"Gustafsson, Nordeson, Janson are in different creative territory now than for their first album, but the music is still blazing, moving ever upwardAaly Trio - Sustain

AALY Trio, named after the piece "Lebert Aaly... dedicated to Albert Ayler" by the Art Ensemble of Chicago from their album, Phase One on the America label, released during 1971.

In 1962, Albert Ayler left his home in Cleveland to work in Scandinavia where he recorded his first album, Something Different!!!!!!, with a Swedish rhythm section and produced by altoist, Bengt Frippe Nordström, who started his Bird Notes label with this document. During the early 80's Mats Gustafsson and Kjell Nordeson began playing together as a duo in their hometown of Umeå, Sweden. Things went into creative overdrive for the band when Peter Janson became the bassist for the group in 1995.

It was also the year that Gustafsson first visited Chicago. The pool of musicians Gustafsson met there would not only impact the work of the AALY Trio but, over the course of the next five years, also the creative music scenes in both Stockholm and Chicago. In the quarter century since the members of AALY Trio were last in the studio together there have been countless performances and albums made by the core members of the band.

Perhaps Eric Dolphy was wrong when he said, "When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again." Because the path Mats Gustafsson began in Umeå forty years ago - which includes five blazing years with the musicians on the album in your hands and everything mentioned above - is called music. This path doesn't go in a circle. It's a curve, ever upward, always asking you to learn. The music on Sustain makes this evident, another basecamp on the ascent. Mats, Kjell, and Peter are in different creative territory now than in 2000, but with the rapport still there, and still blazing."-Ken Vandermark, from the liner notes.

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