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Gjerstad, Frode / Jon Rune Strom / Paal Nilssen-Love: Steam In the Casa (PNL)

A live recording from the Casa Del Popolo club in Montreal, Canada, named because Gjerstad was upset that Air Canada had messed up his sax in transit, which he played regardless; his frustration pushed him into an overwhelmingly amazing set of smoking free jazz!
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Frode Gjerstad-alto saxophone, Bb clarinet

Jon Rune Strom-doublebass

Paal Nilssen-Love-drums, percussion


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UPC: 7041880993870

Label: PNL
Catalog ID: PNL034
Squidco Product Code: 22037

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: Norway
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded live at Case Del Popolo, Montreal, Canada on November 27th, 2015 by Mathieu Belanger.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"As the title indicates, we were pretty much steaming. I was really mad because Canada Air had made my old Martin alto sax almost impossible to play: the three lowest notes did not work after they had thrown it around. I got to try a Yamaha modern alto. But I just could not get a strong sound out of it and decided to play my Martin even though it was sort of broken. That gave me an extra push I guess: I really wanted to show to myself that the Martin is good even when it's crippled! I love the sound in that horn!"-Frode Gjerstad



"Frode Gjerstad has been a key figure of Norway's free jazz scene since the 1970s. In 1981 he started a fruitful collaboration with John Stevens, who encouraged him to pursue his interests in free improvisation, eventually connecting him with a diverse range of important international musicians. A few years later he started working with a younger generation of promising Norwegian improvisers, meeting Paal Nilssen-Love when the drummer was only 15; since then they created a strong musical and personal bond, collaborating in countless occasions. One of the most enduring projects has been the trio, where the only variable was the bassist role, until Jon Rune Strøm, another young Norwegian musician, joined the group in 2011. Recorded live in concert at Montreal's Casa Del Popolo in November 2015, Steam In The Casa is the seventh album released by this group.

The record opens with "Pinch And Hide," a properly steaming free jazz assault, with Strøm and Nilssen-Love laying down a throbbing pulse constantly growing in intensity, while Gjerstad unleashes twisted saxophone lines and piercing upper register contortions. The atmosphere then changes, with the rhythm section pulverizing in steady drum hits and arco digressions, while Gjerstad remains in the same abstract mood, transforming the sound of his instrument through unorthodox techniques. The following piece, "Stranger In A Common Place," takes the opposite route, with bass and drums moving from a sparse, abstract activity to a bouncing vehicle for the clarinet excursions, firmly kept on the most strident registers.

"Dodging Borders," the longest track on the album clocking in at almost 13 minutes, further develops these themes, with a high energy, fractured rhythm base that constantly evolves in different permutations-from rock oriented sections to sinuous walking bass lines- supporting Gjerstad's explorations of different thematic materials, mostly based on short ostinatos and simple but effective melodic modulations. There's an infectious enthusiasm in the proceedings, with the musicians constantly interacting with each other's ideas without fear of dismantling effective combinations, always in search of new paths to explore. In contrast with the preceding tracks, "Wobbly Rail" is a piece mostly played on subtle dynamics and tonal explorations, where Nilssen- Love's choice of unusual timbres and Strom's restrained arco work provide a rich backdrop for Gjerstad's breathy clarinet meditations, building a pensive, textural soundscape that brilliantly closes the album."-Nicola Negri, All About Jazz


Get additional information at All About Jazz

Artist Biographies

"Frode Gjerstad was born in Stavanger, Norway, 24-03-1948. He started trying to play improvised music as a trumpeter in 1968. When he moved to Lund in Sweden (1971 to 1975) he got a chance to meet, talk and play with musicians interested in this music. He had at that time started playing tenor saxophone (1969).

After he came back to Stavanger in 1975 he started collaborating with keyboardist Eivin One Pedersen. Together, they explored many different aspects of improvised music, as a duo or with others, but it was not until 1981, when they first played with John Stevens, that he had a real chance to feel what a dedicated musicians can do to the music-making.

At the early stage of his career, he choose mainly to play with international musicians because there was no tradition in Norway for the free music. However, after the club Blå opened in Oslo in 1996, a good number of younger musicians are now picking up on the music.

His relationship with British drummer, John Stevens which started in -81 and lasted up until his death in -94, was of great importance both musically as well as on a personal level. Through Stevens, he was introduced to some of the finest British improvisers and got to know their way of playing. Together, they led the trio "Detail" starting with Johnny Dyani on bass. And after Johnny died in -86, with Kent Carter.

He has also been active, running a larger group of mostly Norwegian musicians, the Circulasione Totale Orchestra. He started the group using electric instruments and modern rock-oriented rhythms. He has used the band to present his own compositions as well as a workshop and a place for young people to get to know free music. The band presented a commissioned work at the Molde Festival in -89 with a 13 man band combining free improvisations, compositions as well as rapping and scratching.(Three horns, three bassists, three drummers, accordeon, guitar a rapper and a DJ). The Circulasione Totale Orchestra is a powerful ever-changing band.

But it´s not easy to keep such a big group together. In 1998 he decided to keep the core of the band which at that time was Paal Nilssen-Love on drums and Øyvind Storesund on bass and try to develop that sound. It became Frode Gjerstad Trio. So far the trio has toured Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Polen, Italy, Austria, Portugal, England, Canada and the United States.

He has received several grants from various foundations and has been very active in the Norwegian Jazzmusicians Federation as well as in the committee for the Norwegian Contemporary Music Federation. Voted Jazz Musician of the Year in Norway, 1997. Part of the price was a concert where he could freely choose which musicians to use. This was the first meeting with Hamid Drake and William Parker. The concert became a tour of Scandinavia in -97 and the US in 2000.

US Pianist Borah Bergman has also been important to Frode. They first met in -94 and have played as a duo and also as trio with Evan Parker and later Peter Brøtzmann. Borah has been a great inspiration and a challenge over the years!

English bassist Nicholas Stephens first played with Frode in 1984. He played electric bass at the time, but it was not until after John Stevens died in 1994 that they started working together as "Calling Signals". First with a tour of England in 1995 with Paul Rutherford and Terje Isungset. And in 1996 with Louis Moholo and Danish guitarist, Hasse Poulsen. The latest version of the group has been with accordionist Eivin One Pederesen and Paal Nilssen-Love or Tony Marsh on drums. Frode also met and worked with US percussionist Kevin Norton in 2004 and they have found a common ground. They have a trio with Nicholas Stephens: Instinctual Eye.

Electronic music started to make an impact when he met Lasse Marhaug. They have played some concerts together and made some recordings. Lasses sounds have opened up a whole new territory of possibilities and came at a time when Frode started playing clarinets. A very fruitful combination!

Another side of the electronic thing was the group Ultralyd which was Frodes idea: to bring in a loud powerful electric bass with drums, guitar and reeds. After about a year, he left the band because the sound level was unbearable for the old man.! And he left it to the youngsters to decide how loud the band should be. Still, he has continued playing with Morten, Anders and Kjetil in other projects."

-Frode Gjerstad Website (http://frodegjerstad.com/?page_id=162)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Strøm grew up on an island in the north-west of Norway. Influenced u. A. By Gary Peacock and Frode Gjerstad , with the first shots were (East of the West, 2011), he plays in the Norwegian free jazz scene with Paal Nilssen-Loves Group Large Unit, Petter Wettre and Mats Gustafsson Nu Ensemble, also with musicians like Mats Äleklint , John Dikeman , Martin Kitchen , Thomas Johansson and Tollef Østvang in formations such as SAKA Trio, Universal Indians, All Included and Friends & Neighbors. 2013, it issued a solo album Jøa.

-Wikipedia (translated Google) (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Rune_Str¿m)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Paal Nilssen-Love was born in Molde, Norway, Dec 24. 1974, and raised at a jazz club in Stavanger, run by his parents. It was natural to choose his fathers drums as his instrument and jazz as his work. From 1990 on he took actively part in the jazz milieu in Stavanger and joined bands with established musicians such as trumpeter Didrik Ingvaldsen and saxophonist Frode Gjerstad. In many ways, these collaborations were essential as they pointed out the directions for Paal's later musical development and career. During his studies at the Jazz dept at the University in Trondheim, where the first self initiated bands were established, things developed really fast - and Paal was nationally acknowledged at the age of 20.

The forming of the quartet Element in 1993 in many ways represented the start of a new phase in Paal's musical life. Element musically became a platform for several other groups with bassist Flaten and pianist Wiik, and lead to collaborations with Iain Ballamy and Chris Potter, amongst others. Paal moved to Oslo in 1996, where he joined and/or took part in the forming of bands like Vindaloo, SAN, Håkon Kornstad Tio, The Quintet and Frode Gjerstad Trio. He later on got more into self initiated projects and collaborations with Swedish musicians, such as pianist Sten Sandell and saxophonist Mats Gustafsson.

Paal played his first solo concert in 1999, and since then the solo concept has been an important part of his work: "Everyone should try doing some solo work, just to feel who you really are and what gets you going". His solo album "Sticks and stones" was put out in 2001 on SOFA Rec.

Being active in several bands at the same time has always been Paal's deliberate working method. He is constantly conscious about the projects he is in, as his participation in each and one of them is fully dedicated. Playing is not about getting from start to goal, but rather being in an everlasting process, a continuous movement where each new piece of music performed is a prolongation of the latest. Hence, keeping focused and concentrating all energy around what's happening there and then is of greatest importance - as is the freedom in the music, the ability of being free within the expression.

All bands, although various styles and musical versatility in general, represent important pieces that make up a total, and all bands are formed or joined with a clear vision. Today Paal's portfolio includes Atomic, School Days, The Thing, Frode Gjerstad Trio, Sten Sandell Trio, Scorch Trio, Territory Band, FME, and various duo projects such as with reedmen Ken Vandermark, John Butcher, Mats Gustafsson, organist Nils Henrik Asheim and noise wizard Lasse Marhaug. And not to forget the recently joined Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet."

-Paal Nilssen-Love Website (http://www.paalnilssen-love.com/biography.php)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Pinch And Hide 7:48

2. Stranger In A Common Place 6:46

3. Dodging Borders 12:33

4. Scattered Fiction 2:23

5. Wobbly Rails 7:30

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings
Paal Nilssen-Love
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