Tracklist:

1. Cards - 12:24
2. Moving Map - 24:06
3. Left And Left Again - 17:06

 

Line-up:
Ken Vandermark -  tenor & baritone sax, Bb clarinet

Hamid Drake -  drums
Kent Kessler -  bass
Mats Gustafsson -  tenor & baritone sax
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - bass
Paal Nilssen-Love - drums

Recorded:

by Rafał Drewniany at Manggha Hall, Kraków on November 1st, 2014

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What the critics say:

Collider solders together The Thing, the drummer’s punk-jazz trio with Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten with its U.S. counterpoint, the DKV trio of reedist Ken Vandermark, bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Hamid Drake.

Like a recurring guest star on a sit-com, Vandermark is a frequent Nilssen-Love collaborator. More notably Collider is an opportunity to compare the styles of the Norwegian and Drake, his American doppelganger, who seems to be behind every drum kit that Nilssen-Love isn’t. Those expecting a Rich vs. Roach confrontation will be disappointed. Instead the drummer function more like the Doublemint Twins throughout: doubling the flavor. That’s why “Moving Map” is so crucial. During the ebb-and-flow of its 24 minutes, the tensile creativity of both percussionists is discernible, with one vibrating cymbals and the other crunching the bass drum. As the dual bassists underscore the narrative with a menacing rumble, the reedists perform an intricate do-si-do, with first Vandermark’s clarinet squeals then Gustafsson’s smearing filibuster of a tenor solo moving upfront. Notwithstanding post-Aylerian cries from the horns, the bass-drum teams maintain a groove which mixes intensity with translucency. When mid-way through each drummer takes a solo, the abrasions of metal and wood on skin align flashiness with fragility, proving either can maintain a groove nearly inaudibly as well as thunderously. Finally the performance turns full circle, with the four-piece rhythm section underlying a serpentine duel between the saxophonists from the aviary top (Vandermark) and hippo-like bottom (Gustafsson) of their horns.

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Ken Waxman, the New York City Jazz Record (1/2017)