In 2022, a new trio was born as a commission from the Motvind festival. Norwegian drummer Tollef Østvang (b. 1985, of Friends & Neighbors and Universal Indians) enlisted key figures of the British free improvised scene – alto and soprano sax player Trevor Watts (b.1939) and double bass player John Edwards (b.1964) to form a free improvised trio.

This trio first performed at the Motvind festival in the middle of the Norwegian woods in 2022, and since then embarked on several European tours. It was clear from the get-go that this egalitarian trio has cultivated an immediate, blissful, ecstatic intensity. The trio’s debut album, In the know, was recorded live as part of Oslo’s Kafé Hærverk Blow Out concert series in February 2024.

You don’t have to be in the know about free improvised music or free jazz to appreciate the explosive, liberating power of this trio, or its razor-sharp interplay. The organically flowing synergy of Watts, Edwards and Østvang often makes this trio sound larger than its sum. But more often, the rich sonic palettes of its gifted and fearless improvisers send it into insightful and unpredictable, poetic timbral explorations which highlight the distinct, resourceful and strong-minded voices of Watts, Edwards and Østvang. Østvang fits naturally into the storming interplay of the older British comrades, and keeps propelling its erupting rhythmic flow.

This trio’s first offering lasts only 37 minutes, but it is charged with enough invigorating, life-affirming energy, and ends with a fast cathartic blow-out which alone can easily warm some Nordic towns for the whole coming winter.

Eyal Hareuveni

Trevor Watts (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone), John Edwards (double bass), Tollef Østvang (drums, percussion)