snobb Women saxophone players are often overlooked in the world of jazz, and possibly even more so in free jazz. Lotte Anker is one of the best of the modern female sax players in Europe, the continent's own Matana Roberts, but she is almost unknown outside of her native Denmark.

Classically trained, Lotte, unlike many Danish musicians who prefer the mainstream, took to playing more modern and outside jazz at an early stage, performing with trumpeter NP Molvaer and pianist Marilyn Crispell among others.

"Floating Islands" is her third album leading the trio with two well-known Americans pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver, and it's their best work to time.

To be honest,it took a lot of time,to be more precise - some years for me to appreciate this album. And the reason is not that it's too "out" or extremely hard to listen to. No, the problem is it is quirky on inexpectable manner. Quite meditative by nature, it combines Lotte's soulful blues-rooted ascetic free sax soloing over repetitive Cleaver tuned drums pulsation and Taborn's Waldron-like piano drones.Not like all three components are contrasting, but their combination is too unusual to be eaily accepted.

Only after Lotte's excellent "Birthmark" with her another trio, drumless one with Portuguese bassist Hernâni Faustino and pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, where they play more usual energetic avant-garde jazz in strong American tradition,I returned back to her recordings with Taborn/Cleaver and finally found a key to this music.

Five compositions (two longer than 16 minutes),recorded live during Copenhagen Jazz Festival, are almost stunning example of musical magic, when slowly three artists just involve the listener to their own built world. What starts as dreamy and almost lazy meditative tune grows up to almost explosive complex sound castles, but never loses earth under its legs. Even in loudest(almost creaming) moments trio's music doesn't lose its beauty and doesn't let you go even for single moment.

All concert sounds as one good movie with own intro,story and drama,perfectly distributed in time and never losing the sense of spontaneity. Lotte's sax playing is quite warm,but never too soft or sentimental and the only thing listener wants is to hear her soloing more often.

Released on domestic Ilk label this album stayed almost unnoticed by many foreign, especially overseas listeners, and it's a shame. Find it and most probably you will be surprised how good their music is.

snobb We are living in a time when experimental jazz musicians are not daily news stars (as if there ever was such time). On a different planet, Danish sax player Lotte Anker would be such a star.

Classically trained as a pianist in her teens, Lotte switched to jazz reeds later, and in her jazz-friendly homeland played with such great jazz musicians as former Miles Davis drummer US-born and Denmark living Marilyn Mazur, American pianist Marilyn Crispell and then still unknown Niels-Petter Molvaer. After her meeting with "new NY avant-garde jazz" representative sax player Tim Berne at one of the festivals, she started a long lasting collaboration with his band's musicians, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver, forming with them The Lotte Anker Trio. With this trio she recorded some of her most successful and best known albums, mixing her Scandinavian relaxed and airy saxophone sound with quite energetic NY downtown pulsations and freedom (learning a lot from Tim Berne and actually exchanging with him in what could be his trio).

Surprisingly, "Birthmark" features her other trio. This time she plays with two relatively unknown Portuguese musicians, bassist Hernâni Faustino and pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, instead of Taborn/Cleaver and it works! Hernâni Faustino and Rodrigo Pinheiro are both the bigger half of the young, but quite successful Portuguese Red Trio (their two albums got a lot of positive press around Europe). It's interesting that in the new trio, Lotte herself is the NY loft sound generator, perfectly balanced with the European free traditions represented by the bassist and pianist.

The music on this album is quite relaxed, but has its nerve, very free form but melodic, often even lyrical, philosophical but without being boring. It is a unique mix of Don Cherry Christiania-based music (without world fusion elements though), Tim Berne-like modern New York avant-garde jazz and European classic avant-garde traditions. And most importantly - all three musicians have that magic chemistry which separates great music from just good music, and it's a rare thing.

Recorded and released in Portugal, this album has one more strong side - it isn't too long and contains no fillers. With my full respect and even love for one of the most successful of European young labels, Clean Feed Records has one serious problem - musical material editing. Many of their releases would be much, much better with even small additional cutting of unimportant or openly boring parts, making final albums not 79:56 min overloaded releases for crazy collectors, but well produced concentrated music products for casual listeners. "Birthmark" is quite a rare and successful exception - one more reason to have this album in your collection.