The Thing

The Scandinavian jazz outfit known as the Thing comprises saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, double bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Established in 1999, the group draws from free jazz lineages rooted in Germany, England, and the United States. Its recorded output stretches from the Don Cherry-based The Thing in 2000 to the fully improvised Again in 2018. In addition to its own projects, the trio has forged numerous live and studio alliances with Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Thurston Moore, Neneh Cherry, and James Blood Ulmer.

Issued in 2000, the self-titled debut interpreting Don Cherry compositions was followed the next year by the first collaborative release, She Knows..., recorded with Joe McPhee and built around free jazz standards by David Murray, Frank Lowe, and Norman Howard. The album underscored the ensemble’s interest in reinterpreting material from outside jazz, including a version of PJ Harvey’s “To Bring You My Love.” Subsequent releases have incorporated tracks originally by the White Stripes, the Sonics, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Garage appeared on Smalltown Superjazz, the Smalltown Supersound subsidiary, in 2004, preceding live EPs and the album Action Jazz, which mixed covers of Ornette Coleman and Lightning Bolt with original pieces.

The Cherry Thing, released in 2012 with vocalist Neneh Cherry—Don Cherry’s stepdaughter—marked her first album in a leading role in sixteen years. The musicians later founded The Thing Records so that all revenue would fund recording costs and future projects directly. The label enabled the release of Boot!, Mono, the Viking EP, and Live with Thurston Moore. These were followed by a full-length album cut over the first two days of June 2015. Entitled Shake, the record contained four new originals plus covers of songs by Loop, Ornette Coleman, and Wyrd Visions (aka Colin Bergh). It surfaced at the end of October, three weeks after the trio began a tour with James Blood Ulmer. Baby Talk, documenting the group’s 2015 set at the Molde International Jazz Festival, appeared in 2017. The Thing next issued the improvised Again in 2018.