Especially since the millennium, Norway has been producing its own unique brand of left-field acoustic jazz as well as the more trend-setting jazztronica outfits. The focus has been on genre-blurring, contemporary sonic texturing and a collective energy developed through the intersection of composition and improv. But the cohesiveness and spirit of the ensemble rather than the individual always comes first. Wako have been a refreshing part of that vibrant legacy. Their fifth CD is a live recording lifted from two concerts: the CD launch at Oslo's Nasjonal Jazzscene in the autumn of 2020 (featuring some special guests) and the Oslo Jazz Festival earlier in August from which a few tracks are lifted. Through the lurching sonic slabs of sound on ‘Le Tapis Volant’ through to the lengthy full-blown free jazz-ish ‘Hele Verden er en Boble’ it's evident this is a close-knit ensemble spontaneously feeding off each other's energy. ‘Dagdrømmeren’ highlights shadowy avant-chamber counterpoint while ‘Trakterer du Musikk?’ with its mod-rock driven groove boasts leading ECM-associated veteran saxophonist Tore Brunborg's superbly rugged solo and ‘Savage Detective’ is a Coltrane-ish modal-into-free jazz marathon. Wako do just about everything you would want from a ‘live’ post-1960s contemporary jazz collective.