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Filip Augustson: Viva Black

By Eyal Hareuveni
May 12, 2015
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Swedish double bassist

Filip Augustson

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Filip Augustson leads a reasonable personal life and career. He recorded his debut album as a leader about ten years ago, Ich Bin Filip Augustson (Moserobie, 2004) and has collaborated with vibes player

Mattias Ståhl

vibraphone
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Mattias St?hl's St?hls Bl?, sax players

Fredrik Ljungkvist

saxophone, tenor
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Fredrik Ljungkvist and

Fredrik Nordstrom

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Fredrik Nordstrom and keyboard player Mats ?berg. Augustson is a happily married father of two small children, and lives in a nice middle-class neighborhood in the suburbs of Stockholm.

Viva Black was conceived by Augustson as an attempt to challenge his somehow reductionist image as a musician, and to present his genre-blind, rich musical spectrum as a composer and improviser. The trio Viva Black was formed after a chance encounter with violinist

Eva Lindal

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Eva Lindal in 2012. Lindal specializes in Baroque and contemporary music, and is a member of the ensembles KammarensembleN, Katzen Kapell and REbaroque, and is also an excellent improviser. Viva Black is augmented by one of the most sought after drummers in the Swedish scene today,

Christopher Cantillo

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Christopher Cantillo.

The album offers a kaleidoscopic view of Augustson's creative language, in which jazz is defined as an attitude rather than a genre or style. The record begins with a melancholic, hymn-like piece "Desperadon!," inspired by the great Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and cements the emphatic, inventive interplay of Augustson and Lindal, anchored by Cantillo's wise, spare drumming. Four collective,improvised pieces emphasize a more urgent and experimental approach, beautifully articulated on a tribute to the late

Kenny Wheeler

flugelhorn
1930 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Wheeler, "The Butterfly Left the Flower." The playful "Ituri" sounds like a modern folk dance, where Lindal's violin echoes Hardanger traditions. "Tensta Tango" enables the trio to form a touching, swinging tango that blends Argentinian and Finnish legacies. "Repetitivo Acrimasa" has a more contemporary, abstract tone.

Nothing is obvious with this trio. Their music is executed and flows brilliantly, in a manner that sketches their great potential.

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Track Listing

Desperadon!; Glissando para Juanes; Flying Flyers; Ituri; The Butterfly Left the Flower; Stuff by stuff; Repetitivo Acrimasa; Viva el Ritmo; Tensta Tango; Triss i Tr?.

Personnel

Filip Augustson

bass, acoustic

Filip Augustson: double bass; Eva Lindal: violin; Christopher Cantillo: drums.

Album information

Title: Viva Black | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Found You Recordings

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