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Review

Mats Gustafsson

Mats Gustafsson, Cafe Oto, London, 09/04/2010


by Tim Owen

April 15, 2010

/ LIVE

Tim Owen enjoys an evening of Gustafsson's collaborations with pianist Pat Thomas and violinist Philipp Wachsmann at Cafe Oto.

Mats Gustafsson with Pat Thomas and Philipp Wachsmann
London, Cafe Oto
9 April 2010

Mats Gustafsson; baritone saxophone, Swanee slide sax
Pat Thomas; piano
Philipp Wachsmann; violin

Given the freedom to put together a two night residency in London Mats Gustafsson must have surprised a few people with his choices. Best known for his trio The Thing, a project heavily influenced by garage rock pioneers The Sonics, and for accompanying artists such as Peter Brotzmann, Gustafsson’s more cerebral side is less extensively documented. For this night he invited pianist Pat Thomas, who has contributed so notably to recent Treader recordings by Wadada Leo Smith and Charles Hayward (reviewed jointly elsewhere on this site), and violinist Philipp Wachsmann, a frequent associate of Evan Parker. Unsurprisingly there would be no Sonics covers in this night’s set, which made Gustafsson’s recent recordings with Barry Guy sound riotous by comparison but was no less intense for that.

The first part of the set was given to duets, two outings by Gustafsson/Thomas being followed by two by Gustafsson/Wachsmann. For these duets, as for the subsequent trio set, Gustafsson alternated between the baritone saxophone and a second instrument that was a real curio, a short horn with a straight bell and an internal slide, vertically held. A bit of digging on the internet1 reveals this to be a Swanee Sax, a variant of the Swanee whistle. Apparently Gustafsson was introduced to the instrument by Lol Coxhill, which sounds about right.

Gustafsson began on the baritone. Making breath sounds and mouthing semi-articulated vocalisations around his mouthpiece that were somehow clearly amplified, he swung bodily to and fro, stomping to highlight hard-blown notes that were often nevertheless feathery in their articulation, punctuated by sudden blats and full-bodied tones, and accompanied by extensive percussive effects extracted from key clicks and slaps. The energy expended showed in Gustafsson’s sanguinary face, and Thomas responded vigorously, with a fluid concision that briefly married Cecil Taylor’s dynamism with Monk’s articulation. Turning to the Swanee Sax, Gustafsson limited himself to vigorous pumping of the instrument’s slide that articulated little more than barely audible tones, and Thomas leaned deep inside the piano to rub the strings for atmospheric effect, all to very little musical consequence.

Sticking with the Swanee Sax for his first duet with Wachsmann, Gustafson changed tack and become more vocal, producing some shrill effects. Wachsmann responded by scraping his bow vertically, otherwise limiting his attack to dry skitterings and other small sound events. The soundscape here was generally harsh, even arid, but always eventful. With Gustafsson back on baritone Wachsmann bowed more fully and lightened the mood with a folksy melody while Gustafsson again explored extended breath techniques, this time favouring loud, plosive phuts.

The main set began with restraint, the trio exchanging fragile melodic fragments increasingly dominated by an astringency emanating chiefly from Thomas’ keyboard. A second passage began with Wachsmann casually strumming his violin, held like a mandolin, and ended on a beautiful melodic fragment from Thomas. An enthusiastic ovation drew the group back for an evidently unexpected encore, all three musicians having noticeably relaxed and therefore playing less self-consciously and with a hint of self-imposed constraints lifted.

Throughout the gig Thomas and Wachsmann were studies in contrast to Gustafsson’s bodily exertions. Sartorially shabby as Thomas may be, and on first impression even rather stolid, he has a somewhat imperious charisma that’s immediately amplified when he starts to play. Unlike other pianists whose virtuosity seems to be racing ahead of their thought processes Thomas always seems supremely in command of his gift, and his playing, no matter how free and ready to tangle with abstraction, always carries a charge of authoritative exactitude. Wachsmann, likewise, is evidently utterly in command of his instrument, and almost nonchalant in demeanour. Hearing three such characterful musicians find common ground from such a narrow seam of musical activity made demands of the audience that were richly rewarded. The second night of the residency featured guitarist John Russell and improv vocalist Phil Minton, and promised to be a very different but equally singular evening.

1 For a detailed description of the Swanee Sax, accompanied by photographs and an audio clip, see this useful post on saxontheweb.net: http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?21243-Swanee-Sax-slide-saxophone-%28lots-of-pics-and-recording%29. There’s also background on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_whistle.

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