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Bengt "Frippe" Nordstr?m: Vinyl Box

By Mark Corroto
December 27, 2023
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Sometimes an artist can tilt the axis of a genre. Tilt it by just a degree or two. The effects might not be felt as such in the moment, but after decades their imprint is profound.

Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann was one example, as was

Derek Bailey

guitar
1932 - 2005

" data-original-title="" title="">Derek Bailey. Add to that list, the Swedish saxophonist

" data-original-title="" title="">Bengt Nordstrom (1936 to 2000). As a musician born into a family with wealth, he was spared the necessity of playing gigs to earn his livelihood. In the 1950s though, he did study jazz in school and play in a Dixieland ensemble. Like his contemporary Br?tzmann in postwar Germany, Nordstr?m's foray into traditional music was merely a launching pad for the creation of his own unique sound. But where the German moved into more communal activity, Nordstr?m retreated into solo practice and experimentation.

Nordstr?m purchased professional recording equipment for his own use and also had the ability to cut records, which he did in batches as few a five or ten discs. Famously he recorded

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler's first LP Something Different!!!!!! which he released on his Bird Notes label in 1963 in an edition of 200. His encounter with Ayler in Sweden and subsequent meetings with

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry and

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman certainly must have reinforced his confidence that his musical experiments were legitimate. Unsurprisingly, none of that validation was coming from his local scene.

He cut discs in small batches, like the EP included here from 1962, a recording of Nordstr?m playing along with Ornette Coleman's "When Will The Blues Leave?" from his LP Something Else!!!! (Contemporary, 1958). He chose to use the same Grafton plastic alto saxophone Coleman utilized, starting and stopping the LP while following along with the quintet and injecting his own language into the mix. Other musicians of the day were certainly using this technique of practicing along with LPs, here we get the privilege, by way of this EP, of witnessing Nordstr?m's creative process.

We have

Mats Gustafsson

woodwinds
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Mats Gustafsson, the self proclaimed "discaholic," to thank for this project. The founding member of The Thing, AALY trio, and his own Fire! Orchestra, Gustafsson has researched Nordstr?m, hunting down his small batch releases, and preparing a complete discography (included here) of Nordstr?m's Bird Notes label. He along with Thomas Millroth put this boxset together with essays by Millroth and John Corbett.

1964's Drastic Plastic is a 12" with one side comprising of "Corsica 1," "Corsica 2" and "Corsica 3," and the other the 14 minute title track. Each track is evidence of the saxophonist working and reworking phrases on his plastic alto. Bursts of sounds are balanced by pauses for effect, or maybe just inspiration. His upper register tone may remind you of

Ivo Perelman

saxophone, tenor
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Ivo Perelman, but he tends more towards a blues feel with his ghost—like folk music making appearances.

We can leave the debate as to whether Nordstr?m or

Anthony Braxton

woodwinds
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Anthony Braxton was the first to record an album of solo saxophone improvisations to the academics, but Reality recorded in 1965 and 1969 finds the saxophonist solo with his tenor. The music is ruminative and a bit nostalgic. Equal parts Ayler (if he had ever produced a solo effort) and

Joe McPhee

woodwinds
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe McPhee's Tenor
Natural Music from 1967 and 1968 includes two tracks. "Bird Notes And Folk Tunes" is the only track included here that Nordstr?m performs with another musician. Here he plays his Grafton alto along with Sven Hessle on acoustic bass. The bassist is content to follow Nordstr?m in parallel lines mimicking his playful gambol of sound creation. The second cut, "Spontaneous Creation" is a muscular tenor attack, again dotted with pauses and throat clearings. Nordstr?m pushes his saxophone from its upper to lower register, overblowing into an imagined gale force wind.

N?gonting from 1968, finds the saxophonist performing two lengthy tracks on soprano saxophone. The rough hewn tone sounds something like a very impatient

Evan Parker

saxophone, soprano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Evan Parker might have made in the same decade. Where Nordstr?m is comfortable with his tenor and alto, he is continually scuffling with the straight horn. The tension and struggle is palpable, and maybe that is the saxophonist's purpose here.

Included in the box is the 10" inch To Bengt with brief solo performances by Isak Hedtj?rn (clarinet),

Dror Feiler

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Dror Feiler (alto saxophone),

Jörgen Adolfsson

clarinet, bass

" data-original-title="" title="">J?rgen Adolfsson (contrabass clarinet),

Anna Hogberg

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Anna Hogberg (alto saxophone),

Mats Gustafsson

woodwinds
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Mats Gustafsson (alto saxophone), and Sven ?ke Johansson (tenor saxophone, snare drum & vocals). Each track (with the exception of Johansson's) is performed in what we may call the "Nordstr?m style," with solitary sounds seemingly made for an audience of none. Johansson, the only musician to have recorded with the saxophonist, blows a bit of saxophone before working his brushes on his snare drum and singing a Swedish folk tune.

This collection of rough cut gems is a fitting homage to a musician who shifted the direction of improvised music by just a few degrees. But like that proverbial butterfly that flaps its wings in Sweden, Bengt "Frippe" Nordstr?m did cause a hurricane in the lives of many a creative musician.

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Track Listing

When Will The Blues Leave? (EP): Take 1&2, Take 3&4; Drastic Plastic: Corsica 1, Corsica 2, Corsica 3, Drastic Plastic; Reality: Sigurd Rascher Variatoner, Reality; Natural Music: Bird Notes And Folk Tunes, Spontaneous Creation; N?gonting: P, N?gonting; To Bengt (10 inch): Det Beh?ver Inte Va Mer, Det ?rBara En Fras, Allts?, Den H?r Har Jag Inte ?vat P?; Vacker Men Kort, Allts?, Det ?r Konkret musik Det H?r, Allts?, Short I, Short II, Short III, Cellar Fright I, Cellar Fright III, Otterberget I, Otterberget II, Otterberget III, Rrrhhmmmm rrrrrrrhhhhmmmmm!; Flickorna I Sm?land.

Personnel

Bengt Nordstrom

saxophone

Sven Hessle

bass, acoustic

Isak Hedtj?rn

clarinet

Dror Feiler

percussion

J?rgen Adolfsson

clarinet, bass

Anna Hogberg

saxophone, alto

Mats Gustafsson

woodwinds

Sven-?ke Johansson

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Bengt "Frippe" Nordstr?m: Grafton alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Sven ?ke Johansson: snare drum, vocals; Mats Gustafsson: Grafton alto saxophone.

Album information

Title: Vinyl Box | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Ni Vu Ni Connu

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