Great Records of Free Improvisation

  listen on bandcamp Compared to instruments like the violin or the saxophone, the piano lacks that type of expressivity  that comes from the direct contact of the strings to the fingers or the reed to the mouth. The keys of the piano make it a remote controlled instrument. All the greatest pianists of history has had to transcend that condition, to find a way to manipulate the notes so that they become full of details, personal touch and feeling. Pat Thomas is truly one of those greats, who has tackled that challenge to the extreme. The power of his touch is something which blows you away. You can hardly believe the sounds you hear coming out of the piano when he plays. Musically you find yourself torn between the sublimely beautiful and the brutal, almost grotesque, when listening to this record. These brutal actions are beautiful in themselves, because they're motivated by the story Thomas is telling in his music. To listen to this record is a heavy and deep experience, not...

listen on bandcamp The 1997 record “Lennart” by Mats Gustafsson (reeds) and Christian Munthe (guitar) is a treasure of a record which deserves to be remembered and re-listened many times. It’s the perfect example of two musicians who aren’t content with their enormous capabilities, but are determined to expand the possibilities of interplay, technique and form. The interplay on this record is something of equal importance to that of the earlier pioneers of free improvisation. These improvisations are rich in the aspects of building up tension, quick eruptions, “anti-climaxes” and through it all - a very intense feeling of suspense. At the same time they’re swinging like crazy, and creating unique patterns of interplay with equal parts seriousness and humour. The listener can get all kinds of strange associations to the sounds made; a panting dog, something going down the drain, strangled chickens. The track that especially gave interesting associations was track 3 where the tenor sax s...

  listen on bandcamp The piccolo flute and bass flute playing of Marina Cyrino is something to pay close attention to. She has developed highly personal techniques and brings out unfamiliar sounds out of her instruments. As an improviser she is exploring subtle territories. It may be misunderstood by many listeners. Those who favor action-packed improvisation may think it’s too reductionistic, and those who favor reductionistic improv may think it’s too action-packed. Personally it touches me when someone is breaking the rules in that way, not conforming to any school whatsoever. Cyrino allows the limitations of her instrument to be naked, in plain sight, and she waits to show off her incredible inventiveness and skill until a moment where it seems almost unnoticable. A new sound that you’ve never heard can creep out in such a subtle way. She doesn’t shout “Hey! Look at my amazing new extended technique!!!”, but let’s the listener search for it. The techniques aren’t used for sensa...

  listen on bandcamp This is very vital free jazz. The musicians here seem truly open. They have exploratory attitudes. Even though you could say that they’re moving around a certain idiom, they are still inventing and reinventing the music in each moment. They take jazz and contort it. They push it to new places with both aggression and high sensitivity. One might be tempted to compare this music to Archie Shepp’s records from the 60’s, but that would be a mistake. This music is of a different culture and a different time, and the musicians here have found their own unique ways of playing and reinventing . Every time I’ve heard Delius, I’ve been completely knocked out. His sound is enormous, and it can morph into all kinds of different colours. The shapes of his phrases is something unusual. Just one phrase can contain a full story, so rich in ideas and detail. He places these phrases and pauses in a way that makes the whole music swing and shimmer. Although Delius is strikingly e...

  buy on bandcamp “Für Paul Klee” is a record combining poems by Klee read by Sven Åke Johansson with arranged improvisations by Alexander von Schlippenbach, Aki Takase, Axel Dörner, Werner Dafeldecker and Paul Lovens. The arrangement seems to be (with the exception of a few composed bits) mainly an orchestration of the improvisers. One cannot help but hear an echo in this music of pieces from the second Viennese school like “Pierrot Lunaire” by Arnold Schönberg and “Wozzeck” by Alban Berg, but this group offers something completely different consisting of the exceptional improvisational skills and the strong individualities of each musician. The form of the whole record goes through different constellations of the group, which gives it alot of space and clarity. This isn’t easy to do and not many improvising sextets (or even quartets) have been able to create such a clear and sharp result. The parametres of interplay in a sextet is something much more complex and challenging than ...

  listen on bandcamp This is a hidden gem. I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite like this. I also don’t quite know what it is. It’s hard to tell by the sound of it. It may actually be a musique concrete piece and not an improvisation, but I think it has such an improvisatory feeling to it that I feel it’s worth categorising as improvisation. I suspect that THF Drenching quite enjoys leaving the listeners a bit confused about what he’s doing. His liner notes that I found on archive.org was not explanatory but just confused me further. It’s sort of reminiscent of the old musique concrete records of the 50’s and 60’s, but I think it sounds very influenced by the British style of free improv, which gives it an interesting and original feeling. The samples are hard to identify, but there could possibly be sounds of birds, videogames, typewriters… but it’s hard to tell, and that’s also the charm of it. The listeners suddenly find themselves in a world of unknown sound sources, unknown...

  listen on bandcamp This is music which can go anywhere - but doesn’t need to. The maturity of these musicians is something which makes them role models for all improvisers. Evident on this record is a perfect balance of assertiveness, generosity and sensitivity, not to mention the immaculate instrumental skills and imagination of these musicians. The sound of the trio (of vibraphone, bass and drums) definitely has a jazz connotation and a deep jazz influence. It is however a kind of very fresh, open jazz, that’s behaving more like the interactions of European free improvisers. It’s the best of both worlds, I would say. The ability to swing, to be dynamic, to pause, to bring about different kinds of directions - it’s all there. The second track shows something which is very untypical of jazz, and it’s a very exciting contrast to the more busy and swinging parts. This has a meditative quality, with long sounds, bowed vibraphone, more atmospheric. It makes your ears wake up. You rea...

  listen on bandcamp This is a very aesthetically pure record. One could say that they choose to play by a set of guiding principles. They favour pitchless sounds, block-shaped phrases, a close relation to silence and a type of interaction which avoids “call and response”. This choice to reduce could both be seen as a drawback, because it lacks expressivity (some might say) and humour, but it could also be seen as a benefit because the accumulation of all the aesthetically clean actions create a special universe that would otherwise not be possible.  Listening to this record puts you in a special state of mind. It’s a cleansing experience. It’s almost like going through a kind of meditation, but which goes into various degrees of intensity. You become aware of the everyday life-feeling. The musicians are expressing that reality. The un-suspenseful but beautiful feeling of a silence. The beauty in different white noises. The very slow moving rhythm of things changing. Then at t...

listen on bandcamp The playing of Kalle Moberg is something very unique. He is truly an innovator of his instrument and a very original musician as well. When you put on this record you’re immediately struck by the richness of small details in the sound, little things that add complexity to a note. The sound of the keys, the sort of airy buzzing in certain sounds, breath-like things. Sometimes you wonder how it’s even possible to play these things, does he have three hands? There has been no overdubbing on this record, which might be suspected by some. The imagination of Moberg is also something very special. It’s continually surprising to listen to him. The phrases and gestures seem to be placed in a crooked angle, and they’re crooked in their nature, too. At times you hear phrases that sound like jazz, but they’re so warped by all the note-bending that it feels like something else. A kind of surrealistic jazz. The mind also makes associations from this music to the organ, saxophone a...

  listen on bandcamp This music requires patience, it’s something which demands all your attention. To listen to a small excerpt and then stop it, would give a false impression of the music. For me, this is a highly overlooked masterpiece which defies the conventions of the old school, the reductionists and perhaps every thinkable area or genre. This is truly punk, so to speak. The opening track already tells you one thing: this is a remarkable drummer. The drumming is very original, the way of playing rhythm, the temperament, the choice of sounds. He proves that he has great chops with his stick playing, and then proceeds with almost completely abandoning this virtuosic style for the bigger part of the record. It’s almost as if he can predict every listener’s expectation and says fuck you to us all. I love it!  He then proceeds to play quite a lot in areas which I would call reductionism, but the way reductionism should have been. The carefulness and uptightness that we know ...

listen on bandcamp This is a phenomenal record which deserves more recognition. It sets itself apart from the contemporary “repertoire” for several reasons. Among improvising vocalists, there are many who are virtuosic, who can impress you with rapidly shifting techniques and who have invented new sounds with the voice. Ute Wasserman is a singer who has this virtuosity, but only uses it in the necessary moments which benefit the music. She has a remarkable taste and timing, and knows how to interact with Lanz in a very complex way. Joke Lanz is also an excellent turntableist, who proves on this record that he is one of the finest, most sensitive electronics-players on the scene who can play dynamically. Together they play a music which has an enormous array of sounds, different types of reactions and shifts in direction. This is not unique, but what makes it somewhat unique is that despite all of this musical activity, they manage to not tire out the listeners ears. They have such a ti...

listen on bandcamp This is one of the strongest records to come out in the last few years. What strikes me hardest on “Breath” is Agusti Fernandez, who can really take your breath away, and proves that he’s one of the most vital, original and powerful improvisers on the scene. No discredit should go to Don Malfon though, who contributes very original sounds and is co-creating the extremely interesting interplay that is what this music is all about. This record consists of one improvised piece that’s about 29 minutes long. To play a piece that long and keep the listeners intrigued all the way, is something not all improvisers can do. This duo succeeds in that challenge. Having said that, it’s also true that 29 minutes is shorter than the average full album. To me, this is a perfect length. It takes you on an extended journey, and yet leaves you wanting more. In fact, after it was over I could hardly believe that it was as long as it was. Time really flew by. The piece starts off in high...

listen on bandcamp  This is a surprising record. We've heard too many records of solo improvisation that only explore one technique per track. People who have found a new trick and use that to make a drone, a groove, or a string of sounds with no pauses. They invent new sounds, but they don’t use these new sounds to create new stories. That's certainly not the case of “Heirloom”.  Ullén’s starting point in her improvisations seems to be in a pre-decided area, perhaps a certain setup of piano preparations, or a musical idea. There’s a flirtation with the idea of playing “etudes”, but there are departures from the suggested etude, which are, as I see it, what makes this music brilliant.  While listening in the beginning, you get cradled into a kind of universe, a very strong atmosphere. Many musicians would settle for that. But not Ullén. She enteres with a completely contrasting thing, and can let that become the center of attention instead. You go on a very strange journe...