Otis Sandsjö - Y-OTIS TRE (We Jazz) [Nu-Jazz]

For jazz nobody today does it like the 20th century greats so I mostly just head for my vinyl for a fix. For modern/nu-jazz I'm looking for innovation alongside the quality & the new Otis Sandsjö LP for the increasingly impressive We Jazz label, is one of the freshest LPs I've heard in a while. If Archie Shepp knew what Braindance was, Madlib could blow like Yusef Lateef or Planet Mu & Impulse had an album love child it might sound something like this.

Further Reading

Berlin-based Swedish tenor saxophonist Otis Sandsjö returns with his third album Y-OTIS TRE on We Jazz Records, February 23. Y-OTIS TRE finds Sandsjö in close collaboration with his long-time working partner and friend, bassist/producer Petter Eldh, and Dan Nicholls, the keyboardist of the Y-OTIS live band and a solo artist on his own right. Composed by the three and produced by Eldh & Sandsjö, Y-OTIS TRE lives up to its name ("tre" means three in Swedish) and stands strong in the continuum of layer-caked liquid jazz, a staple of the Eldh/Sandsjö production duo lauded for their string of releases as Y-OTIS and Koma Saxo.

While recognisable in form, Y-OTIS TRE adds new dimensions to what has come before. Borne out of hours of tripped-out studio jams by Sandsjö & Eldh, Y-OTIS TRE feels natural, neon, 3D, at times laser sharp, at times gooey like jelly, and at all times ripe with ideas that would make albums on their own. Golden riffs are taken, twisted, thrown away, then recycled, and always evolving.

Perhaps evolution is key here, as Y-OTIS reuses and cross-refers its own ideas but never exactly repeats. The music has a mixtape-like DNA, and it seems to be breeding and multiplying at each beat. In color terms, Y-OTIS TRE is more RGB than CMYK – that is, it might appear unrealistically bright and full of tones not found in the natural world. But when you listen to the music closely, you'll likely find it acoustic to the bone. There's no illusion: hearing the band live tells you what Y-OTIS is all about. It's a live band turned studio tool, morphed back into a live band. Or something like that anyway.

Putting a tag onto this music feels a bit like trying to hold a very colorful, somewhat thick liquid substance on the palm of your hand. You can see it, feel it, but never fully pinpoint just what's it made of. But it works, so best just to enjoy the ride.

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