NU! in Bloomington, MN

NU!
is the long-lost debut album by Danish
avant-garde
trumpeter
Hugh Steinmetz
. Recorded and originally released on the
Debut
label in 1966, the session was reissued on CD by
SteepleChase
in late 2001. The reissue includes not only the original program in its entirety, but also six tracks from a demo session recorded one month earlier, thus bringing to light what is in essence an alternate take of the entire album, minus the odd, lullaby-like
"Peters Fodseldag."
(There's a precipitous drop in recording quality between the two sessions, but that's to be expected.) Leading a Danish sextet,
Steinmetz
drinks deeply from the well of '60s
free jazz
and is clearly influenced by
Don Cherry
. Some of the three-horn polyphony brings
Sam Rivers
' writing to mind. Through
Mark Gardner
's liner notes listeners learn what became of these musicians. Drummer
Bo Thrige Andersen
is deceased. Saxophonist
Niels Harrit
plays but is mainly a chemist. Pianist
Per Aage Brandt
is a linguist, bassist
Steffen Andersen
a
Baroque
music specialist. Alto saxophonist
Karsten Vogel
is active as an improviser and plays with
. As for
, his first effort as a leader still sounds fresh and his
aesthetic remains influential. ~ David R. Adler