The Exu

The final track on this new trio’s impressive debut is dedicated to saxophonist Tim Berne, which gives a pretty good idea where it’s coming from: much like the downtown NYC scene that Berne was part of at its apex in the late 1980s, The Exu specialise in sprightly, genre-blurring music that keenly explored diverse influences and methods. Another of bassist Dave Kane’s compositions is dedicated to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, presenting a grungey rock plod with James Mainwaring letting rip some meaty squeals on baritone sax. Elsewhere there are hints of math-rock in the bullish stumble of ‘Bug Glass’, and some light-footed free bop on Mainwaring’s ‘Waffles’, with his sax sliding around over a buoyant walking bass and nippy swing. While these are all interesting compositional gambits, there are also a handful of group improvisations and it’s here that Norwegian drummer Emil Karlsen injects a certain urgent energy. An increasingly in-demand figure on the UK free-improv scene, Karlsen unfurls a satisfyingly lithe and fluid exuberance on pieces like ‘Pancakes’, while the simply named ‘Ballad’ is a slow and stately meditation with sighing barely-there brush work lending it a hushed fragility. Across these dozen short tracks, there’s a lot to savour. – Daniel Spicer, JAZZWISE

Saxophonist James Mainwaring has teamed up with bassist Dave Kane and drummer Emil Karlsen, and as The Exu they have laid down twelve short shots in the arm that find the trio raking through their record collections and coming up with a suite that defies logic and sees them chasing whichever muse might briefly appear. Composition duties are split between Dave and James, but Emil’s subtle insinuation and willingness to flex are integral to the album.

All the way through the forty-odd minutes, James’s tone is always playful and the rhythm section is constantly adjusting, stepping carefully at times or with a cheery swagger at others. There is an echo of ’50s and ’60s jazz in the bright-eyed momentum of opener “Riddle Me This”, and the percussive textures are sharp and crisp; while on “Know Time”, the bass stands out, nimble and surefooted, sticking to the path, the antithesis to the searching sax. The piece chases its tail at points, but is ever joyful, thrilled at being able to wander anywhere.

There are slow, sleepy and soft textures on “B4B”; it meanders with absolutely no agenda. Every route is open as an option and it is interesting how often the percussion becomes more textural, allowing any rhythm to be administered by the bass. It leaves freedom for the percussion and often this takes things in unexpected directions. The feeling that they are not burdened by any jazz expectations echoes through all the tracks. On “Waffles”, they splash notes about like some musical equivalent of an action painting and I guess considering they are named after a Jean-Michel Basquiat artwork, then perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by this sense of liberation.
There is a drifting, bleary feeling to “That’ll Do It”, the sax almost out of hearing range at times, with the crack of the rimshots the only thing keeping it from disappearing. “The Field Next To The Road” has more of a folk influence, but with obsessive repetition rearing its head, while “Kurt” has an almost hip-hop swagger. The sax is sultry here and the whole thing cuts a real groove and shows yet another side to the trio, even when the vein-popping sax bursts from nowhere. It goes straight from that into something more measured but less structured; a few percussive markers plot a course for the dizzying sax as the bass steps out, its surreptitious progress delight to follow.

As we move towards the end of the album, so things take another turn. The proggy stop-start sax on “Bug Glass” is entwined with a stomping, cymbal-led glam beat while the bass goes all tasty and twisty. It is a bit of a party starter, even with the sax gurgling and gurning; but the final two tracks are much more reflective, as if they need to slow things down before they all become carried away. The rhythmic interaction on final track “Berne It Up” is kind of loose, but they don’t lose sight of the roving sax. The sudden four-to-the-floor cymbal-led strut is a surprising dash for the prize before it cuts out and silence resumes.

This is a joyful and really good-natured collection that once again finds a sympathetic trio on exquisite form, tying the listener up in unexpected knots and then soothing their brow and lulling them before the next switchback. Free music, grunge, hip-hop, bebop; it is all in there, lurking, awaiting discovery and The Exu is well worth your time. – Mr Olivetti, FREQ https://freq.org.uk/reviews/the-exu-the-exu/https://freq.org.uk/reviews/the-exu-the-exu/

The music grabs you by the ears from the start. There’s a tremendous visceral energy here, but also a huge range of dynamic and textural contrast. It feels rich in emotional range as well. One thing that strikes me is what a wonderful, rich and nuanced sound each member of the trio makes on their instrument. It’s beautifully recorded as well – so much subtle detail to make you lean forward to catch it all, before you are suddenly pinned back in your seat by a delightful sonic salvo! The composed material here is fantastic, really arresting and characterful, and so pregnant with potential for improvisational development. The music has a huge range of reference points as well, but it always feels strongly focused with an identity all of it’s own. Glorious music making. Highly recommended. – Bandcamp UK Jazz & Improvised Music

‘The Exu’ is not only the name of the trio but also the title of the debut album that saxophonist James Mainwaring, double bassist Dave Kane and drummer Emil Karlsen recorded on May 19, 2024. A single day of recording was enough for them and that is clearly reflected in their intense interplay. In the opening track ‘Riddle Me This’ the trio immediately sets the tone for what follows. Angular saxophone outbursts by Mainwaring that are abruptly interrupted, after which Kane starts a dark bass line and Karlsen draws suppressed dotted lines on drums. The saxophonist fantasizes about this rudimentary basic pattern at a slower pace for a while. ‘Know Time’ contains the same building blocks, but they are now mixed up at high speed to build a totally new structure. The main characteristic here is an urgent tone with Mainwaring who makes the link between John Coltrane and Albert Ayler. It goes like this for forty minutes. The three search, find and start again. We note the film noir accents in ‘Waffles’ (!), the circular patterns of ‘The Field Next Door’ and the funky beat in ‘Kurt (for Kurt Cobain)’ as extra points of attention. They end with the infernal tsunami ‘Berne It Up (for Tim Berne)’. An acoustic splinter bomb from the first to the last note by three international musicians (an Irishman, a Brit, a Norwegian) who for once do not belong to the hip London scene but have Leeds as their base. To be found somewhere between Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’, Tim Berne’s groups Bloodcount and Snakeoil and the excesses of John Zorn. – Georges Tonla Briquet, JAZZHALO https://www.jazzhalo.be/reviews/cdlpk7-reviews/j/james-mainwaringdave-kaneemil-karlsen-the-exu/

Sax player and Mercury Prize-nominee James Mainwaring has worked with artists as diverse as Django Django, Nduduzo Makhathini, John Law, and Matthew Bourne. As a teenager, Irish-born bass player Dave Kane bought his first bass guitar for fifty pounds from a catholic priest. He made good use of it in local alternative and punk bands, later moving on to jazz and playing at various times with Keith Tippett, Evan Parker and Paul Dunmall, among others. Norwegian dummer Emil Karlsen has also worked with a wide range of jazz and free improv musicians. Together they formed the trio, The Exu. As for the kind of music they make together, as Kane says in the album notes, ‘we are the sum of our record collections, the films we have seen, the books we have read. It all goes into the mix to make our music.’ The trio took their name from a painting by the New York Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. As it says on the band’s website, ‘the … moniker embodies the trickster psychopomp deity from the Yoruba religion—a patron of boundaries and travellers, invoked during crucial decision-making processes, and responsible for guiding souls to the afterlife. Basquiat’s Exu symbolises chaos and a disregard for codified rules and conventional behaviour.’ Having read this and listened to the first track, I was surprised at just how un-chaotic it was, though. However, when they leave the basic material behind and set off into uncharted territory, they really do live up to their name. A few tracks stand out: ‘The Field Next to the Road’ has a compelling oddity about it, a quality suggested, I thought, by the quirky title. In ‘Versus Medici’, a fragmentary structure seems to gradually coalesce, in the second half, into a hypnotic theme. Two of the tracks bear dedications to other musicians: one to US saxophonist Tim Berne, the other, to Kurt Cobain. The Cobain track has the jazz equivalent of the dark, heavy feel you might get in a Kurt Cobain song. Kane’s bass playing is forever versatile, making creative use of the whole range of the instrument. Mainwaring’s sax-playing is similarly wide ranging, one minute skronking and growling, the next forging almost-Romantic lyrical phrases. Karlsen’s drumming is endlessly creative, adding depth and colour to the texture of the trio. Definitely worth checking out. – Dominic Rivron, INTERNATIONAL TIMES https://internationaltimes.it/of-gods-and-fireflies

The Exu is an acoustic jazz trio featuring Norwegian drummer Emil Karlsen (who has previously played in combos with Matthew Bourne, Phil Durrant, Mark Hanslip, and many others), double bassist Dave Kane (a regular member of Paul Dunmall’s recent endeavors), and multi-instrumentalist James Mainwaring (Space Flight, Django Django, Roller Trio, Mycorrhiza, Martin Archer’s Anthropology Band, and many more), here handling saxophones; the group is currently based in Leeds. There you have it — whatever can be done with saxes, double bass, and drums in a jazz-meets-edgy rock style, the Exu is up for giving it a try, and they certainly execute their ideas well, with Kane and Mainwaring sharing the group’s compositional duties. With an aggressive and punchy almost-punk attitude the trio acquits themselves well, only rarely slowing down the pace. Karlsen and Kane create some spirited grooves that Mainwaring can meander through with ease, laying down bright, energized melodies that capture the moment. Kane’s “That’ll Do It” exudes that punchy spirit moving freely between brilliant sax sprites and ever-shifting rhythms at the bottom end, while “Kurt (For Kurt Cobain)” is an unabashed rocker that drives hard and greasy, leaving the listener stunned. There is some of that manic chaos here (and throughout the rest of the album to a degree) but it never obscures the raw beauty of what’s coming from the players. It’s worth noting that with sax, bass, and drums, there are no chord instruments for the players to need to break through to be heard — all three are playing with an equal footing, and all three can be heard at all times. With “In That Case” the group tones it down for a softer approach, which by this point in the album the listener should be good and ready for (especially following “Bug Glass”), it almost sounds like an improvisation. A pair of tunes “Pancakes” and “Waffles” also begins with what seems like an improv, but settles into a playful jazz honk piece for the second half. This is one of those albums that will grow on the listener with more plays, each spin revealing more of what this trio is made of. A solid winner. – Peter Thelen, EXPOSÉ http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/the-exu-the-exu-3.html

All of the songs on this disc were written by Dave Kane or James Mainwaring. On “Riddle Me This”, Mr. Mainwaring has written a piece which switches between the main theme and a more skeletal section. The trio strips things down on “84B”, the tenor sax playing every note slowly, the vibe simmering softly, carefully. There is a thoughtful drum solo here, spacious and well-crafted. I like that this music is not too far out, no screaming or abrasive intensity. It is still adventurous on a more subtle level with occasional freer flights of fancy which evolve from more modest beginnings. On “Waffles”, the trio starts to got a bit further out during the sax solo yet still play the written parts in a more calm way. Starting with “That’ll Do It”, the trio start to push things further and freer while weaving some structured sections in and out. Mainwaring sounds like he is playing a soprano sax on “The Field Next to the Road”, again the trio playing with some skeletal structure. “Kurt (for Kurt Cobain)” has Mainwaring playing bari sax over a cool, somewhat punkish groove with a fine squealing sax solo midway. Kurt Cobain was the frontman for Nirvana, the great Seattle punk trio. This piece shows another side to this avant/jazz trio which I do like. On “Bug Glass” the trio picks up the tempo for another punk-like groove, the saxist going further out as he stretches each note in a frenzied sound. This is not an over-the-top Free/jazz trio blasting up a storm but much more well-paced and thoughtfully executed throughout. – Bruce Lee Gallanter, DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY NYC

A mix of street-art and neo-expressionism applied to music through compositions and improvisations. Experimental music that draws its elements from various sources: free-jazz, grunge, death metal, hiphop, bebop… – Guy Stuckens, RADIO AIR LIBRE

The Exu are a Leeds-based jazz trio that mixes bebop and free jazz- taking influences from grunge, death metal, hip hop, & experimental music. As far as I can gather this self-titled CD album on Discus Music is the band’s debut release, which features twelve tracks. The trio is made up of James Mainwaring- saxophones, Dave Kane- double bass, and Emil Karlsen- drum’. The CD comes presented in a glossy and black four-panel digipak- which features a series of neon & stage light set abstract photos. The album can be purchased directly here. I must say from the off/ first few plays this self-titled very much grabbed me, which one doesn’t often say with jazz records, as more often than not they take a little time to sink in/ appeal. I think it’s the blend of urgency, decent melodies, and a few more surprising moments that make the whole thing so instant/ appealing. We open with “Riddle Me This” which shifts between urgent sax note pumping ribbed with tight bounding bass and smashing drum rolls, to more moody bass wonders and smoky warbling horn work. There’s the steadily cascading drumming, horn flirt ‘n’ bay, roaming bass bounding of “Pancakes”. In the second half, we go from the steady pounding almost strung-out rock groove of “Kurt( For Kurt Cobain), with some great baying ‘n’ shifting horn soloing and nicely steady percussion & bass blends. The rapid and urgent “Bug Glass” with its cymbal crashing drums, warbling to baying horn work, and taut/ tense bass presence. Onto the taut opening bass wonderings, slow horn wavers, and stark but moody percussive slides and silvers of “In That Case”. The Exu certainly is an engaging debut album- with the trio working wonderfully together to create a worthy/ fairly varied selection of tracks. I look forward to hearing how they develop, and may even drop in to see one of their shows- as from their site they seem to be fairly actively touring around the UK. – Roger Batty, MUSIQUE MACHINE https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_template.php?id=11018

There are no electric instruments on The Exu’s dozen tracks, but intense electricity isn’t lacking. Fully in Free Jazz mode, Karlsen smashes, paddles, rolls and pumps with enough torque to match the constant overblowing and split tones of Mainwaring, who has playing with John Law; and the effective and measured string throbs from Kane, who has recorded with Paul Dunmall. With explosive pushes and patterns, the saxophonist appears willing to explore every variation, expansion and atom of each particular tune, with generous scoops, stentorian blares and repeated bent notes. Not shy, the bassist underlines nearly every sonic thrust with sluices, stops and swells. Meanwhile the drummer’s Mylar battering and cymbals reverb remain constant. A tincture of horizontal motion remains in the tune as well, since the head is often recapped at the finale. Although Mainwaring’s machine-gunned multiphonics on tracks such as “B4B” often seem unstoppable, broken chord connection often leads to a transition towards a linear pulse. The bassist introduces some of the tracks, or as on “The Field Next to the Road” plucks away at top of scale in tandem with pressurized reed notes which here take on a bagpipe-like drone, leaving space for a Metal-like string solo on top of drum echoes. Furthermore while some tracks like “Bug Glass” start off cool and collected, before mid-point is reached a combination of spetrofluctuation, crammed multiphoinics and tongue stops from Mainwaring dissect timbres until they’re somewhat sutured by repeated upward drum patterns. This meld of saxophone staccato squeaks, singular bites and screaming altissimo runs is present on “Versus Medici”, the disc’s longest tracks. Yet here the emphasized inner-horn whines and triple tonguing are given space to refract to a near-lyrical exposition when restrained by clipping drum paradiddles and a steady double bass pulse. Exemplary in reflecting Free Jazz in all its rugged, pumped and concentrated appeal, The Exu’s one drawback is brevity, Since the lengthiest track clocks in at a mere five minutes, wider space for each player to expand his musical parameters would have presented a fuller view of the band. – Ken Waxman. JAZZWORD https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/the-exu/

Naming themselves after a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting The Exu is a trio of improvising musicians based in the north of England.
Its members all cut their teeth on the Leeds jazz scene and all have featured previously on the Jazzmann web pages in a variety of incarnations.

Saxophonist James Mainwaring is arguably best known as a member of the Mercury Music Prize nominated Roller Trio, also featuring Luke Reddin-Williams (drums) and first Luke Wynter and then Chris Sharkey on guitar. The band’s three albums “Roller Trio” (2012), “Fracture” (2014) and “New Devices” (2018) are all reviewed elsewhere on this site, as are live appearances at the London and Cheltenham jazz festivals.

Away from Roller Trio Mainwaring has worked as a solo performer, releasing the albums “Mycorrhiza” (2021) and “Meditations 1A” (2023) and as the leader of the quartet Tipping Point, featuring Matthew Bourne (Fender Rhodes), Michael Bardon (double bass) and Joost Hendrickx (drums). That group’s debut album “The Earthworm’s Eye View” was released October 2015 and is reviewed here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/tipping-point-the-earthworms-eye-view

Mainwaring has also been part of the bands Space F!ght, Stoop Quintet and a member of pianist John Law’s Congregation group, appearing on Law’s excellent 2020 album “Configurations”, which also sees Mainwaring contributing guitar and electronics.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/john-laws-configuration. He is also an acclaimed educator, holding a teaching post at Leeds Conservatoire and he has also been involved in the development of digital resources and practice tools for the benefit of musicians.
At the present time Mainwaring’s main musical focus is with The Exu, in which he shares compositional duties with bassist Dave Kane, another leading figure on the UK jazz and improvised music scene and who is also based in Leeds.

Originally from Bangor in Northern Ireland Kane came to England to study at Leeds University and ended up staying. He was a founder of LIMA (Leeds Improvised Music Association) and was musical director of the LIMA Orchestra. Kane first appeared on the Jazzmann web pages back in 2009 as the leader of the quintet Rabbit Project, featuring Matthew Bourne (Fender Rhodes), Simon Kaylor (tenor sax), Simon Beddoe (trumpet) and Joost Hendrickx (drums). The group’s excellent album release “Eye Of The Duck” (Edition Records) is reviewed here.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/dave-kanes-rabbit-project-the-eye-of-the-duck. The bassist has also worked regularly with the trio Bourne, Davis, Kane, a collaboration with Bourne and drummer Steve Davis. The core trio has frequently been augmented by saxophonist Paul Dunmall. Guest contributor reviewed a live performance by this quartet at The Vortex, London, also in 2009.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/paul-dunmall-matthew-bourne-dave-kane-live-london-vortex-11-august-2009
Tim also reviewed the core trio’s album release “The Money Notes” in 2011, also noting that Bourne, Davis and Kane had performed with Dunmall on the saxophonist’s “Moment to Moment” album, released on Slam Records.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/the-money-notes. Kane has also featured on these pages as a member of the Anglo-French collective Tweedle Dee at the 2012 Cheltenham Jazz Festival. His name also appears in my reviews of recordings by World Sanguine Report, the avant jazz / rock group led by vocalist and songwriter Andrew Plummer, and by pianist and composer Dave Stapleton, the founder of Edition Records. Others with whom Kane has worked include drummer Paul Hession, trumpeter / sound artist Alex Bonney and Shank, a trio with the London based musicians James Allsopp (reeds) and Tim Giles (drums).

The third member of The Exu is Emil Karlsen (born1998), a Norwegian drummer who, like Kane, studied in Leeds and decided to remain. He has worked with Bourne, violinist Philipp Wachsmann, composer / laptop artist / violinist Phil Durrant and with the London Improvisers Orchestra. Others with whom he has played include vocalist Lauren Kinsella, trumpeter Charlotte Keeffe, saxophonists Mark Hanslip and Martin Clarke, cellist Shirley Smart and bassists Kane, John Edwards, Olie Brice and Otto Willberg..
His playing has been endorsed by free jazz drum masters Paul Hession and Mark Sanders and Karlsen has performed as part of a drum duo with the latter. Karlsen’s current projects include Spaces Unfolding, a trio with Wachsmann and flautist Neil Metcalfe that is sometimes augmented by the electronics of Pierre Alexandre Tremblay. He also plays in a trio with saxophonist John Butcher and bassist Dominic Lash and with Tern, another trio featuring Wachsmann that also includes Martin Hackett on Korg MS10 synth.
“From Where Light Falls”, a 2021 recording by Karlsen’s still ongoing duo with saxophonist Ed Jones is reviewed here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/from-where-light-falls

The Basquiat painting after which the trio is named depicts Exu, the trickster deity of the Yoruba religion, a character that the band describe as; “a patron of boundaries and travellers, invoked during crucial decision making processes and responsible for guiding souls to the afterlife. Basquiat’s Exu symbolises chaos and a disregard for codified rules and conventional behaviour”.

It should be noted that The Exu’s debut album is not an orthodox free jazz recording. Instead the trio draw on an admirably diverse set of influences on an album comprised of a mix of collective improvisations and a series of short, snappy compositions by either Kane and Mainwaring, with no individual track exceeding five minutes in length. Kane contributes five tunes and Mainwaring three, the remaining four pieces being group improvisations. The album was recorded in May 2024 at Kane’s home studio with Chris Sharkey in the engineer / producer’s chair.

Some of the tune titles are indicative of the trio’s myriad influences, these including free jazz, grunge, death metal, hip hop, bebop and experimental music, as Kane explains;‘we are the sum of our record collections, the films we have seen, the books we have read. It all goes into the mix to make our music.’.

The Exu’s debut veritably crackles with creative energy, the playing spirited and spiky and very much in a British ‘punk jazz’ tradition that includes bands such as Roller Trio, Acoustic Ladyland, Polar Bear and Led Bib, plus various others.

It commences with Mainwaring’s “Riddle Me This”, which combines elements of bop and swing with that aforementioned punk energy. But it’s not all sound and fury, there are more reflective and exploratory episodes too with Kane’s bass coming increasingly to the fore. The Exu are far from one dimensional and exhibit a skilled command of texture and dynamics.

Kane’s composition “Know Time” features another catchy melodic hook and sees the composer’s propulsive bass, allied to Karlsen’s crisp drumming, fuelling Mainwaring’s increasingly garrulous sax explorations. It’s a piece rooted in conventional jazz virtues but possessed of a very contemporary attitude and energy.

Mainwaring takes up the compositional reins again for “B4B”, which features the trio in a more reflective mood with Mainwaring adopting a less abrasive tone as his sax wanders around the sounds of Kane’s grounding bass and Karlsen’s textured and nuanced drumming. The mood is gently exploratory, with Karlsen in the role of colourist.

The first of the spontaneously realised pieces is “Pancakes”, which fits in well with the composed material and sees the trio continuing to explore, subtly pushing the boundaries with Mainwaring introducing such free jazz techniques as pecking and multiphonics. It also includes an unaccompanied ‘no time’ drum episode from the impressive Karlsen.

Companion piece “Waffles” is a Mainwaring composition, a more straightforward piece with a catchy sax motif that triggers an opening series of exchanges between Mainwaring and Karlsen before Kane establishes an insistent bass groove, which Karlsen locks in with, this providing the basis for Mainwaring to stretch out further and to do so in powerful and energetic fashion, reaching again into the realms of free jazz technique. The saxophonist then reels things back in for a closing series of exchanges with Karlsen. A sense of joy and playfulness informs the music of The Exu at all times, no matter how abstract the music might become. One really does sense that these guys are having a whale of a time.

Kane takes up the compositional reins for the rest of the album, beginning with “That’ll Do it!”, ushered in by the sound of his powerfully plucked bass as Karlsen set up a skittering drum groove alongside him. The rhythms continue to mutate as Mainwaring extemporises around them, building from a typically arresting hook, but gradually becoming more abstracted as the trio veer off into a loosely structured free for all. Out of this a rolling polyrhytmic drum groove arises, the basis for more sax explorations prior to a honking, riffy coda featuring a further series of sax / drum exchanges.

The improvised “The Field Next To The Road” features Mainwaring’s distinctive, strangulated sax sounds (on soprano, I think) above a rhythmic backdrop, presumably generated by Kane’s bass, that resembles the sound of an mbira. The saxophonist adopts a slightly more conventional tone as the piece unfolds, the improvised melodies having something of a folk like quality. Karlsen deploys an intriguing variety of drum sounds and is eventually left to his own devices as the piece fades out.

Kane wears his influences on his sleeve with the title of his composition “Kurt (for Kurt Cobain)”.Also issued as a single this is a suitably grungy romp with bass and drums laying down a monolithic groove as Mainwaring emotes and shreds on what sounds like baritone sax. Hard riffing and belligerent this piece is cut from the same cloth as “Iggy”, Acoustic Ladyland’s tribute to Mr. Pop. It’s certain to be favourite item at the trio’s forthcoming live appearances as they embark on a short series of UK live dates in March, April and May 2025.
By way of contrast the improvised “Versus Medici” is gently exploratory, featuring a fragile lattice of tentative sax, double bass and brushed drums with, Mainwaring gradually becoming more assertive as the piece progresses, while still continuing the search. Again it’s more accessible than much freely improvised jazz and the piece once more fits in well with the aesthetic of the album as a whole.
Kane’s “Bug Glass” ups the energy levels once more with its infectious stop / start riff acting as the vehicle for Mainwaring’s most extreme sax shredding yet. Angry, buzz saw sax eruptions are accompanied by the roiling polyrhythms of bass and drums. Another piece surely destined to become a live favourite.

A final moment for reflection with the improvised “In That Case”, introduced by Kane’s deeply sonorous solo bass meditations and featuring the sounds of Mainwaring’s subtly probing sax meditations and the delicate rustle of Karlsen’s brushes.

The album concludes with a final nod to the trio’s influences and Kane’s composition “Berne it Up (for Tim Berne)”. It’s probably fair to say that Berne’s influence is apparent throughout the album, but Cobain’s less so, other than in terms of attitude. However despite its source of inspiration and the tune title itself this closing piece is not quite frenetic as I was expecting, although it does does eventually build up an impressive head of steam as The Exu pay tribute to Berne’s uncompromising and continually questing spirit.
Drawing on an admirably broad range of influences “The Exu” is an excellent saxophone trio recording that manages to bring something new, raw and exciting to the format without sounding anything like Sonny Rollins. It’s that rare beast, an avant garde jazz record that is actually highly accessible and I predict that the band will make a lot of fans on their forthcoming tour.

That accessibility comes without any hint of artistic compromise from the band. They avoid the idiomatic pitfalls of free jazz by keeping things tight, lean and sharply focussed, there is no musical flab on the bones of these small but perfectly formed pieces. The playing is steely eyed and dynamic but the band members also sound as if they’re having terrific fun and that ‘punk jazz’ attitude really does shine through. In the sometimes po faced world of avant garde jazz The Exu really are a breath of fresh air. – Ian Mann, JAZZMANN https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/the-exu-the-exu

Un Irlandais du Nord, un Britannique, un Norvégien et une passion commune pour l’improvisation, il n’en faut pas plus pour que ces musiciens s’engagent dans des chemins non balisés. Deux éléments les distinguent, l’exquise lisibilité des thèmes développés et l’énergie farouche avec laquelle ils répandent leur musique. Le nom du groupe s’inspire d’une toile de Jean-Michel Basquiat qui représente Exu, figure mythologique de la tradition du vaudou haïtien souvent associée au diable par les églises chrétiennes. Semblables à cette œuvre picturale complexe du peintre américain, les compositions se révèlent intenses et jalonnées par des brisures de tempo. « That’ll Do It ! » – Ça fera l’affaire ! Voilà un titre explicite, les trois instrumentistes vont droit au but sans jamais manifester de complaisance. Le jeu collectif n’est en rien alambiqué, c’est une intensité frénétique qui se déverse dans des pièces très courtes et efficaces. « Berne It Up (for Tim Berne) », hommage au saxophoniste d’avant-garde, invite à explorer les carcans mélodiques d’un musicien qui a laissé une empreinte indélébile dans la musique improvisée. Le saxophoniste James Mainwaring avait marqué les esprits avec son groupe Tipping Point qui le voyait s’exprimer avec le pianiste Matthew Bourne, également présent avec Dane Kane dans son album The Eye Of The Duck. Ce contrebassiste familier du jazz britannique libertaire aux côtés d’Evan Parker, Keith Tippett, Paul Dunmall ou Elton Dean déploie des lignes rythmiques habitées par une plasticité très efficace comme dans « Versus Medici ». L’orientalisme sous-jacent exprimé par le saxophone soprano dans « The Field Next To The Road » est rehaussé par l’ensorcellement qu’installe malicieusement le batteur Gard Nilssen, transfuge de Bushman’s Revenge. Partagé entre la tradition et l’innovation The Exu se doit d’être écouté attentivement afin d’en déceler les subtilités. Le trio privilégie la tension narrative et crée une musique sans cesse stimulante. – Mario Borroni, CITIZEN JAZZ https://www.citizenjazz.com/James-Mainwaring-Dave-Kane-Emil-Karlsen.html

Here we find James Mainwaring (saxophones), Dave Kane (double bass) and Emil Karlsen (drums) kicking up a storm. Three of the 12 songs were composed by Mainwaring, five by Kane, while the others are fully improvised. They take their musical influences from incredibly diverse fields of music, including free jazz, grunge, death metal, hip hop, bebop, & experimental music. Kane says, “we are the sum of our record collections, the films we have seen, the books we have read. It all goes into the mix to make our music.”

The improvised numbers are, as one would expect, far looser with less pure continuity as each person looks to the others to understand what is going to happen next and what direction the collective are going to move in, and they are spread through the album which is a nice idea as they totally change the mood. This is when Karlsen really comes into his own as a soloist, as with the composed numbers he normally sits in a more supporting role, but when the three are equals, he allows himself more spontaneity. Overall this is a fascinating release which while rooted in jazz and improvisational music is also truly progressive in the way it breaks down genres and barriers and makes for a fascinating release which is fully of vitality, emotion and passion. – Kev Rowland HOUSE OF PROG https://houseofprog.com/the-exu-the-exu-2025/