Free Nelson Mandoomjazz are a piano/electric bass/drums power trio from Edinburgh, Scotland, whose sound melds elements of classic and contemporary free jazz and the power of doom and black metal. Their readily acknowledged influences --
Black Sabbath,
Electric Wizard,
Sun Ra,
Sonny Rollins,
Albert Ayler, and
Wayne Shorter -- fuel an intense and original attack.
The band's rhythms section is comprised of bassist Colin Stewart and drummer Paul Archibald. The former is a fan of heavy, chaotic music, while the latter appreciates melodic, slow, free improvisation. Longtime friends who respected one another's approaches, they sought a way to balance and meld their passions and directions when they decided to form a band, and brought saxophonist Rebecca Sneddon into the mix. Her love of circus and theater music, heavy metal, the avant-garde, and all that is outrageous in rock, jazz, and free music, provided the bond and a platform for the trio's collective expression.
They recorded two independent EPs in 2012: The Shape of Doomjazz to Come and Saxophone Giganticus. These releases brought them to the attention of
RareNoise's
Eraldo Bernocchi (a lover all things extreme). He signed them and in 2013 brought them into a studio to re-record tracks from the first two EPs, as well as a new full-length album. He mixed and mastered the new recordings. A double-EP was issued in 2014 to critical acclaim, followed by their debut long-player, The Awakening of a Capital, a year later. Free Nelson Mandoomjazz toured clubs and festivals in Europe in support of the album's release and re-entered the studio in early 2016 with special guests Luc Klein on trumpet and Patrick Darleyon on trombone.
RareNoise previewed three tacks from their second album The Organ Grinder that summer and released it in the fall. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi