Krokofant: 6

Norwegian instrumental jazz rock band Krokofant has regressed literally and musically with their most recent album 6. They are back to a three-piece: Tom Hasslan on guitars, Jørgen Mathisen on saxophone, and Axel Skalstad on drums. This is the lineup that they had for their first three albums, prior to adding guest players Ståle Storløkken on keyboards and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass for their last two albums. The sound is once again unpleasantly chaotic most of the time. As the band says, they have “rekindled the joy of a more intense improvisational interplay� in favor of “the more rigid song structures of the quintet.�

Free jazz can be very good, but it also can be pretty bad. Most of this album lands in the latter category, though there are some high points. “Country Woman� is pretty heavy and the guitar is allowed to shine, a rarity on the album, given the overall dominance of the sax. The same is true for the closer “Pretentious Woman.�

The biggest failure of the album is that the players never seem to gel. It’s almost as though all three guys looked at each other in the studio and said: “OK. It’s your turn. Go!� With Mathisen obviously being the alpha dog.

Krokofant was a much stronger band with the presence of Ståle Storløkken and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. They need a keyboardist and a bassist, and more importantly the songwriting skills and discipline those two gifted players and compositionists brought to the band. I’m rounding up the score for this album to a 3 due to some strong moments, but I almost surely won’t play it again.

Two singles from 6, “Harry Davidson� and “Triple Dad,� have been released and the entire album will be available on January 10.

Track Listing
1. Harry Davidson (7:25)
2. Triple Dad (7:56)
3. Oh My Cod (6:43)
4. Country Woman (8:28)
5. The Balade (6:57)
6. Pretentious Woman (8:01)

Added: December 27th 2024
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 287
Language: english

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