14 musicians from nine different countries went on a sound journey directed only by their own musical fantasy, no borders – except one, more about that later.
The venue, the newly built „Schwere Reiter“ in Munich, is perfect for this: clear acoustics, clear architecture.
In the middle of the covid pandemic, in a short time when concerts were possible, such an intense and open exchange could happen, two days in a row, on October 1st and 2nd 2021 – a stroke of luck. A music that moves, stimulates, perhaps upsets, has been recorded there.
The Berlin based saxophone player Harri Sjöström, born in Finland, is the creator of these collaborations and he named them „SoundScapes“: Landscapes of Sounds. It started as a concert series in Berlin in 2013. In 2016 and 2018 “SoundScapes Festivals” happened in Helsinki and now the third one took place in Munich in 2021.
People with open and curious ears can move around in this scenery of sounds. You can walk through a tender braid of notes from a trombone and a violin, embracing each other.
You can marvel at tiny tone dots from a guitar and a quartertone accordion, expanded by soft electronic sound pieces. You can get carried away by the pull created by two drums and a vibraphone. Or you can be amazed by a piano dancing freely to floating frequencies from different wind instruments.
The concept of „SoundScapes“ says that all players are involved at the first and the last part of the two day festival. All other sections have line-ups from duo to quintet, hand-picked by Harri Sjöström and agreed with all the members. There’s only one limit: each performance should not last longer than 15 Minutes.
This might be seen as a harsh breaking of the rules of free improvisation, but in this case it’s also a stroke of luck! There are no timewasting settle ins, no soloistic ego trips, no lengths. Only with great togetherness and space-giving respect can such a dense but open music be created.
This recording was edited very little, no instrumental constellation has been left out. It shows the whole path through the landscapes of sounds that Harri Sjöström and his great associates have walked during these two festival nights. A music that opens doors and stretches rooms. Insert, listen, get involved!
1. 1.1. SoundScapes - Opening Night Tutti Orchestra 15:36
2. 1.2. The Player Is #1 Kalima, Heather, Mureddu 06:43
3. 1.3. The Player Is #2 Gordoa, De Joode, Schiaffini, Wachsmann 10:51
4. 1.4. The Player Is #3 Kujala, Sjöström 08:09
5. 1.5. The Player Is #4 Floridis, Schiaffini 09:10
6. 1.6. The Player Is #5 Casserley, Gordoa, Heather, Narvesen 14:26
7. 1.7. The Player Is #6 Tramontana, Wachsmann 13:08
8. 2.1. The Player Is #7 De Joode, Narvesen, Tramontana, Sjöström, Wachsmann 08:32
9. 2.2. The Player Is #8 Bauer, Floridis, De Joode, Schiaffini, Tramontana 06:32
10. 2.3. The Player Is #9 Casserley, Mureddu, Sjöström, Wachsmann 12:30
11. 2.4. The Player Is #10 Gordoa, Schiaffini 11:02
12. 2.5. The Player Is #11 Bauer, Floridis, Heather, 11:06
13. 2.6. The Player Is #12 Casserley, Kalima, Kujala 13:33
14. 2.7. SoundScapes - Silence To Sound, Tutti Orchestra 10:44
Matthias Bauer – double bass
Lawrence Casserley – signal processing instrument
Floros Floridis – bass clarinet & clarinet
Emilio Gordoa – vibraphone
Steve Heather – drums & percussion
Wilbert De Joode – double bass
Kalle Kalima – guitar
Veli Kujala –1/4 tone accordion
Libero Mureddu – piano
Dag Magnus Narvesen – drums & percussion
Giancarlo Schiaffini - trombone
Harri Sjöström – soprano, sopranino, alto saxophone
Sebastiano Tramontana – trombone
Philipp Wachsmann – violine & electronics
Credits:
Live concerts on 1st – 2nd October 2021 recorded by Bayerische Rundfunk at Schwere Reiter, Munich, Germany
Sound engineer: Frank Sattler and Marc Hoffmann
Sound technicians: Andreas Leis and Jürgen Schmid
Stage light & sound technicians: SchwereReiter technical crew: Zoro Babel & team
Mixing & mastering: Frank Sattler
Production assistant: Rita Mbeba
Live concert recording producer: Ulrich Habersetzer
Photos: single portraits by Cristina Marx/photomusix
Photos: group photos by Luciano Rossetti
Cover design: SEMAFOR
Executive producer: Maciej Karłowski
SoundScapes # 3 - Festival in Munich was organized & realised in cooperation with Hannes Schneider - Offene Ohren e. V., and recorded at Schwere Reiter (Scope – Spielraum für Aktuelle Musik, Christiane Böhnke-Geisse)
Artistic direction and concept: Harri Sjöström
