After three albums on the Clean Feed and Odin labels, Nilssen’s debut on ECM is his fourth as a leader after appearing on albums by the Maciej Obara Quartet (Unloved, Three Crowns) and Mathias Eick (Skala). A drums and bass accompaniment is a challenging environment for any saxist, and Rollgheten emerges as an accomplished musician, equal to the task, even avoiding the monotony of tone that can result in such configurations by simultaneously playing tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone to pleasing effect on ‘The Other Village,’ bass saxophone on ‘The Room Next to Her’ and clarinet on ‘Dreignau.’

The trio is wide ranging, careful not to be tied into any one bag – the free boppish ‘Influx delight’ over an optimistic Latin based rhythm, the spritely ‘Spending Time With Ludwig’ while ‘Acoustic Dance Music’ is one drummer’s voice raised in protest at the ubiquitous, but soulless, Roland TR-8 series of drum machines in electronic dance music. A very promising group.