Enter cover
Released

Fire! Orchestra is exactly what its name implies: a (very) large ensemble with the trio of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin at its core. On this, the group’s first studio album, they’re nearly 30 men and women strong, including two bassists, three drummers, three guitarists (electric, acoustic, and lap steel), three vocalists, and 13 different horns, plus keyboards and electronics. On the first track of four, lead vocalist Mariam Wallentin sings her own lyrics in a voice somewhere between Karin Krog and Diamanda Galás, as the horns go wild. Later, Simon Ohlsson takes the microphone, a hoarse, Bono-esque shouter. This is dense and multifaceted music, with elements of soul, large-scale free jazz (think the Jazz Composers Orchestra or Alan Silva’s Celestrial Communications Orchestra), and even prog-rock. The first time you hear it, it’ll wash over you like a wave, but the more you listen, the more you’ll hear.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
From the River to the Ocean cover

From the River to the Ocean

Hamid Drake, Fred Anderson
The Music Of Wayne Shorter cover

The Music Of Wayne Shorter

Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Moving Cities cover

Moving Cities

Makaya McCraven, Antoine Berjeaut
Feel cover

Feel

George Duke
Levels and Degrees of Light cover

Levels and Degrees of Light

Muhal Richard Abrams
Bag It cover

Bag It

The Thing
Suite for Max Brown cover

Suite for Max Brown

The New Breed, Jeff Parker