By Brian Earley
Signe Emmeluth, the alto saxophonist/composer/band leader/new Danish Thing
progenitor/and hyperdynamic cosmic dynamo, burns bright in 2026. I have
written about the artist’s work on numerous occasions for the Free Jazz
Collective, as have my colleagues (if you missed it and you dig Signe, you
need to read
this review
of Emmeluth’s stunning recording with MoE and Ikuro Takahashi by William
Rossi).
What more can Emmeluth give us? I mean, it seems every time I communicate
with someone about her, superlatives in the realms of incredible,
amazing, or even somehow unexpected are thrown about. My
reaction to this may be to say that the English language falls short. These
adjectives are not only deserved and accurate, but like all words, they
absolutely fail to relay what makes her so special. In 2026 alone Signe has
appeared on at least three albums I think may be the album of the year (I
have in mind We Vote Force Majeure by Hyper Elastic Jinx,
With Love
by the Amoeba, and the aforementioned Live at Børsen Kulturhus with
MoE and Ikuro Takahashi). She has appeared on numerous other works this
year, and will appear on yet another recording with guitarist Karl Borja
this coming October. And the range of these recordings is just as sweeping:
experimental music versions of compositional suite, punk rock, and new age
folk.
On this new release with bassist Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard and
drummer/percussionist Dag Erik Knedal Andersen, Emmeluth finds herself this
time in a pure free jazz context. What I mean by this is
Live at All Ears
documents three musicians playing with no prior plan. This is a live set
including only one 37 minute take consisting essentially of two tracks. The
three allow the music to develop organically in the moment through deep
listening, inventive contributions, and intuitive communal connections.
The first of the two works presented here does the bulk of the heavy
lifting. Running over 27 minutes, this piece demonstrates all of what these
three make function so well. The work opens quietly, with Signe tonguing
and repeating an impromptu motif built around a single bent, squeaky note.
Knedal Andersen soon enters with bells and overtones from cymbals bowed with
sticks. Skavhaug Nergaard simultaneously begins to pluck harmonics on his
bass in the album’s first display of a kind of spontaneous communication
that appears to fall somewhere between a magic trick and instrumental
mastery. The reality, of course, is the three from the outset display the
kind of intuitive connection one finds only in the very best moments of free
improvisation.
Each musician continues to provide momentum by contributing new developments
or by responding to a contribution by another member. Moments like those
around the 4:25 or 19:30 marks allow the listener to realize it is fruitless
to determine who is the leader and who is the follower on this date as the
musicians operate as one collective body of sound. As I listened to this
piece, I found myself surprised again and again at how many times I could
not figure out whether certain sounds were being created by the drum kit,
the double bass, or the alto saxophone. These, after all, are pretty
different sounding instruments. Somehow, nonetheless, moments like those
around 6:00 or 8:40 provide a wonderful blending and confusion of sonic
voices.
The second work runs much shorter at around eight and a half minutes in
length. This piece features a prickly start-and-stop collective
improvisatory approach, and one of the highlights for me is the theme
Emmeluth conjures into being. I do not know if Signe does so intentionally,
but the leitmotif here is a melodic fragment used at times by Peter
Brötzmann throughout his career. Shortly after Peter’s passing, I remember
feeling deeply moved by the posthumous release of
Chicken Shit Bingo
with the saxophone giant and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. The theme one hears
throughout the second work on Live at All Ears is similar to that
played by Peter in “Smuddy Water” on that record.
Emmeluth, Knedal Andersen, and Skavhaug Nergaard manifest interplay and
equity for listeners on this Sonic Transmissions release. Exploration,
vulnerability, and adventure occupy equally important roles performed with
spontaneity and unity. And, if you care to hear what humans sound like at
their best when they get together, work together, and create together, I
highly recommend giving At All Ears a listen.
Live at the All Ears Festival can be listened to here:
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