The Thing is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

/Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 band, consisting of Mats Gustafsson

Mats Gustafsson

Mats Olof Gustafsson is a Swedish saxophone player and a stalwart on the Scandinavian free jazz scene. He is known for his tonal belligerence and intensity when improvising....

 (saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

s), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is a Norwegian bassist active in the jazz and free jazz genres.-Selected Projects:*Atomic*Element*The Thing*Scorch Trio*Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Quintet-Major Collaborators:*Ken Vandermark*Joe McPhee...

 (double bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

), and Paal Nilssen-Love

Paal Nilssen-Love

Paal Nilssen-Love is a Norwegian drummer active in the jazz and free jazz genres.Nilssen-Love was raised at a jazz club in Stavanger, run by his mother, and his father, who was also a drummer...

 (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

).

The trio was established in February 2000 during a series of concerts in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 and a recording of Don Cherry

Don Cherry (jazz)

Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...

-compositions that was released in Sweden by the label Crazy Wisdom

Crazy wisdom

Crazy wisdom, also known as holy madness, is a manifestation of certain spiritual adepts where they behave in unconventional, outrageous, or unexpected fashion...

/Universal

Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...

. Melding German, British and American traditions of free music

Free music

Free music is music that, like free software, can freely be copied, distributed and modified for any purpose. Thus free music is either in the public domain or licensed under a free license by the artist or copyright holder themselves, often as a method of promotion. It does not mean that there...

, their repertoire has later been collected from various sources such as James Blood Ulmer, Frank Lowe

Frank Lowe

Frank Lowe was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer.Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone and then moved to San Francisco...

, PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey

Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...

, White Stripes and Joe McPhee

Joe McPhee

Joe McPhee is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone...

. McPhee was also a participating musician on the "She Knows..." album (2001). Other guests who have joined the Thing for recording and performances include Ken Vandermark

Ken Vandermark

Ken Vandermark is an American jazz composer and saxophone and clarinet player.A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compositions, which typically balance intricate orchestration with passionate...

, Otomo Yoshihide, Thurston Moore

Thurston Moore

Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...

, Jim O'Rourke

Jim O'Rourke (musician)

Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...

 and Jeb Bishop

Jeb Bishop

Jeb Bishop is an American jazz trombone player.He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has studied music at Northwestern University, engineering and philosophy at North Carolina State University, and philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Arizona,...

.

"Garage" was released on the Smalltown Superjazzz

Smalltown Superjazzz

Smalltown Superjazzz is an independent record label based in Oslo, Norway, and dedicated to new forms of jazz. It is a subsidiary of the label Smalltown Supersound.Their catalog features albums by The Thing, Mats Gustafsson and Free Fall....

 label in 2004. An EP of live material performed with Joe McPhee and Cato Salsa Experience

Cato Salsa Experience

Cato Salsa Experience is an indie rock band from Oslo, Norway. The group formed around jam sessions at lead singer Cato Thomassen's house. The group began playing locally and released a vinyl EP before Emperor Norton Records, an American label, signed them and released their 2002 full-length, A...

 was released in 2005, as well as a live album. 2006 saw the release of Action Jazz also on Smalltown Superjazz. The group covers material from Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....

, Lightning Bolt, Yosuke Yamashita

Yosuke Yamashita

Yōsuke Yamashita is an acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, essayist, and writer from Tokyo, Japan.He is praised by critics for his unique piano style...

 and others in addition to original material. The group are the only free jazz ensemble working today who wear stage uniforms. They perform clad in t-shirts from Ruby's Barbecue Restaurant in Austin, Texas.

The Thing

• The Thing (2000)
• She Knows... (with Joe McPhee
  Joe McPhee
  Joe McPhee is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone...
  
  ) (2001)
• Garage (2004)
• Live at Blå (2005)
• Action Jazz (2006)
• Immediate Sound (with Ken Vandermark
  Ken Vandermark
  Ken Vandermark is an American jazz composer and saxophone and clarinet player.A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compositions, which typically balance intricate orchestration with passionate...
  
  ) (2007)
• Now and Forever (box set containing The Thing, She Knows..., a new improv session Gluttony and a live DVD Live at Øya 2005 w/ Thurston Moore) (2007)
• Bag It! (2009)
• Shinjuku Crawl (with Otomo Yoshihide) (2009)

The Thing with Cato Salsa Experience and Joe McPhee

• Sounds Like A Sandwich (2005)
• Two Bands and a Legend (2007)
• I See You Baby EP (2007)

External links

• English language podcast with The Thing Russian language translation provided as well.