Various

While North America, for the most part, remains mired in the constraints of traditional jazz, a small European collective has been steadily advancing the genre into new and challenging ground. Since its inception in 1995, Norway's Jazzland imprint has been spreading its progressive nu jazz across European borders and beyond. As its title implies, Jazzland Remixed is a remix album based on the original work of Jazzland artists, notably label head Bugge Wesseltoft. Fellow Norwegians Illumination, under remix moniker Chilluminati, open the disc with the sublimely atmospheric "Superstrings" and follow up with a smooth but propelling version of Wesseltoft's "Existence." Tracks by Motion Control, Les Gammas and Wesseltoft are likewise sophisticated hybrids of jazz, house, ambient and improvisational elements. In the end, the dynamic soundscapes that constitute Jazzland are just as indebted to European club culture as they are to their roots in American jazz.