlier this summer on Clean Feed.

On “Lågen” the music flows with a distinct determination, trickling at first but gaining momentum after a while, Lea’s saxophone both lissome and spiky, Strøms bass playing both robust and nimble, at times with a certain gnarly character, while Knedal Andersen both rustles and bangs the drums. On the title track, the trio thrillingly switches between quiet scurries and fast and and ferocious screeches, before they close the album off with a lovely rendition of Charlie Haden’s magnificent “Song For Che.”