Swedish contrabass clarinetist Christ Bothen in six extended works, the first and third disks a series of solo works using incredible technique and concentration, the 2nd disc a large work in an ensemble with fellow deep reedists Hans Koch & Per Texas Johansson, double bassist Vilhelm Bromander, pianists Kristine Scholz & Tisha Mukarji, and a spectral narrative from Sofia Jernberg.
Format: 3 CDs Condition: New Released: 2020 Country: Sweden Packaging: Box Set - 3 CDs Recorded in Vada Kyrka, Sweden, on March 2nd, 2020, by Zebastian Swartz.
"The clarinetist Christer Bothén , born in Gothenburg in 1941 , presents five new pieces with his new album Ambrosia , which are spread over three CDs. For these recordings, the experimental musician concentrated on his two main instruments, the bass and double bass clarinet. In addition, he strengthened himself for the recordings of some of the pieces with well-known musical core of the scene around instruments such as double bass, bass and piano. The main focus is definitely on all kinds of sounds that can be achieved with the two wind instruments.
Naturally, nothing catchy or particularly melodious comes out of such a constellation. But that's not the point here. Christer Bothén produces atmospheres, lets notes reverberate for a long time and also produces one or the other abstract percussion with his instrument. The result is a highly unreal cosmos of sound that fluctuates between atmosphere and cacophony, nowadays they are called contemporary.
In this type of sound art, the space and the resulting sound is an important component, and this is really impressively implemented here. You can hear the musician's breath, the tones are given the space they need to develop and the game between sound and silence is well implemented.
The whole thing is heavy fare, for which you have to be in a balanced mood and have the courage to venture into new worlds of sound."-Wolfgang Kabsch, Musikansich (translated by Google)
"Contrabass clarinet solo with reverberation from a grand piano. The soloist opens and shuts his eyes in order to signal the assistant to, at a given moment, press down on the sustain pedal of the grand piano to create resonating string timbres resulting from what is played on the contrabass clarinet. "-thanatosis produktion