Fire! Orchestra

Mats Gustafsson (The Thing), Johan Berthling (Tape, The Tiny) and drummer Andreas Werliin (Wildbirds & Peacebirds) follow that mighty Oren Ambarchi hook-up by working with an ambitious 28-piece ensemble drawn from Swedish jazz, improv and avant rock echelons. The Fire! Orchestra comprises at least 3 guitarists, 4 bassists, 4 drummers, brass, woodwind, a trio of vocalists, plus electronics and keys – basically a proper free jazz big band in the lineage of Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, Centipede, Sun Ra, to play a striking, refreshingly modern take on that sound, balancing lucid electro -acoustics and refined minimalism with stunning post-rock crescendos, and loosely defined jazz strategy.