{"title":"Fire! Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFire! Orchestra is a Scandinavian free jazz\/experimental\/psychedelic\/noise\/free improv ensemble that has been active since January 2012. The group was formed by core members of Fire! supergroup Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling, and Andreas Werliin. They made their debut at the Fylkingen concert venue in Stockholm, Sweden, which was released as their first album in January 2013.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince then, Fire! Orchestra has produced two more studio albums and one live release between 2014 and 2016. In the fall of 2017, they began exploring a new compositional structure with an acoustic line-up emphasizing strings and clarinets. Their performance at Muzeum Inzynierii Miejskiej, Kraków in September 2018, invited by renowned Polish conductor and composer Krzysztof Penderecki, was later released as a CD\/LP in February 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to their recorded works, Fire! Orchestra has had various line-ups over the years featuring talented musicians such as Anna Högberg, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Mariam Wallentin, Sofia Jernberg, and many others. Their unique blend of genres and experimental approach to music make them a standout ensemble in the contemporary music scene.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"echoes-10","title":"Echoes","description":"\u003cp\u003eNow in its 14th year, the unique and constantly evolving Fire! Orchestra is back with their largest line-up so far, counting an international cast of no less than 43 members that includes mainstay singer Mariam Wallentin as well as newcomers David Sandström and Joe McPhee, both on vocals, McPhee also on tenor sax. The popular and widely praised Arrival is a highlight in both our and the band´s catalogue, but this epic triple album ups the ante. While following in the great tradition of ensembles led by the likes of Carla Bley, George Russell and Keith Tippett, Echoes is firmly placed in 2022 and takes in elements of rock, jazz, folk, electronic, classical and contemporary music. Starting out with the working title Big Bang, the near two-hour piece had its concert premiere at Stockholm Jazz Festival in October to rapturous applause from a full house, with major national newspaper Dagens Nyheter calling it a feast for eyes and ears in their ecstatic review. The core elements of Echoes are the seven self-titled parts, each mostly over 10 minutes in duration, interspersed with shorter pieces where we find a string quartet, an “African” stretch and generally music of an exploratory and experimental nature. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConsidering the size of the orchestra and the somewhat intimidating working title, this is a very open, breathing, organic, detailed and dynamic recording with a lot of space. As previously, a defining base element in the music is the repetitive and hypnotic grooves from the main rhythm section of bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werliin. Needless to say, the handpicked musicians are all on a very high level and on top of their game, conducted by Mats Gustafsson but given free reign when it´s called for. And Jim O´Rourke was given free reign when it came to the selections and the mix and is a big part in how the final album turned out. The album closes with a vigorous tribute from Joe McPhee to one of the late, great masters, McPhee being a pretty decent finger wiggler himself, to say the least. Echoes was mostly written by Fire! founders Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin and recorded at the legendary Atlantis studio in Stockholm in March last year.It was mixed by Jim O´Rourke in Japan in the course of two autumn months. The mastering and vinyl cut was done by loop-o mastering in Berlin, making for a fantastic sounding album, especially the vinyl edition is a real treat\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rune Grammofon","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50396762407243,"sku":"2015613","price":59.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50396763849035,"sku":"2015617","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/fire_orchestra_echoes_RCD2231_f59141fc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726485097"},{"product_id":"arrival-2","title":"Arrival","description":"\u003cp\u003eTheir first two albums, \u003ci\u003eExit \u003c\/i\u003e(2013) and \u003ci\u003eEnter \u003c\/i\u003e(2014), presented us with sizable and ambitious line-ups of 28 musicians. \u003ci\u003eRitual\u003c\/i\u003e (2016) saw it reduced to 21 and with \u003ci\u003eArrival \u003c\/i\u003eit ́s been trimmed down to a \"mere\" 14, with the core trio of Fire! (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin) and the two singers Mariam Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg being the only constant members since the beginning. Apart from this reduction, the main line-up difference is the introduction of a string quartet. This \"cleanup\" has worked wonders, keeping the rhythm and horn sections to their bare necessities, with the string quartet expanding the canvas and bringing a new, exciting dimension to the table. And on top of their game; the two powerful and sublime singers, quite different, but still blending perfectly. We also have to mention drummer and producer Andreas Werliin for his work in the audio department; rarely have we heard such a detailed, warm, deep and dynamic mix from a relatively complex combination of instruments. While their three previous albums can be considered as uniform works, if not conceptual, \u003ci\u003eArrival\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of more individual compositions and songs, including two stunning cover versions. \u003ci\u003eBlue Crystal Fire\u003c\/i\u003e by visionary guitarist Robbie Basho was first heard on his 1978 album \u003ci\u003eVisions of the Country\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eAt Last I Am Free\u003c\/i\u003e is today probably best known from Robert Wyatt ́s version, but originally written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers of Chic. Although the rest of the tracks are credited to Berthling, Gustafsson, Werliin and Wallentin, it ́s important to stress that this time the orchestra members have had considerable creative input throughout the process. \u003ci\u003eArrival\u003c\/i\u003e is light and shade,joy and despair, structure and improvisation, performed by an ensemble of excellent musicians. As fine as their previous albums are, with Arrival they have upped the ante on all levels. We consider it a major piece of work, both in our catalogue as well as in Scandinavian \"jazz\". \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rune Grammofon","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50414409285963,"sku":"1062417","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50414412595531,"sku":"1062425","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/12372331-58f1-4f2a-bc8a-7d958ec8ff16_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726683276"},{"product_id":"enter-1","title":"Enter","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt can't be easy gathering 28 of Northern Europe's finest jazz and improvising musicians in one place at the same time, which is why Sweden's Fire! Orchestra has been one of the continent's best kept secrets so far. After playing rare shows a handful of times a year, this incredible mass ensemble is getting ready to unleash its full power with 'Enter', its first studio recording. This isn't jazz: this is Nordic dynamite!LP - Double Vinyl set with CD Version.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rune Grammofon","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50421278114123,"sku":"377540","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e78275e0-9b6b-43c9-b3e8-4328eeb331e0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726756651"},{"product_id":"exit-4","title":"Exit!","description":"\u003cp\u003efire! is a swedish trio comprising mats gustafsson (the thing), johan berthling (tape) and drummer andreas werliin (wildbirds and peacedrums). fire! orchestra takes the project to the next level: a sonic behemoth comprising 31 members that should be unmanageable, but turns out to possess the elegance and lucidity of the righteous free jazz big bands of the past. throughout both long halves of exit!, mariam wallentin and sofie jernberg chant ritualistic lyrics written by arnold de boer of dutch avant rock institution, the ex. the text, he explains, is about concrete and non-concrete space, 'and about the possibility of improvising in actual space, and the ties, ropes and teachers in many online spaces and programs. it's up to the various sorts of fire to define the real, irreal, surreal and unreal. exit! might be a monotonous monolith of repetitive beats, or a tornado-eye of wild solos, but it has a point to make.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50421281325387,"sku":"358167","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/1e3722e6-6c51-41dc-adf9-83e5dff0e5a8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726756670"},{"product_id":"actions-1","title":"Actions","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew reading and conduction by Mats Gustafsson. The first (and until now only?) recorded interpretation of Krzysztof Penderecki ́s \u003ci\u003eActions For Free Jazz Orchestra\u003c\/i\u003e took place in 1971 at Donaueschingen and featured the New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra, assembled by Don Cherry for the occasion and conducted by the great Polish composer. That orchestra also consisted of 14 musicians, including international jazz heavyweights such as Kenny Wheeler, Peter Brötzmann, Thomasz Stanko, Terje Rypdal, Han Bennink and others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe new, extended reading by Mats Gustafsson and Fire! Orchestra was commissioned by the Sacrum Profanum festival in Kraków, Poland in 2018. The idea was to place this classic piece in a contemporary setting, with a new approach and a new body of sound. However, the original score was used as a platform for the new reading, connecting history with the present. A score in this context is most often of a graphic nature to present reference points, visualized on the sleeve by Kim Hiorthøy ́s cut-up adaption of Mats Gustafsson ́s score. It ́s also worth noticing that the instrumentation is more or less identical to that of 1971, the main difference being a tuba replacing one of the trombones. Finally, this new reading clocks in at 40 minutes, and is thus considerably longer than the 1971 version. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rune Grammofon","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50444154732875,"sku":"1086208","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50444155617611,"sku":"1086207","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/71800a19-41fc-4753-95ab-a81a77b891a7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727025532"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_eb3565e0_thumbnail_4096_2b249abd-303d-4f50-99a1-3f9ac2dc2ac8.jpg?v=1726485065","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/fire-orchestra.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}