Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2025 (4/4)

2025-08-24 Saalfelden Day 4- Sunday

By Sarah Grosser  

 

Anna Tsombanis & Yvonne Moriel. Photo by Michael Geißler

As is now tradition, Saalfelden woke up early to line the impossibly picturesque mountain lake for the annual concert in a rowboat. This year an all female cast took to the water including a female captain joining Anna Tsombanis and Yvonne Moriel, both on saxophone. In contrast to last year’s chaotic, loud duck calls from Mats Gustafsson (sax) and Nate Wooley (trumpet), this year’s concert was a much more peaceful affair; the duo played a number of composed, slow pieces in harmony, as the little rowboat gently floated around the perimeter of the sea. The music was pretty quiet, so it was sometimes difficult to fully appreciate the grandiosity of the reverb effect created by blowing saxophones over the water, reflecting the sounds up into the mountains. The music itself was pleasant, but I couldn’t help feeling that the naturally echoey auditorium didn’t reach its maximum potential. Nevertheless, the spectacle of enjoying the cute boat and the atmosphere of hearing a concert outside in the gorgeous scenery was still very much worth the early rise. Some freaks were swimming. I don’t know what was wrong with them. 

Walking back to the hotel for breakfast we took a narrow, trodden path that led us over vast fields, surrounded by 360 degree panoramas of the Alps. No trip to Saalfelden Jazz Festival is truly complete without spending just a little time outside in nature; the silence of the giant hills perfectly recalibrates the head and heart, balancing out the busyness and the noise of avant-garde with a little exercise, and some fresh air in the lungs. For those who chose to camp for the fest, this is also a pathway from the well-populated campsite back into town. 

Camila Nebbia invites John Edwards
Brücklwirtshaus

Camila Nebbia – saxophone
John Edwards – bass

Camila Nebbia & JohnEdwards. Photo by Michael Geißler

Crammed into the second floor of a traditional restaurant, Camila on sax and John on bass are improv battling it out. John aggressively thumps his instrument, leaning right into it, producing exceptionally twangy hits. Camila scrunches her face for squonkier emphasis. Both are very emotive with their bodies as they play. Outside the sun is blazing through the back window. In here, all the lights are on, including a magenta uplight, illuminating the walls. Every seat is full in this low capacity venue. Some folks even line the stairwell.

Camila produces super high pitched harmonics, while John emulates a similarly high frequency with a bow. Some long tones remind of the single-note frequencies of a television test pattern. Having seen Camila performing shows of mostly loud dynamics this weekend, it's impressive to be able to also enjoy some of her more quiet bag of tricks.

John gets a sound out of the bass reminiscent of a sitar with a great "boing" to it. During some of the more intense moments, it sounds as if a third human voice is accompanying the session- it's John himself vocalizing along with the jam. There's something beautiful about getting to a place musically where one feels they must physically submit, almost like an ego death. John can make his double bass sound like a string quartet. A drop of sweat drips from his forehead onto his busy hands.

It's a really great pairing and I can't decide who I enjoy watching more. They just sound fantastic together. It's only a short show but the crowd are hungry for more and a small encore is coaxed out of the duo.

McDonald's Flashmob

McDonald Flashmob. Photo by Julian Gruber

It must be really annoying to go into McDonald's and have a flashmob appear out of nowhere to perform avant-garde. A group of around fifty festival-goers descend on the stinky restaurant. Most of the people eating don't seem to mind too much that a wild, crazy woman in a leotard is dancing and screaming with cow horns in her hair like a Flintstone character. Flashmob coordinator/drummer Valentin Schuster leads Siegmar Brecher on bass clarinet and Magdalena Hahnkamper doing vocals and performance, including rubber chicken, for the impromptu jam. Sometimes the comically dramatic Magdalena plays a small organ for even more drama. At one point, she selects a random customer to bump hips with her, from which the rubber chicken is dangling. With each hip-bump the chicken squeaks. Wildly entertaining. It is hot in here and smells of grease but the juxtaposition of the absurd with the corporate is a lot of fun. Many people are filming it on their phones, smiling and laughing – I am one of them. 

Nothing Causes Anything
Otto Gruber Halle

Yvonne Moriel – saxophone
Alex Kranabetter – trumpet, electronics
Vincent Pongracz – bass clarinet, electronics
Christian Lillinger – drums

Nothing Causes Anything. Photo by Julian Gruber

This quartet has a kind of moody overall vibe- I don't know if it's the additional effects on Alex's trumpet, the sub bass rumbling the shed walls, or the all black alternative attire of the two up front. Or maybe it's the reverberating breakdowns paired with dark bass clarinet and Lillinger's supersoft brushes that skitter around like dragonflies. In combination with a little fog machine and some deep, almost sad melodies, these pieces crescendo into pretty ethereal spaces. The streaky spotlights gently lower adding to the dreamlike effect. Maybe it's all the magical air blowing around from reed instruments and trumpet. It's hard not to watch Lillinger the whole time- his creative and expressive drumming is always a spectacle to behold, even as a sideman. To him, it seems there is no such thing as a straight swing: every hit is an event. Alex uses his effects appropriately on the trumpet, beat-repeating final bursts, delays, and echoes for extra detail. It's a cool embellishment and he is smart about not overusing these effects, allowing his ability on the instrument to shine through. It's all about atmosphere, and mood and this band surely achieves that.

Sun-Mi Hong Bida Orchestra
Congress Saalfelden

Jozef Dumoulin - piano, fender rhodes
John Edwards - bass 
Mette Rasmussen - alto saxophone
John Dikeman - bass & tenor saxophone
Alistair Payne - trumpet
Sun Mi Hong - drums

Sun Mi Hong. Photo by Michael Geißler

There is an unfeasibly large bass saxophone on the stage- the size of a small person. Once you get past this massive distraction, you can focus on the groovy, intergenerational ensemble beside it. Delicate is the name of the game during a supersoft ballad- with malleted drums, and a gentle trumpet solo. Sun-Mi’s song titles are abstract and based on her dreams: “Temple of 1000 Neon Leggings,” “Running Horse Candle,” “Invisible Rose.” John Edwards's bass solo is foreboding, accented with further unrest from Jozef's Fender Rhodes. When Mette joins in on the sax, the atmosphere could just about summon a weather god. The drums accompany the rising wave bringing the lightning into the rainstorm. After a huge crescendo, there is a pause in which nobody claps in anticipation, wondering if the piece is over. Some guy yells out “...aber Hallo??" (German: “...but hello?!”) to wake up the entranced crowd. Obviously, everyone cheers. A couple of standing ovations, well earned. 

It's hard to articulate just how creative John Edwards is. It's so much more than just speed and hitting the right notes. It's using the body of the bass as percussion, flicking the strings up top for harmonics, jamming the bow into the neck where it sticks, plucking or bowing, bending,... it's nuts. It's hard for a single individual to really stand out at a festival like this, no less a double bass player, but John leaves a lasting impression. 

Kalle Kalima’s Detour with Leo Genovese and Christian Lillinger
Congress Saalfelden

Kalle Kalima - guitar
Leo Genovese - keyboards
Christian Lillinger - drums

Kalle Kalima. Photo by Michael Geißler

"We rehearsed for seven hours the other day- FUSION!" says Lillinger about Detour. Expectations are high going in for some complicated shit. Bring it on…

Kalle describes his way to Saalfelden via planes from Helsinki to France, then Munich, and finally the shuttle to Saalfelden. He says that he needs a pilot (Leo) and a navigator (Christian), and that he "made a big map, but it was way too big- so I translated it into musical language." That "musical language" was evident in the form of around thirty pages of strategically organised sheet music per person. 

There is so much energy in this trio. Leo is bouncing around. From keys to Rhodes to synth, as if he has springs in the heels of his hi-tops. The freakouts between these three are totally contagious. Kalle asks if we are having fun, adding that "sometimes the musicians are allowed to have fun." It's novel to watch them play a ballad titled "Ghost." The piano glissandos while Christian lightly flits around the kit like a trapped moth. With each new chapter a musician will toss another fistful of sheets onto the floor. Someone in the audience's phone goes off in the break between songs. Leo motions in the direction of the caller and says, "We're busy!"

Kalle whips out a slide and he and Leo get a thing goin' with vibrant organ- long chords with a bunch of tremolo. A really fun surprise banger eventuates, complete with soaring solo from Kalle that carries it's way up into the Alps. It's raw, electric, and fun- it's so hard to tell what is going on and in which direction it's going, but this is apt for a performance about "detours."

Ancient To The Future
Congress Saalfelden

Ava Mendoza - guitar
Majid Bekkas - gimbri, oud, vocals
Xhosa Cole - saxophone, flute
Hamid Drake - drums

Ancient To The Future. Photo by Julian Gruber

A fitting contrast to Detour, Ancient To The Future is a groove driven project with drums, guitar, sax, and flute, but also gimbri, oud, and vocals. The mesmerizing loops allow great space for pretty guitar solos.

Hamid is the engine behind the beat, controlling the speed of the train. The "Flat 2, Sharp 4" Arabian scale on flute and gimbri in combination with traditional singing taps into the "ancient" element, married with contemporary instruments where the ancient “meets” the future. Songs gradually speed up, as Hanmid dictates and the guitars rock out over the uncomplicated riffs. Well, comparatively uncomplicated, compared to a lot of the programming at this festival. This feels like a kind of alternative rock show.

Hamid has a natural fluidity which seems to flow through him onto his drumkit. The whole band appears to be very comfortable and relaxed on stage, and I don't detect a huge aura of ego about them. When the faultist puts his instrument down and starts brushing his hands rapidly together, his fingers blur with motion as he claps. Some solos from this band earn their polite Austrian golf claps- that's no mean feat- you have to be impressive to get those around these parts.

The Bad Plus, Chris Potter & Craig Taborn
Congress Saalfelden

Chris Potter - saxophone
Craig Taborn - piano
Reid Anderson - bass
Dave King - drums

The Bad Plus. Photo by Julian Gruber

The final act of the night, preceded by a short speech from artistic director Mario Steidl and production manager Daniela Neumayer giving a shoutout to the wonderful attentive public and the staff who worked tirelessly for the last four days on site.

Host Götz Bühler introduces the band by saying they "saved the baddest for the last." It's two of the original members plus two worthy stand-ins: Craig Taborn and Chris Potter. And why not close the weekend with a raucous fast jam! The Bad Plus attacks the work of Keith Jarrett - one of the most iconaclastic figures in free jazz. Dave is as animated as ever- his neon beanie bounces around as sticks go flying every which way. Chris's solo earns a roused response from the audience- so similarly does Dave's, jumping up out of his drum stool. For the next track he whips out a set of red brushes- which are cool and easy to see from afar. Craig and Chris don't use any sheet music for reference. I'm astounded at the amount of memory space these guys are storing upstairs- the capacity for which they are able to remember so many projects and songs, riffs, themes, melodies, notes,... etc. Sure, a lot of this set is improvised, but with the two stand-in's basically leading the charge on the main melody, this still never fails to blow me away. During a more mellow moment, Craig is playing a very slow chordal progression with such tenderness, a hush falls over the auditorium. Each chord is more original and beautifully articulated than the last. The delicacy and intention with which he plays each note is so vulnerable. It catches me off guard, consuming me wholly, and I can feel the tears beginning to well up. No shade to anyone else on the stage that night, but if you have not seen Craig Taborn play the piano, I can absolutely recommend adding that item to your bucket list. 

Finishing the festival on this salty free jazz is a classic move. It’s time to go home and the visitors leave the Congress out the main entrance they have frequented for the last few days. This time a gauntlet of cheering staff, including the event organisers themselves, are arranged to applaud the festival attendees as they exit. It’s difficult not to feel the warm fuzzies as you get one last look at the faces of all the people involved in putting the weekend together for you. Here’s hoping we will see every one of them again in 2026.

See Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 

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Festival MÉTÉO Mulhouse 20 - 23 August

By Guido Montegrandi

What are our expectations when we go to a festival? The reason that makes me decide is probably that of listening and watching musicians that I love, but then there is the desire to discover new things, to learn something, to face questions that will probably have no answers, to listen to music I don’t usually listen to.

Another reason to go to festivals is visiting places, meeting people, hopefully having fun and Mulhouse looks like a nice city, the location of the festival, a former textile industry plant renamed as Motoco, is beautiful and the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly.

A tiny bit of history:

The festival, born in 1983 as Jazz a Mulhouse, was initially dedicated to traditional jazz but, under the direction of Paul Kanitzer (from 1987 to 2006), soon developed in to something more explorative focused on improvised and experimental music. In 2009, it was renamed Météo (French for weather) to take account of the wavering of musical movements that are just as unpredictable as the weather is. So now you can be exposed to all kind of music and genders as the name of the festival reminds you: - Mulhouse Music Festival Météo – musiques aventureuses –

And let’s talk about the weather, I live in Italy where we had a very hot and dry summer, I arrived in Mulhouse on the 20 of August and it was raining…

Day 1, August 20

At 7 pm, after an introductory speech, the festival begins in what is called Motoco Club, the hall of the venue where there also is a bar, the ticket office and various stalls selling CDs, records, books and various merchandising.

To be true, the festival had already began at 11:30 am at the Public Library with section called Bambin Bamboche in which artists that will exhibit in the evening section of the festival, perform short concerts (about 30 minutes) and discuss their music in front of a public of young listeners. These events are performed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Just to have an idea: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1452176199363505

Back at 7pm, the festival starts with the bagpipe of Erwan Keravec who plays a 20 minutes solo introducing us into a minimalistic atmosphere which would then be one of the main trends of this festival. Keravec is followed by a bagpipe duo that focused on a more traditional repertoire but always in the line of the search for an imaginary folklore. The fact that I am not able to tell you the names of the two players points out one of the few downsides of this festival: the choice to avoid producing any printed material to support the program, even if it is environmentally wise, nonetheless creates a few problems also because the information on the site isn’t always exhaustive or updated and sometimes is deleted leaving no possibility to recover the information. Anyway, the music is really charming and provides a good introduction for the evening concerts.

Outside it is raining, but not that much…

The evening concert is Kahil El Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble with Kahil El Zabar drums, percussion and voice; Corey Wilkes trumpet; Kevin Nabors sax; Ishmael Ali cello. As you can expect it is a performance full of energy that engages the audience into a groovy atmosphere with some Ellington quote to mark the living heritage of this music. The concert ends with a vocal encore that Kahil dedicates to his mother.

Pause, then at 10:30 the second concert of the evening: Le Recueil des Miracles, a swiss ensemble with Louis Schild bass and shruti box, Antoine Lang voice and jaw harp, Anne Gilot flutes, Laurent Bruttin clarinet, Clara Levy violin, David Meier drums. A sudden change of atmosphere and the minimalist flavour of the early evening resurfaces, drums and clarinet and recorder develop (sometimes unison) motives on which the other musician build their intense melodies and patterns.

End of the first day, it is still raining.

Day 2 21 August

The first event is at 5:30 pm, the sky is cloudy but the rain has (almost) stopped. Motoco Club hosts a solo from Slovakian sax player Michaela Turcerova whose instrument is augmented with microphones and electronics to catch and amplify every sound and noise. In her hands the sax becomes a percussion that develops rhythmic patterns out of thin air and when played without mouthpiece, it sounds like a breath amplifier. Small percussion instruments, sand and stones add sound on sound.

- a digression to share some open questions - do extended techniques and electronics transform every instrument into a sound generator allowing to create a closer relation with the environment of the concert which is, as Cage suggested, a sound generator by definition or do they make every instrument just sound the same?

At 9 pm There Will Be No Miracles Here… well maybe there will be - Yolann Dahnier, Gweltaz Hervé, Erwan Keravec, Lionel Lepage, Enora Morice, Pierre Thébault, Quentin Viannais: bagpipes / Géraldine Foucault-Voglimacci, Hélène Labarriére, Erwan Lhermenier: basins. When on day one of the festival I heard Keravec playing the introductory solo gig, I must confess that I had no idea of his music, I just had a vague memory that he played in the Fire! Orchestra with Mats Gustafsson, now on day two I have done my homework and I am well aware that he is the man who has given the bagpipe a place in the contemporary music scene with a real interest in minimalism (one of his last project being a version for bagpipes of Terry Riley’s In C ). The setting is fascinating, in the white light of the Motoco post industrial hall seven bagpipe players in a semi-circle and in front of them three basin players and when the music starts, it is like being in a tank slowly filling with music, a drone irradiating and reflecting from the walls to the ears of the listeners and punctuated by the friction, the humming and the beats produced by the basins … a night to remember. Outside the first stars appear amid the clouds.

A pause, then at 10:30 pm Endless Breakfast with Gabby Fluke-Mogul, violin; Paula Sanchez, cello; Maria Portugal, drums. The trio offers an energetic mix of noise, extended techniques augmented with electronics, vocal melodies, quiet moments that let every single sound float and again a dive into the density of music. More than appropriate the quote from Ornette Coleman’s Lonely Woman.

In the midnight hour Selvhenter Maria Bertel, trombone; Sonja LaBianca, sax, Anja Jacobsen, drums; Jaleh Negari, drums. As you can imagine another energetic set with the trombone weaving bass lines, the sax creating a rhythmic structure for the two drummers to freely wedge in their lines. Sometimes a pause of filtered drumless sounds to build an intro to the circular beats that Jacobsen and Negari develop in a close dialogue. A nice way to stay awake in the night.

End of day two. More stars in the sky but no diamonds.

Day 3, 22 August

The sun is finally shining to bless the day early start at 12:30 pm with the Paula Sanchez solo at the Kunsthalle (the Contemporary Art Centre of National Interest of the City of Mulhouse). Her performance is preceded by the exhibition of the participants to the week-long workshop Souffler à l’Oreille organized by the Swiss musician Antoine Läng (Le Recueil des Miracles). The workshop and the exhibition are dedicated to the voice and the experimentation of materials articulated around breathing and related sounds, with bare voice and objects (megaphones, jaw harps, bird calls). And then Paula Sanchez's performance for cello, cellophane and electronics, all centered around gestures and postures and feedback inducing procedures caused by the friction of cellophane on the instrument, on the strings, on her body and on the bow and all the possible combinations of the above. You need to see it.

Late in the afternoon at 5:30 pm Kotekosk is a duo formed by Florian Borojevic and Louise Billaud, both on percussion and electronics. Their music is based on minimalist structures created on self-made metal percussion instruments, filtered and modified by vintage electronic instrument and gears, loops and cosmic sounds.

- Digression n 2 - electronic music, minimalism, ambient, free music, noise, industrial… As it has been recently observed on this blog, electronics is a common and constant feature in the work of many artist working in the niche of free/ experimental/ whatever music and as a consequence of the use of common technologies the boundaries among genders have become fuzzier and fuzzier (pun intended). But it is not only electronics, one of the most noticeably common element in this patchwork is, at least for me, the resurfacing of minimalistic structures and techniques which can be found in various and different context and that will probably add new layers of sense to the aesthetic of a movement which seemed, for quite a long time, frozen on its principles.

The evening concert at 9 pm was Irene Bianco, percussion and electronics. With a very neat setting Irene Bianco offered to the public an accurate mix of bass drum, electronics, gestures, tuned percussion and toys, generating a fragmented sonic and visual territory, the perfect soundtrack for an augmented reality experience.

A pause and at 10:30 pm DRANK a duo formed by Ingrid Schmoliner, prepared piano and Alex Kranabetter trumpet and electronics. With absolute precision Ingrid Schmoliner produces percussive minimalistic droning structures that hold up the sounds, the noises, the rustlings produced by Kranabetter’s trumpet. The result is a lush music that fills every available space.

Midnight is the hour of the shadow play and Pierre Bastien (cornet, objects, various inventions) and Louis Laurain (cornet, percussion, birdcalls) love playing - CNT is the name of their project and ambiguously stands for bunch of different things: abbreviation for Valve C(or)N(e)T ; acronym for « Confederación Nacional del Trabajo », a Spanish libertarian union based on the recognition of the human group; a group of two humans who play the valve cornet, a musical instrument commonly, and hardly ever, referred to as a trumpet.

The stage is framed by a white screen on which the shadow of the musician, of their instruments with their bizarre attachments, of their moving hands are projected. The first thing that strikes the public is the visual aspect: pataphysical machineries for a mechanical jungle, Jean Tinguely in a miniature… but then sounds and bruises and noises and music start emerging from these machineries and from the two human beings that manoeuvres them: organic techno and free jazz. To paraphrase Pascal Wyse of The Guardian two musical mad scientist. Mesmerizing.

1 am, Emotional Support - Emma Souharce, Aya Metwalli, Beatrice Beispiel (all of them electronics and voice) offer a polyphonic noise show in which voices and electronic sounds fuses and crashes to depict a loud nocturnal urban landscape. The windows of the hall vibrates producing parasite noises, outside the sky displays stars and clouds. End of day 3

Day 4, 23 August

- digression n 3 - many of the concert in this festival have a relevant visual component which works as an integral part of the music itself. Is music evolving into the Gesamtkunstwert (total work of art) that Wagner was wishing for? And is this a good thing?

5 pm, Gabby Fluke-Mogul solo. Alone with her violin, her effect pedals and her voice she produces a sort of synopsis of the American music with traditional melodies immersed into a distorted noisy Hendrixian bath. The violin sometimes is a fiddle, sometimes a guitar, sometime a noise-maker. At the end a vocal solo and a violin taken back to its acoustic bring it all back home. Circular and thought provoking.

The sky is dark blue after sunset when at 9pm the duo Ava Mendoza and Hamid Drake starts playing: dark blues saturated sounds and polyrhythmic drumming with infinite variations in volume and energy level. It has been a while since the two of them are playing together in various combinations and as a duo and their level of interaction is now honed to almost flawlessness. Hamid Drake plays with the usual variety and subtleness and his drumming has a level of expressivity that makes each of his concerts an event. Ava Mendoza creates both harsh and insinuating lines that effectively find their way through Drake’s pattern and in the final part with Drake playing the frame drum and chanting and Mendoza producing winding melodies the whole thing seems to make sense. A perfect evening.

The Mendoza-Drake concert has been quite an extended experience (in every sense of the word) and so the next one Exapist Euphoria+Weird Legs+Frantx starts at 11pm. Andrea Giordano (voice) Fanny Meteier (tuba) Pierre Prodier (guitar) and Marco Luparia (drums) organizes their performance in different phases. The opening is led by a solo of voice and electronic noises by Andrea Giordano and when she is joined at the centre of the hall by Fanny Meteier, they develop a duet of whistles, hisses and vocalises. Recorded voices marks the entrance of drums and guitar accompanied by chanting voices. Then music evolves in to instrumental noise-techno patterns with prominent drum sounds.

Prominent drumming is a good introduction to the midnight concert, which really happens at 0:30 am. Otto is a percussion trio with Camille Emaille, Gabriel Valtchev and Pol Small. They create a powerful crescendo introducing different rhythmic patters and using the harmonics produced by the metal percussions (and they have a really big bell-like object).

The last act of the festival is Das Schrei Nicht So Orkestra (Jonas Albrecht, drums; Ilayada Zeyrek, tournables; Carlo Brülhart, sax; danis Koblic, sax; Jasmin Lötscher, trombone; Fabian Mösch, clarinet, Miao Zhao, bass clarinet; Lena Brechbül, sound) We are advised to put earplugs on due to the high volume of the performance which is presented like a collective circular rite and I must confess that at this point, it is 1:30 pm, I decide that for me the festival is over. I really apologize with the musicians but my ears are full of sounds and my head quite empty so I hope to see them sometimes, somewhere else. Good night and good luck.

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Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Tomeka Reid, Chad Taylor - Pivot (Silkheart, 2025)

 

By Ferruccio Martinotti

And then, out of the blue, in the heart of a boiling summer, drops from the sky a record with Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Tomeka Reid and Chad Taylor playing together: Christmas in July. The gathering of this outstanding patrol is due to the Swedish Silkheart Records, whose mission statement says all: “We are dedicated to recording the sublime heights of creativity in improvised music. Our continuity policy is to maintain a focus on evolving changes in vernacular improvised music, on the look-out for musicians with that ultimate sparkle”. Among others, staying on Gustafsson’s orbit, it's worth remembering that Silkheart released the highly appreciated Sustain by Aaly Trio last year. Joining the dots with such top notch aces means discovering a large scope of the music we love: Gustafsson and Vandermark have been partners in crime for more than 30 years, starting in the seminal Brotzmann Tentet; Reid and Taylor played together in “Hear in now expanded” and in several Rob Mazurek’s bands; Vandermark and Reid in a quartet along with Hamid Drake and Lemuel Marc; Taylor and Vandermark in the trio Side A with pianist Havard Wiik; Gustafsson and Reid in a studio session dating back in 2017 that hasn't been unearthed yet. 

For this project the four headed to Chicago, where Pivot was recorded at the legendary Electric Audio, the Taj Mahal of the late, unforgotten Steve Albini, in November 2024. For the sheer pleasure of our ears, the session delivered a 14 song outcome: four composed by Mats, four by Ken, plus six duos put in place by several matches among the four musicians. The tasks are unsurprisingly shared between Gustafsson on baritone and tenor sax, flutes; Vandermark on tenor sax, Bb and bass clarinet; Reid on cello and Taylor on drums for a final result that, predictably, given the caliber of the actors, exceeds the sum of the parts. Furious free form, pedal to metal attacks (“The Sensation of Sliding”, “Popular Music Theory”) combined with textures rolling on more structured trails (“Unmeasured mile”); a tribute to Vandermark’s home turf (“Blowing out from Chicago”); echoes of ancient, gospel flavored, chants (“I am aware. Standing in Snow”); a tribute to Danish poet and novelist Inger Christensen (“Drops of Sorrow. Accelerating”). 

Reverse gear is not provided by the guys’ engine (and this is a blessing) but the rear view mirror allows them to have an ongoing, respectful look, if and when needed or felt, to the Founding Fathers Routes. As writes Christensen, quoted by John Corbett in his (priceless, as usual) liner notes: “We need to find a way through the landscape in order to draw the map and at the same time we need to draw the map in order to find our way through the landscape”. A place in our 2025 top ten is 100% granted. 

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Fred Lonberg-Holm’s Flying Aspidistra Label

By Eyal Hareuveni

Aspidistra elatior is a worldwide common house plant that is very tolerant of neglect. A fitting image to the life of a globetrotting free improviser like the American cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, who has collaborated with many great improvisers on both sides of the Atlantic like Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Jim O’Rourke, Mats Gustafsson, John Butcher, and many more. Lonberg-Holm’s Flying Aspidistra is a CDR label that enjoys his vast archive of free improvised meetings. 

Gary Lindorff and Fred Lonberg-Holm - Sandblasted Poems (Flying Aspidistra, 2025) 

Lonberg-Holm was introduced to fellow American, Vermont-based poet, dreamworker, and Jungian therapist Gary Lindorff, through Lindorff’s son, the founder of cassette-only Notice Recordings (which released four albums with Lonberg-Holm), Evan Lindorff-Ellery. After hearing each other’s work, they decided to collaborate, and Sandblasted Poems was recorded at Lone Pine Road Studio in Kingston, New York, in May 2024.

Lindorff says that the six poems of Sandblasted Poems “are comprised of stacked fragments that tell a story that isn’t all there, but enough of it is there for our imaginations to stitch together a dreamlike narrative”. His chance-like poetry is based on pulling ten random books on diverse subjects from his library, opening each book at a random page, and selecting approximately ten fragments per book without controlling the selection process. Then he shrinks the font so he can not distinguish any of the words, and shuffles the list so that no three phrases are in the original order. And then he divides the list into stanzas of three or four lines. Only then does he read what he has to, usually a story or more than one story. He picks an evocative line to serve as the title and call it finished. “The story or stories of Sandblasted Poems are not my invention, any more than dreams are the invention of my conscious mind”, he concludes. Lonberg-Holm is the perfect partner for a kind of John Cage’s chance music-like meeting with William Burroughs' cut-up technique poetry. His free improvised cello intensifies the subversive, poetic spirit of Lindorff’s delivery, exploring different aspects of both the meaning and the sound of the evocative readings.

The Maneri Lonberg-Holm Symphony Orchestra (Flying Aspidistra, 2024) 

 

The Maneri Lonberg-Holm Symphony Orchestra consists of only violist Mat Maneri and Lonberg-Holm, but they do sound like a much bigger ensemble. Maneri and Lonberg-Holm took part in 2022 in the recording of Seven Skies Orchestra (Fundacja Słuchaj!, 2023), with Ivo Perelman, Nate Wooley, Matt Moran, and Joe Morris, and recorded their debut duo album at Ivy Leeg Studios in Hudson, New York, in July 2023. Lonberg-Holm did the cover artwork. The five “Symphony” pieces show two like-minded masters in free improvised action, bursting with endless, captivating ideas, sketching complex, inspired string conversations that cleverly employ extended bowing techniques, using the studio space with their resonating overtones, and searching for enigmatic microtonal timbres.

Helena Espvall & Fred Lonberg-Holm - Borboletas Andarilhas (Flying Aspidistra, 2021) 

Borboletas Andarilhas is the debut duo album of two old friends, Swedish-born, Lisbon-based cellist Helena Espvall and Lonberg-Holm (who also did the cover artwork), a frequent visitor in Lisbon. The album was recorded at Studio Mereotopologia in Lisbon in December 2019. The album offers two extended improvisations, both titled after colorful butterflies, and, indeed, these gifted improvisers sound like restless butterflies who communicate in highly expressive and colorful lingo, floating all over the place, and sharing many stories, insights, and experiences. 

Honsinger / Lonberg-Holm / Zubot - A Meeting Inside The Brain (Flying Aspidistra, 2021) 

A Meeting Inside The Brain documents an ad-hoc string trio of the Canadian violinist Josh Zubot, late American, Amsterdam-based cellist Tristan Honsinger (who also did the cover artwork), and Lonberg-Holm, performing a 17-minute free improvisation at The Hungry Brain in Chicago during the Chicago String Summit in May 2019. It was the first-ever meeting of this trio, and its musicians were picked by chance from the festival lineup. “the one and only” piece is informed by the eccentric, Dadaist antics of Honsinger that cements its playful and openly emotional interplay.

Lonberg-Holm / Rosso / Zingaro (Flying Aspidistra, 2020)

Lonberg-Holm’s string trio with Portuguese pioneer free improviser violinist Carlos “Zingaro” Alves (who have collaborated with Lonberg-Holm before and after thai recording, including in a self-titled duo, Flying Aspidistra, 2066) and double bass player Alvaro Rosso (in his first recorded collaboration with Lonberg-Holm, but a frequent collaborator of “Zingaro”) was recorded at Studio Namouche in Lisbon in November 2018. “Zingaro” did the cover artwork. This session produced four extended “Mammoth” improvisations and two short “Mammoth” ones, all highlighting the immediate affinity of these fearless improvisers, flowing with irresistible creative energy. These improvisations focused on resonating conventional and extended bowing techniques, free-associative timbral searches and rhythmic, percussive inventions, and intense dynamics even in the most sparse and quiet moments. As can be expected, often it is impossible to know who is playing what, and the trio sounds like a three-headed, mammoth-like powerful sonic entity.

https://flyingaspidistra.bandcamp.com/album/flying-aspidistra-10-lonberg-holm-rosso-zingaro

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Cosmic Ear - TRACES (We Jazz, 2025)

By Eyal Hareuveni

Cosmic Ear is a new Swedish supergroup that follows the traces of legendary trumpeter-multi-instrumentalist Don Cherry (1936-1995), who in the late 1960s settled inSweden with his wife, Swedish visual and textile artist Moki Cherry, and collaborated and recorded with many local musicians, among them clarinetist-multi-instrumentalist Christer Bothén, now 85 years old. Bothén played in Cherry’s albums Organic Music Society (Caprice, 1973) and Eternal Now (Sonet, 1984), and in Bengt Berger’s Bitter Funeral Beer (ECM, 1983).

Bothén leads this quintet and plays the West African string instrument, donso n’goni, bass clarinet, contra bass clarinet, and piano; Mats Gustafsson on tenor sax, flute, slide flute, Ab clarinet, live electronics, organ, and harmonica; Goran Kajfeš on trumpet, pocket trumpet, synth, electronics, percussion; Argentina-born Juan Romero on congas, berimbau, and percussion; and Kansan Torbjörn Zetterberg on bass, donso n’goni. All five musicians played in Gustafsson’s Fire! Orchestra.

Cosmic Ear does not offer a nostalgic trip. It owes much to Cherry’s spiritual free jazz meets world music legacy, especially with the presence of Bothén and his deep kinship with Cherry and Gustafsson's history with The Thing, titled after one of Cherry’s iconic pieces (The Thing covered other pieces of Cherry, and collaborated with Cherry’s daughter, Neneh Cherry, The Cherry Thing (Smalltown Superjazz, 2012)). But the other musicians also searched for their own spiritual musical ways. Kajfeš’ Magic Spirit Quartet explored West African music with Moroccan oud and guimbri player Majid Bekkas, and his Subtropic Arkestra explored Turkish and Ethiopian Music, and also covered Bothén’s composition. Zetterberg’s practice of Zen Buddhism informs his music. This quintet suggests a deep, seductive and uplifting, meditative journey that flirts and updates the legacies of Cherry, Alice Coltrane, and Pharoah Sanders, but takes the music into a fresh territory of its own.

“TRACES OF Brown Rice”, after Cherry’s jazz piece, is now dressed with a hypnotic global groove, thanks to Romero’s Brazilian barimbau, but also with Kajfeš vintage synth and Gustafsson’s flute. “Love Train” is an original, emotional ballad that best captures Cherry’s timeless music and influence. “Do It (Again), for vocalist Sofia Jernberg (who was born in Ethiopia and played in Gustafsson’s Fire! Orchestra, and The End quintet), is a mysterious, sparse song, led beautifully by Zetterberg’s double bass Kajfeš’ reserved trumpet playing. The album ends with “TRACES of Codona and Mali) (available only in the digital and disc versions of the album), after Cherry’s trio with the late Colin Walcott and Naná Vasconcelos. It is an inspiring, poetic conclusion for this engaging and most beautiful cosmic, musical journey, that, hopefully, has just begun (or renewed).

John Corbett summarized it in his poetic liner notes: “The globe is a glove, a hand warmer that radiates with extraterrestrial power, returning the fingers to their place at the center of the galaxy; the Cherry path is a balm that restores essential moisture to the lips that blow life back into the megacosm. Let us all praise warm fingers and moist mouths”.

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Zoe Pia & Mats Gustafsson - Rite (Parco Della Musica, 2025)

By Sammy Stein

Zoe Pia is a clarinettist and composer from Sardinia. She graduated from the Music Conservatory of Cagliari, where she specialised in clarinet. Later, she studied at the Conservatory of Rovigo in classical contemporary music, live electronics, and jazz.

Pia has played with Franco Donatoni’s Hot, together with Marco Tamburini, Mauro Negri, Nico Gori, and Fabio Petretti. She gained experience at the Accademia del Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, international seminars, and has been influenced by Spanish culture and the diverse music she has listened to and played. She has performed with ensembles, as a soloist, and as part of several musical projects. Sardinian music is close to Pia’s heart, and she explores the mixture of styles and soundscapes her homeland provides. The Shardana project, which Pia heads, is part of this exploration of the heritage and culture of Sardinia.

As well as projects, Pia has performed and collaborated with New Art Symphonic, Filarmonica Italiana, Filarmonia Veneta, Sinfonica di Pescara, Alvin Curran, Steven Bernstein, Bruno Biriaco, Reuben Rogers, Paolo Fresu, Mauro Ottolini, Nico Gori, Marco Tamburini, Bebo Ferra, Stefano Senni and Massimo Morganti to name a few. The list of venues Pia has played at is extensive. On Rite, she plays launeddas (a traditional three-piped clarinet-like instrument), Bb clarinet, Sardinian percussion, light synth, and lumanoise.

Mats Gustafsson is a Swedish saxophone player, specialising in the explorative side of free jazz and a stalwart of the improvised music scene. He has played with many of jazz’s luminaries, including Joe McPhee, Peter Brotzmann, Pat Thomas, Evan Parker, Misha Mellenberg, Hamid Drake, Ken Vandermark, and many more. Projects and groups he has been involved with include Gush, and Fire! He collaborates with dancers, artists, and orchestras and has written pieces for full orchestra and ensembles and curated festivals, He remains a self-diagnosed discaholic, enraptured by rare and hard-to-find recordings. On Rite, Gustafsson plays flute, slide flute, baritone sax, Ab clarinet, flutophone, and harmonica.

Pia and Gustafsson met thanks to a collaboration with Fire! Orchestra and Fire! In 2022, they decided to explore the possibilities offered as a duo, and in May 2023, they toured Italy and recorded in the studio, at concerts, and festivals. Initially, it is difficult to conceive how the combination of free blowing, improvising saxophone, and elements of Sardinian folk music, Sami Joik (Sami singing music), and electronic music is going to sound, but Rite does something sublime thanks to the understanding between the musicians. They manage to maintain the purity of their sound yet incorporate elements from each other’s soundscape too. They listen, engage, imbibe from each other, and give their interpretation in ways that create another direction, forging a different pathway into improvisation.

Rite comprises three tracks. Two are just shy of ten minutes long, and the final track lasts almost twenty-two minutes. ‘I shut My Eyes Like A Rock’ is a heady, explorative piece with different effects and rhythms. At times, there is a sense of the two musicians feeling their way, finding connection, and at others, there is a glorious carefree exchange of patterns and ideas as first Zia, then Gustafsson set an idea in motion, and the other responds. Pia’s playing of the clarinet has, at times, beautifully worked phrasing, while Gustafsson interjects with contrasting sounds. The rock upon which this track hinges is the freely played clarinet, against which Gustafsson huffs and blows his improvising mind. ‘A Thousand Bird Calls’ is beautiful in places, guttural, and jerky in others, with strong folk lines, soft against third, fast against slow melodic phrasing – it works because of the timing of the players. No phrase is too long, no interval too short, but the blend and merging of the different rhythmic patterns and stylistic weaving that happens is pure intuition. ‘Minima.Memory.Mirage.’ is a long, deep dive into improvisation and explorative soundscapes. Both players seek out the furthest range of their instruments, with peaceful interludes fractured by fierce disharmonious episodes and blasts of electronics. Around the ten-minute mark, there begins an irksome electronic noise, which is effective because when it stops, it feels like utter silence and relief as the delicate melodies that were present behind it are suddenly left uncovered and can be heard clearly, their sweetness contrasting with the grating, growly noise of before.

Rite presents improvised music in new forms, structures, and directions. Two different paths unite to forge a new way through the noise that surrounds improvised music at times. Moving in soundscapes never explored before, the sound combines the richness of traditional culture and free playing into new creative languages of experimental music. The depth and intensity of some of the guttural phrasing contrasts with the delicacy of the flute and solo phrases, creating a sense of freedoms powered against complete containment. Gustafsson is continuing to stretch music and what it means; he combines it with influences from many sources, while Pia brings a freshness and sublime tonality at times, in contrast with the atonal, free driving of Gustafsson.

This is a sonic encounter. An experience the two musicians shared that is now recorded, and while for both it might feel a different direction, it is one they may continue to develop and explore. So many elements are here, in just under fifty minutes of music. From deep, sensuous, flowing lines, pattering, light, crazy phrases, to forceful blasts of sound and occasional annoying interjections that seem like they have no place – until they reach a point of silence, where the purpose is revealed – they peel away to leave the melodies playing and now they are heard even clearer in the absence of the electronica.

The lines of folk, classical, free improvisation, and exploratory music are blurred, but the elements are all here, and the intertwined, contrasting, parallel sounds create a celebratory feeling – that there is more to music than simply playing the notes – it is about expressing the culture and persona of the players. In this, Rite succeeds.

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Joe McPhee- I’m Just Say’n (Smalltown Supersound, 2025)

By Martin Schray

Joe McPhee is not only an exceptional saxophonist and trumpeter, he has also been a man of words, a poet. On the one hand he can be a classical storyteller in the tradition of West African griots, musicians and historians of sorts who have preserved the oral tradition and cultural memory of their communities. These griots have played an important role in festivals and everyday situations, using stories, songs and music to tell and convey the history of their peoples. Joe McPhee, though, takes a very free approach to this cultural heritage. Recent examples of this are his contributions to “ECHOES: I See Your Eye Part 2” on the last Fire! Orchestra album or the title tracks of Tell Me How Long Has Trane Been Gone and Keep Going, his duos albums with John Edwards and Hamid Drake. On the other hand Joe McPhee’s music is infused with an enormous awareness of black history, which could also be seen on Musings of a Bahamian Son: Poems and Other Words by Joe McPhee, a collection of his poems. I'm Just Say'n now focuses on the fusion of music and poetry, backed by his longtime collaborator Mats Gustafsson on baritone and bass sax, flutes, piano mate, piano harp, organ, fender rhodes and live electronics.

On I’m Just Say’n three types of lyrics crystallize. There are the more lyrical and coded pieces such as “Short Pieces”, which have seemingly unrelated associations with all sorts of things, here with Eric Dolphy, Peter Brötzmann, David Murray, Don Cherry or simply with silence; or “Words”, in which McPhee compares the COVID pandemic with the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. In this piece he throws out nouns in an acrostic, seemingly unrelated, but only seemingly, because the listener’s associations can create a connection. Another type are pieces with political significance, in which McPhee criticizes social conditions. Examples of this are “They Both Could Fly”, an allegory of a homeless woman in New York, Old Rita, trying to keep her dignity (perhaps the most touching piece on the album) and “BYOBB“, on which McPhee sings: “Annie had a baby, she can’t work no more”. It’s a classic blues beginning (McPhee has always been a blues man) and a renewed indictment of policies that leave young families alone. The third type are personal anecdotes such as “When I grow up”, which McPhee dedicates to a friend to whom superhero qualities are attributed. At the same time, however, these narrative styles intermingle here and there, as in “I'm Just Say'n”, a piece that already existed on “Musings of a Bahamian Son”, but here it is extended and McPhee also sings, he doesn’t just recite. The opening lines are repeated at the end and are actually something of a motto in these dark times: “No buzzards shall pick these bones tonight/We are not dead/We must not sleep/Rise up, fly high and wander far”. Another example is “NYC Nostalgia Redux”. Here, too, there’s the sung introduction. New York is displayed as a city charged with symbolism, McPhee refers to the state of affairs in the 1970s in a mixture of narrative, political indictment and cynicism (the past wasn’t great, they have never existed, the good old days - and so nothing can be made great again).

Joe McPhee concentrates entirely on the delivery of the words, musically they are congenially accompanied by Mats Gustafsson, who puffs and steams and pants into his saxophone, or contributes a heavily psychedelic space organ that meanders through the lyrics. He also frequently creates wind noises that seem to press against huge sheet metal walls. All of this is done to perfectly support the lyrics.

I’m Just Say’n anticipates the forthcoming McPhee memoir, Straight Up, Without Wings: The Musical Flight of Joe McPhee, written with Mike Faloon, a book that will be published later this year by Corbett vs. Dempsey. I’m really looking forward to this one, too.

The album is available as a download and an LP, you can buy and listen to it here: 

The LP is sold out on the band camp site, but it’s available at several places, for example at the Downtown Music Gallery.

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TORINO JAZZ FESTIVAL 23 - 30 APRIL 2025

By Ferruccio Martinotti

Edition number 13 of the Festival, this time in full coincidence with The Liberation Day (April 25th), the national holiday celebrating the 80th anniversary of the victory against nazi-fascists troops that were still occupying northern Italy. Torino and Piedmont were the fulcrum of the partisans struggle and paid a tremendous price in terms of dead or tortured people, mostly very young. As usual, the TJF took place in several locations across the city. A snapshot of the concerts we attended, as follows.

ENRICO RAVA - Fearless Five (Teatro Colosseo, April 23)

The old Maestro (85 years old) is back in his hometown when in 1956, attending the Miles’s concert, had the epiphany that drove him to buy a trumpet and become the legendary musician we know. Along his long career, he used to give a chance to a lot of “rookies” (what a real Maestro should always do…) and this time ain’t an exception: all members of the band, Fearless Five, are around their 30s and, needless to say, fully deserve to be Rava’s partners in crime for this stage of his endless sonic journey. Matteo Paggi (trombone), Francesco Ponticelli (double bass), Francesco Diodati (guitar) and Evita Polidoro (drums, vocal) deliver full cylinders swing flavors, free escapades boosted by electronics, as well as Abercrombie-esque guitar nuances, in a smooth circular, democratic and mutual exchange with Enrico’s flugelhorn, still cristal and pristine like fresh mountain water. They won Musica Jazz magazine’s 2025 poll, both as best band and best record and the sold out theater (1500 seats) eventually saluted those fearless souls with endless applause. No doubt, the trumpeters (see also Wadada and McPhee) traded their souls at the Crossroad for the Eternal Youth.

FERRAIUOLO/MIRABASSI - Disubbidire sempre (Educatorio della Provvidenza, April 24)

Despite a solid classical upbringing, the duo of Fausto Ferraiuolo (piano) and Gabriele Mirabassi (clarinet) pushes full speed ahead towards unusual music territories, picking up and mixing genres, influences and styles, leaving the comfort zone as soon as they can and forcing the audience to listen to their music without too many landmarks and paradigms. They emphasize the ludic subtext of their concert and the solid interplay, the intertwined and overlapped musical textures are certainly joyful and emotional, through a well working balance between composed structures and free expression. “Disubbidire sempre” (“Disobey always”, a wonderful project-title that alone was worth being there), aptly fits this ongoing exploration of new and challenging musical paths.

CALIBRO 35 - Exploration (Teatro Colosseo, April 24)

Undisputed aces from Milano, self defined as “jazz robbers”, we owe them the retro futuristic re-discovery of those soundtracks mined from the inexhaustible goldmine of the 60’s and 70’s Italian B movies (if not C or D…). While the films certainly didn’t leave a mark in the Cinema’s Holy Book, totally different was their musical cotè. The likes of Piccioni, Bakalov, Umiliani, Micalizzi, Ortolani, Martelli, Lesinar, just to name a few and without considering Morricone, were off the scale, top notch composers, ignored by the Kritiks and forgotten under the dust of time, before, thanks to Easy Tempo and Soul Jazz collections, Tarantino’s worshipping and the works of Mike Patton and John Zorn, they eventually found a decent spotlight on their enormous class and talent. Calibro 35’s blasting sound, through covering obscure pebbles or writing new material, wonderfully able to avoid an algid and calligraphic coverage, deliver hot and sweaty grooves, greasy blaxploitation lines that make you feel at the wheel of Starsky & Hutch’s Gran Torino, screeching the tyres on today’s L.A. freeways. The chemistry between the four musicians (Massimo Martellotta guitar, synth; Enrico Gabrielli flute, saxophone, keyboards, electronics; Fabio Rondanini drums; Roberto Dragonetti bass) after almost 20 years spent playing all over the globe, allows the rocket ship to fly with a nitro booster, driving the screaming, ecstatic audience completely nuts.

ZOE PIA - Eic eden inverted collective “Atlantidei” (Teatro Vittoria, April 25)

Paraphrasing the theory of cognitive balance, according to which “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, we could say that anyone who plays with our heroes will alway deserve the admission ticket. This is what happens with Zoe Pia, the young musician (clarinet, launeddas, electronics) from Sardinia who played a bunch of dates with Mats Gustafsson last year, leaving behind a huge stream of positive reviews, thus making it mandatory for us to attend her gig, the live debut of the project “Atlantidei”. Four young percussionists (Mattia Pia, Nicola Ciccarelli, Paolo Nocentini, Carlo Alberto Chittolina), from classical music upbringing, shake the venue to its foundations, beating every kind of beatable instrument: bass, snare, tom, cymbals, vibraphone, xylophone, marimbas, kettledrum, tambourine, gong, even a plastic basin, building up a fascinating, polychrome, sonic landscape in which Zoe is unrolling her amazing, tangled textures. The outcome is never cacophonic or out of focus but rather lyrical and compelling, thanks to a brave, emotional and uncompromising performance, able to move the audience deeply. Such a free-ancestral voyage, starting from the mythical Atlantide/Sardinia, finds its arrival station on the Black Continent with the band leaving the stage muttering a litany called “Africa”: no better way to end a really beautiful concert.

VIJAY IYER - Piano solo (Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, April 25)

Piano solo is a peculiar beast, definitely not a couch pet and, to be honest, not our super favorite cup of tea but given that: 1) we have a super handy chance to see Iyer for the first time; 2) to skip such a gig could leave a bitter wave of regrets for very long time; 3) our solo records by Evans and Monk were worn out by thousands of listens, we head to the Conservatorio Hall, fuelled with confidence and hope. A magnificent grand piano placed beside the enormous, towering, ancient pipe organ, pride of the prestigious musical institution, is welcoming the people for a sold out gig. Not a typical jazz audience, we’d say, but, yes, you're right, what the hell is a “typical jazz audience”? Then Vijay enters the stage, a slight bow and takes place on the piano. Dead silence, music, applause, standing up, slight bow, dead silence, music, applause and so on, the same ritual until the very end. Hyper virtuosity, crossed-handed playing, mathematical progressions: is this jazz? Or is it classical music? Or are our skills too weak and inadequate to understand what is it? Silly questions, sure thing. The concert goes and so does the unease. Mental flashbacks bring us back Breezy screaming at the audience “have hugs, have drinks, make noise!”. Silly thoughts, sure things. Don't get us wrong: no blasphemy or disrespect towards a sheer, undisputed musical talent, just a place light years beyond our idea of jazz. And music. Simple as that.

JAN BANG SEXTET - “Alighting” (Hiroshima mon Amour, April 25)

The Norwegian musician and producer, long time collaborator of the likes of Hamid Drake, Jon Hassel and David Sylvian, founder of the Punkt Festival, is coming to town with a project specifically composed for the Festival, called “Alighting”, delivered by an ad hoc sextet of musicians, gathered on stage for the very first time. Along with the band leader (voice, live sampling), we find the astonishing turkish, Amsterdam-based Sanem Kalfa (voice, cello); the Catalan Santi Careta (acoustic and electric guitar); from Norway Mats Eilertsen (double bass) and Eivind Aarset (guitar, electronics); on drums the “Enfant du Pays”, the mighty Michele Rabbia. No boundaries, no walls, no tariffs, no gods, just a common language: the music. Bang lends the voice to almost every song and his monochromatic singing à la David Sylvian, smoothly matches the labyrinthic plots beautifully drawn by such marvellous music partners. The suffused atmospheres and the tinged, almost ambient, textures would have needed a more intimate seating theater, maybe, while the legendary Hiroshima, an all-stand-up venue with the boozer just a few meters from the stage, is better suited for Cockney Rejects or Henry Rollins than for scandinavian jazz, you bet, but everything went really well and the audience warmly appreciated.

TONONI/CAVALLANTI - “Nexus plays Dolphy” (Casa Teatro Ragazzi, April 26)

Nexus is an open project put in place in 1981 by drummer Tiziano Tononi and reedist Daniele Cavallanti that involved along the years the “Parterre des Rois” of Italian jazz scene: Enrico Rava, Gabriele Mitelli, Gianluca Trovesi; Pasquale Mirra, Silvia Bolognesi, to name a few. After around ten records of original compositions, along with tributes to Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, Don Cherry, Roland Kirk, John Carter, John Gilmore and Charles Mingus, this time, as a new chapter of their sonic adventures, they decided to challenge one of the most vertical music walls: Eric Dolphy. The master Roberto Ottaviano (soprano sax), Alessandro Castelli (trombone), Emanuele Parrini (violin), Luca Gusella (vibraphone), Andrea Grossi (double bass) are the climbing companions of Tononi and Cavallanti, engaged in the almost impossible task of walking on thin ice, avoiding to fall down in the crevasses of pale xerox copies or disrespectful outcomes. And they win because they dare to dare: keeping the Dolphian coordinates as untouchable cardinal points, they freely float through the most impervious and tricky routes on the map. The engine runs so perfectly oiled that even the violin (despite some pretty solid counter-evidence, not a jazz device, sorry) sounds as a necessary tool. The dedication of the final song to the people of Gaza is a commendable note for this great combo. FYI, an official record of this tribute is available.

LAKECIA BENJAMIN - “Phoenix Reimagined” (Teatro Colosseo, April 28th)

If any Festival worthy of the name has (must have..) its moment of Glamour, this was Lakecia’s gig, no doubt. The White House Inauguration, Obama’s appreciation, The Late Night Shows, the covers of every music magazine from Pocatello to Timbuktu, the nearly fatal car incident, her platforms and golden lamè outfit, all helped to make mrs. Benjamin the Last Sensation in Town, or, at least, one of them. Such a freight train of hype preceding her arrival in Torino made us pretty cautious and suspicious but, as for any snobbish preconception (that was ours), we were wrong, totally wrong. Sublime class, enthusiastical verve, contagious involvement, unstoppable positive mood, make the concert a 1000 Fahrenheit degrees live experience, electrocuting the sold out venue. The musical palette is polychrome and challenging: intense solos; credible street rhymes shot like an AK 47; impeccable balance on the high tension wires of “My favorite thing”; a leader always devoted to an ongoing and generous interplay with band members. Needless to say, the level of the musicians on stage is worthy of her: Elias Bailey and Dorian Phelps are the powerhouse rhythm section, while the Corean John Chin paints on piano terrific textures à la Chick Corea. The final encore, a thermonuclear rendition of Booker T’s “Green Onions” blows off the roof, testifying that jazz is not and will never be a rhetorical, academic exercise.

DUDU’ KOUATE 4TET - (Teatro Juvarra, April 30)

From the arrival on Sicilian shores as an immigrant from Senegal to become the percussionist of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago: this simple sentence could summarize the adventurous personal and artistic life of Dudù Quate, the last musician we saw at this edition of the TJF. Kouate, coming from a griot upbringing, spent his life collecting songs, musical sketches, patterns and rituals from different African languages, then combined them with contemporary languages, thus building a bridge between tradition and innovation. Easy to say, much more difficult to realise, avoiding a watered, undrinkable “fusion”, good for a dentist’s waiting room but not for our Blog. The stage test dispels all doubts, fully accomplishing the goal through a well focused deployment of ideas onto sounds, beautifully delivered by Simon Sieger (piano, keyboards, trombone); Alan Keary (electric bass, violin) and Zeynep Ayse Hatipoglu (cello), while Dudù, beside voice, ngoni, water drum and talking drum, is committed to beating a very wide range of tribal percussions. As he explained, the 4TET offers to past and future sounds and voices the chance to be gathered together, building up a moment of unity and brotherhood, according to the African principle of Ubuntu: I am because we are. The collaboration with Moor Mother will generate a record, scheduled for the beginning of 2026, and we already tied a string around our finger.

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Fire! 03.16.2025, Milan

As last gig of the European tour, the Fire! played at Teatro Spazio 89, Milano on March 16th. The venue, which hosted the Necks a couple of years ago, with its medium size capacity and the low wooden stage, grants the attendees the most desirable warmth and intimacy. The gig simply was what you could dream of and expect from such a combo: powerful, pedal to metal hardcore attitude with a monster rhythm section paving the way for the ever astonishing larger than life genius of Mats, himself engaged on reeds and flute. Main focus on the songs from the last record Testament, delivered in such a way that even enriched a true masterpiece. A couple of blasting encores, then soon after the end, all the band members joined the fans taking pictures, shaking hands and selling their stuff. Owning all Fire!'s records, the only cherry we could pick was Aaly Trio's Sustain, we did it, needless to say, and the drive back home had its perfect soundtrack. Foot note: we didn't know neither the Trio nor the record, both are beautifully off the scale, another fantastic chapter from Gustafsson's never ending sonic adventures.  -Ferruccio Martinotti

 

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Yes Deer - Everything That Shines, Everything That Hurts (Superpang, 2025)

By Eyal Hareuveni

Danish, Oslo-baed sax player Signe Emmeluth is one of the busiest musicians in the Nordic free music scene, leading her bands Emmeluth's Amoeba and Banshee, playing solo and in duos with Belgian sax player Hanne de Backer and Danish drummer Kresten Osgood, and member of Paal Nilssen-Love’s Circus, Mats Gustafsson’s Fire! Orchestra, Bonanza of Doom, Andreas Røysum Ensemble, Liv Andrea Hauge Ensemble, and Jonas Cambien's Maca Conu.

Emmeluth joined the hyper-expressive free jazz trio Yes Deer - with Norwegian guitarist-partner Karl Bjorå (who plays in Emmeluth's Amoeba and with her in Bonanza of Doomin and the duo Owl), and Danish drummer Anders Vestergaard - after fellow Danish sax player Signe Dahlgreen left the trio in 2021. Everything That Shines, Everything That Hurts is the fourth album of the trio and the first one with Emmeluth.

Fortunately, nothing has changed in this supposedly fresh beginning of the trio. It still offers its raw and thunderous dynamics and explodes right from the first second with an intense, merciless ride. Displaced, distorted guitar riffs, manic saxophone blows, and libidinous drumming blend into an intoxicating, cacophonous stew that keeps boiling until it completely drains all energy out of Yes Deer.

Emmeluth, on tenor and alto saxes, has become an organic part of Yes Deer’s fiery, dense interplay with her stream of stratospheric, commanding blows. The album features only two pieces, the 14-minute “Everything That Shines” and the 18-minute “Everything That Hurts”, but you are guaranteed that its liberating power will trigger immediate, repeated listening. There is nothing that can compete with an addictive stew of such three musicians playing in one room, their super-fast instincts, clever thinking, and deep camaraderie, as well as their willingness to act stupidly, search for the sound of sabotage, and push away their sticky jazz education.

A perfect album for our current despairing times.

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FIRE! Work Song For a Scattered Past

Appearing on Friday this past week, a video by Samot Nosslin/Underhypnos was released for the song "Work Song For a Scattered Past" by FIRE! Watch as the trio of Mats Gustafsson (sax), Johan Berthling (bass) and Andreas Werlin (drums) apply their lugubrious magic to devastating effect.

FIRE! and it's bigger sibling FIRE! Orchestra and their influences have graced the pages of the Free Jazz Blog quite a few times over the years:

• Free Jazz Collective's Top Albums of 2024
• Arashi with Takeo Moriyama - Tokuzo (Trost, 2024)
• Jazz em Agosto 2024 (Part 3/3)
• A L`armé! XII Finale (Day 2)
• Ballister - Smash and Grab (Aerophonic, 2024)
• Signe Emmeluth - A Bonanza of Creativity
• Fire! - Testament (Rune Grammofon, 2024)
• Gush - Afro Blue (Trost Records, 2024)
• Dror Feiler - Maavak (Music & Noise 1980-2023 Volume 1 & 2) (The Celestial Fire / iDEAL Recordings, 2023)
• Album of the Year 2023
• Free Jazz Blog's 2023 Top 10 Lists
• Bushman’s Revenge - All the Better For Seeing You (Is It Jazz?, 2023)
• Mats Gustafsson's Instant Conduction Works
• Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra - Family (We Jazz, 2023)
• Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra - Family (We Jazz, 2023)
• Festival Causa Efeito - Lisbon, Portugal, June 28 - July 1, 2023 (Part 2)
• The End - Why Do You Mourn (Trost Records, 2023)
• Elsa Bergaman - Playon Crayon (Bergman Inspelningar, 2023)
• Fire! Orchestra - Echoes (Rune Grammofon, 2023)
• Susana Santos Silva - All The Birds And A Telephone Ringing (Thanatosis, 2022)
• Free Jazz Blog's Top 10s of 2022
• Mats Gustafsson & NU Ensemble - Hidros 8 - Heal (Trost, 2022)
• Cologne Jazzweek (Day 3)
• Fire! - Requiēs (Rune Grammofon, 2022)
• Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin - Ghosted (Drag City , 2022)
• Ballister - Chrysopoeia (Not Two, 2022) ****½
• Art Should Try to Hover Above Our Humanity a Bit and Not Wallow in It - An Interview with Damon Smith (part 3)
• Lisa Ullén, Elsa Bergman, Anna Lund - Space (Relative Pitch, 2022) ****½
• Jazz em Agosto 2021 - Day 3
• Two different (very different) bands that include Susana Santos Silva
• Susana Santos Silva & Torbjörn Zetterberg — Tomorrow (Porta Jazz, 2021) *****
• Fay Victor’s SoundNoiseFunk – We’ve Had Enough! (ESP Disk, 2020) ****
• Fire! - Defeat (Rune Grammofon, 2021) ****
• Viennese Electronic Dreams
• The Underflow - Instant Opaque Evening (Blue Chopsticks, 2021) ****½
• The End - Allt Ar Intet (RareNoise Records) ****½
• Luís Lopes Humanization 4tet – Believe, Believe (Clean Feed, 2020) ****
• Angles 9 10 – Today is Better than Tomorrow (Underflow, 2019) ****
• Fire! Orchestra - Actions (Rune Grammofon, 2020) ****
• David Grubbs, Mats Gustafsson, Rob Mazurek - The Underflow (Corbet vs Dempsey, 2020) ****½
• Gorilla Mask - Brain Drain (Clean Feed, 2019) ****
• Latest Releases from Paal Nilssen-Love
• Reflecting upon last decade's musical influencers
• Free Jazz Blog's 2019 Top 10s
• Mette Rasmussen and Julien Desprez – The Hatch (Dark Tree, 2019) ****
• A Conversation with Mette Rasmussen
• A L'ARME! VII Day 1
• Fire! Orchestra - Arrival (Rune Grammofon, 2019) *****
• Two more from PNL!
• Fire! And Madalyn Merkey @ Clemente Soto Velez on March 28, 2019
• Catching Up with Luís Lopes
• Latest from Norway
• Free Jazz Blog's 2018 Top 10 Lists
• Unlimited 32 Festival, Wels, Austria, Nov. 9-11, 2018
• Martin Küchen & Anders Lindsjö - The Stork and the Chimp (Konvoj, 2018) ****
• Latest Releases from Vocalist Sofia Jernberg
• Kongsberg Jazz Festival, July 2018
• Mats Gustafsson / Jason Adasiewicz - Timeless (Corbett vs. Dempsey, 2018) ****
• The Thing - Again (Trost Records, 2018) ****½
• Large Unit - Fluku (PNL, 2017) ****
• Anna Högberg: The Reviews II
• Anna Högberg: The Reviews I
• Anna Högberg: Interview
• Fire! - The Hands (Rune Grammofon, 2018) *****
• Fire! - The Hands (Rune Grammofon, 2018) ****
• Aalberg, Kullhammar, Zetterberg, Santos Silva – Basement Sessions Vol. 4 (The Bali Tapes), (Clean Feed, 2017) ****½
• Ribbons of Euphoria, Music Unlimited 31 Festival, Wels, Austria, Nov. 10-12, 2017 (Part 2 of 2)
• James Blood Ulmer & The Thing – Baby Talk (Trost Records) ****½
• Jari Haapalainen Trio – Fusion Nation (Moserobie, 2017) ****
• The Swedes Are Coming #3
• Peeter Uuskyla / Tellef Øgrim / Anders Berg - Ullr (Simlas, 2017) ****
• Eve Risser / Benjamin Duboc / Edward Perraud - En Corps: Generation (Dark Tree, 2017) *****
• Latest Duos of Mats Gustafsson
• The Latest Trio Albums of Swedish Reeds Player Martin Küchen
• Free Jazz Blog on Air - Listen Now!
• 10 YEARS!
• Happy New Ears!
• The year in review
• The 2016 Free Jazz Blog Reviewer's Top 10s
• Happy New Ears 2016: VOTE
• Happy New Ears 2016: Your Nominations
• Oren Ambarchi Week Introduction
• The Swedes Are Coming
• Three Day A L'arme!
• Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids - We Be All Africans (Strut, 2016) ***½
• Free Jazz Blog on Air Available Now
• Free Jazz Blog on Air - Friday July 15th
• Mats Gustafsson and Friends - MG50: Peace & Fire (Trost, 2016) *****
• Fire! Orchestra - Rote Fabrik, Zürich, 6/8/2016
• Fire! Orchestra - Porgy & Bess, Vienna, Austria, 6/7/2016
• Mats Gustafsson - This Is From the Mouth & Det Flygande Barnet
• Fire! Orchestra – Ritual (Rune Grammofon, 2016) *****
• Fire! – She Sleeps, She Sleeps (Rune Grammofon, 2016) *****
• Julien Desprez / Benjamin Duboc / Julien Loutelier - Tournesol (Dark Tree, 2016) ****½
• Arashi - Semikujira (Trost, 2016) ****1/2
• Alberto Pinton Noi Siamo- Resiliency (Moserobie, 2016) ****
• Johnny Kafta Anti-Vegetarian Orchestra – self-titled (Discrepant, 2015) ****
• Lisa Ullén Quartet - Borderlands (Disorder, 2016) ****
• Paal Nilssen-Love: Large Unit
• Anna Högberg Attack (Omlott, 2016) ****½
• The Swedes Are Coming
• Unlimited 29 Festival: Charhizmatic Music
• Albums of the Year 2015
• Mette Rasmussen Chris Corsano Duo - All The Ghosts At Once (Relative Pitch Records, 2015) ****½
• Je Suis - Ça Va? & Ça va pas du tout! (Umlaut, 2014)
• Nuiversum - Ballads of Now & When (Repeat Until Death, 2015) *****
• Dog Life - s/t (Omlott, 2014) ****½
• Mats Gustafsson at 50
• Akira Sakata: Artist Deep Dive (Day 1)
• Fire! Orchestra - Enter (Rune Grammofon, 2014) ****½
• Fire!Orchestra: Second Exit (Rune Grammofon, 2014)
• The Thing: Boot! (The Thing Records / Trost, 2013) *****
• 2013's Top Ten Lists
• Mats Gustafsson Round Up
• Fire! - Without Noticing (Rune Grammofon, 2013) *****
• Correction with Mats Gustafsson: Shift (NoBusiness, 2013) **** ½
• Two sides of Mats Gustafsson
• Musician of the Year 2012 (an addendum)
• End-of-year Lists Galore
• HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD 2012
• Gustafsson/Russell/Strid: Birds (dEN, 2012) ****
• Fire! feat. Oren Ambarchi: In the Mouth a Hand (Rune Grammofon, 2012) *****
• Fire! with Jim O´Rourke: Released! -- Looking from a different perspective?
• The phenomenal Mats Gustafsson
• Albums Of The Year 2011
• HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD 2011
• Fire! with Jim O'Rourke - Unreleased (Rune Grammofon, 2011) *****
• Musicians of the year ... 2009
• Free Jazz Top 10 - 2009
• Fire! - You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago (Rune Grammofon, 2009) ****½

- Paul Acquaro

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