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Five New From Konvoj Records
Gush The March
Konvoj Records
2016
On the occasion of the free improvising trio Gush's twenty-fifth anniversary in 2013, this disc commemorates a concert performance in Malm?, Sweden. Yes, 25 years. Amazing. Notwithstanding the fact that each of the trio's members, saxophonist
Mats Gustafsson
woodwindsb.1964
Sten Sandell
piano
Raymond Strid
drumsb.1956
This disc, their eighth (and good luck hunting for the older, out-of-print discs), is their first since the 2005 releases Norrkoping (Atavistic) and Electric Eel (Qbico).
Of course, most listeners would be familiar with the ubiquitous spirit that is Mats Gustafsson. His travels and collaborations are many, including the Fire! Orchestra, The Thing, his work with Thurston Moore,
Peter Brötzmann
woodwinds1941 - 2023
Barry Guy
bass, acousticb.1947
Paal Nilssen-Love
drumsb.1974
Agusti Fernandez
pianob.1954
Ken Vandermark
saxophoneb.1964
Evan Parker
saxophone, sopranob.1944
Barry Guy
bass, acousticb.1947
Marilyn Crispell
pianob.1947
The three tracks here trade-in noise for mostly introspection. A sort of return-to-roots meditation. Rare it is these days for Gustafsson to de-emphasize his
Peter Brötzmann
woodwinds1941 - 2023
HALStER Mindfulness
Konvoj Records
2016
To my knowledge,
Derek Bailey
guitar1932 - 2005
Three like minds? No, just three minds that like creating new sounds. Lindsj? is probably the best known of the trio, recording with Mats Gustafsson, Lotte Anker, and Philipp Wachsmann. The music here, is detailed nicely, separating two guitars right channel/left channel and in the center a third player supplies texture.
The music often sounds as if subatomic particles are colliding in the vacuum of space. Their language is the mechanical, intelligent life, ghost-in-the-machine type. Communicating by way of bolts of energy and passing satellites. When things get noisy, like "minst bland drumlar," and " ful r?st," the trio expands into
Otomo Yoshihide
guitar
Liudas Mockünas/Jakob Riis Uncertain Statistics
Konvoj Records
2016
There was an American television series, a rather silly one, in the 1980s called The A-Team, in which a cast of wrongly accused misfits always prevailed. No surprise there. They had a tag line, "I love it when a plan comes together," in just about every episode that comes to mind with this recording by
Liudas Mockūnas
saxophoneb.1976
The pair's Uncertain Statistics conjures the tag line, "I love it when something unplanned comes together." This meeting between the Lithuanian saxophonist Mockünas, who doubles on clarinet, and the Danish laptop and electronics artist Riis, traffics in the intersection of surprise and soundscapes. In other words, pure free improvisation.
Mockünas has been a key collaborator with
William Hooker
drumsb.1946
Barry Guy
bass, acousticb.1947
Marc Ducret
guitarb.1957
Evan Parker
saxophone, sopranob.1944
Sten Sandell
pianoMats Gustafsson
woodwindsb.1964
Lotte Anker
saxophoneb.1958
Mockünas and Riis create a soundtrack to both the scariest and most beautiful silent movie one could create in one's head.
The highlight here might be the final track. "Domain Experts" turns Mockünas' saxophone into a machine, with breath substituting for blown notes and the mechanical sounds of the instrument the engine for Riis' sonic manipulations. The piece concludes with the saxophonist's overblown tones and extended techniques looped and massaged into a mini-opera.
Konvoj Ensemble Mira
Konvoj Records
2016
"Mira," it is explained in the liner notes, is an interactive and graphic score written by label chief and saxophonist Ola Paulson and laptop and electronic artist Jakob Riis. It is, in seven movements, an impressive work of orchestrated improvisations. A term, in this instance, that is not an oxymoron.
The core of the Konvoj Ensemble is Paulson, Riis, saxophonists Lotte Anker and Liudas Mockünas, and percussionist Anders Uddeskog. They are once again supplemented by saxophonist Evan Parker and pianist Sten Sandell. Both also joined the ensemble for the previous disc Colors Of (Konvoj Records, 2013).
Initial impressions flow toward Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensembles, with extended technique instruments meshing with realtime processing. But where this ensemble diverges is in its partitioning of sounds. Where Parker's larger works tend towards the palatial, these are more unassuming. Paulson and Riis have constructed a score with plenty of headroom and space for each instrument to me individually heard. The pleasure is in identifying the voices of say, Anker, Parker, or Mockünas' saxophone. Sure things might get noisy, like the opening of "Speak Out," but things settle into those individual voices and the meld of two or three at once. This is a most satisfying experience.
Bomb The Subject
Konvoj Records
2016
The greatest compliment you can pay a band like Bomb is that they are a bunch of punks. Bloody punks. In rock-n-roll terms, that means they have attitude and no skills, but in the jazz world they are obliged to have both. This trio of saxophonist Ola Paulson, bassist Anders Lindsj?, and drummer Anders Uddeskog is the Swedish equivalent to Mooko, a trio with
Akira Sakata
saxophone, altob.1945
Bill Laswell
bassb.1955
Ronald Shannon Jackson
drums1940 - 2013
It is a good idea, every so often to tear apart the ramparts and blow the carbon out of your engines. Bomb opens The Subject with a detonation of sound. Paulson's alto fires an astringent shower of acrid notes over the corpulent electric bass notes of Lindsj? and the busied drumming of Uddeskog. The trio's pace eases into a more introspective mood later in the song, but the lacerations have been made and the listener is prepared for what's to come.
Like
Joe Morris
bass, acousticb.1955
Tracks and Personnel
The March
Tracks: Barely An Instant Before The March; Seated In His Tiny Cage.
Personnel: Mats Gustafsson: soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone; Sten Sandell: piano, voice; Raymond Strid: drums, cymbals, percussion.
Mindfulness
Tracks: jag ?r ett br?d; inf?r en borgerlig eftermiddag; minst bland drumlar; envist v?ntar mitten; du finns och du upptr?der; (nej, jag upptr?der); titeln l?ser upp geniet; ful r?st; r?ttigenom himlakroppar; eller, tankarnas rosa kista.
Personnel: Adam Persson: electric guitar; Anders Lindsj?: electric guitar; Mattias Nihlén: electric guitar.
Uncertain Statistics
Tracks: Experimental Date; Method Of Moments; Unknown Parameters; Domain Experts.
Personnel: Liudas Mockunas: saxophones, clarinets; Jakob Riis: laptop, mixing board feedback.
Mira
Tracks: Prelude/Hommage To O Ceti; Speak Out, Oh Ye Red Giant; In The Belly Of The Whale -3 Days And 3 Nights; A Part Of Miranda; Postlude/Hauers Treasure.
Personnel: Lotte Anker: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone; Evan Parker: tenor saxophone; Ola Paulson: alto saxophone, baritone saxophone; Liudas Mockünas: clarinet, bass clarinet; Sten Sandell: grand piano, voice; Jakob Riis: computer, real time processing; Anders Uddeskog: drums, percussion.
The Subject
Tracks: The Moral; The Representation; The Science; The Relevance; The Monochrome; The Vitality; The Discursive; The Method; The Object.
Personnel: Ola Paulson: alto saxophone; Anders Lindsj?: electric bass guitar; Anders Uddeskog: drums, percussion.
Tags
Multiple Reviews
Mark Corroto
Sweden
Malmo
Mats Gustafsson
Sten Sandell
Raymond Strid
Peter Brotzmann
barry guy
Paal Nilssen-Love
Agusti Fernandez
Ken Vandermark
evan parker
Marilyn Crispell
Derek Bailey
otomo yoshihide
Liudas Mockūnas
William Hooker
Marc Ducret
Lotte Anker
Akira Sakata
Bill Laswell
Ronald Shannon Jackson
Joe Morris
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