Paal Nilssen-Love has been one of the world's most prolific and active musicians that came out of Norway for the last 20 years. With thousands of gigs and hundreds of recordings the drummer is known for bands like The Thing, OffOnOff, Ballister, Hairy Bones, Chicago Tentet, and Original Silence, as well as collaborations with musicians like Arto Lindsay, Otomo Yoshihide, Akira Sakata, Ken Vandermark, Jim O'Rourke, Peter Brötzmann, Thurston Moore, Michiyo Yagi and many others.
In 2013 Nilssen-Love decided it was time to start his own big band ensemble. Consisting of mostly younger Norwegian musicians, Large Unit manifests as an intense powerhouse force on stage, but also veers into more subtle and textural passages.
Large Unit burst into life at the Molde Jazzfestival July 2013 and has since then toured Norway and played festivals. A small taste of what to expect came with the two-track EP 'First Blow', but this autumn Large Unit unleashes its full load with the massive debut album called "Erta Ale" which is released in four different formats totalling more than two hours worth of new music.
It is a combination of live and studio recordings of the pieces Large Unit has played in the last 12 months. All compositions are by Nilssen-Love, but the musicians are given great freedom to contribute their own flavours to the music.
Large Unit is Thomas Johansson, cornet and flugelhorn, Mats Aleklint, trombone, Kasper Værnes, soprano and alto saxophone, Klaus Holm, alto and baritone saxophone, Borre Molstad, tuba, Ketil Gutvik, electric guitar, Lasse Marhaug, turntable and electronics. Jon Rune Strom, double and electric bass. Christian Meaas Svendsen, double and electric bass. Andreas Wildhagen, drums & percussion. Paal Nilssen-Love, drums & percussion.