AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark - Hidden in the Stomach (SILKHEART RECORDS 2018)

Recorded in an excellent Stockholm studio during December 1996, AALY TRIO + KEN VANDERMARK features Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark on reeds, together with bassist Peter Janson and drummer Kjell Nordeson. AALY TRIO has been in existence for a number of years, consistently playing exciting music. This is their debut on disc and it is quite a major event, particularly since they are joined by another significant contributor to new jazz improvisation in the shape of Ken Vandermark. The music played by the quartet is free improvisation but their control is no empathic and cohesive that the music almost sounds arranged. Extraordinary. 

"Paul Valéry said poetry is hidden in the stomach, you're obsessed by it, never quite sure of it, but know it's there and want to bring it out." 
William Baziotes 

In a debate with a friend over the relative qualities of Chaim Soutine and Piet Mondrian, William Baziotes argued that "...looseness of execution [is] no virtue in itself...." This statement actually says a good bit about Baziotes, a painter often grouped with the abstract expressionists, but out of step with them, preferring orderly forms - never straying completely from figuration - over the drizzled, slashed and flung pigments of action-painters like Jackson...  more

1. Structure à la Mallé 13:34

2. Why I Don't Go Back 10:14

3. Song for Che 09:00

4. Unknown Title 08:27

5. Albumblatt Again 01:47

6. Ghosts / Spirits 11:56

Mats Gustafsson tenor sax, baritone sax (right channel)

Ken Vandermark tenor sax, clarinet, bass-clarinet (left channel)

Peter Janson bass

Kjell Nordeson drums, percussion

Angles 3 - Parede (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2018)

After concerts and recordings as Angles 10, Angles 9, Angles 8 and Angles 6, here is back the original Angles line-up, Angles 3. It was 2004 and for a gig at the Glenn Miller Cafe it’s mentor and saxophonist, Martin Küchen invited two Scandinavian musicians now living in the United States (respectively, Austin – Texas and San Diego – California), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Kjell Nordeson. “Parede”, the title, is a tribute to the Portuguese town near Lisbon where the album was recorded live, at a venue called SMUP which in few years became the equivalent in this Southern European country to The Stone, Cornelia Street Café and Nublu. Most of the compositions, like Küchen’s classics “Satan in Plain Clothes” and “By Way of Deception”, are the same of those other Angles investments, of course with different arrangements. This version functions as a reduction to the essence of the music conceived by the Swedish musician, resulting in an energetic, even brutal, kind of free bop delivered to the ears as if it is punk or metal, echoes of Sonny Rollins and Albert Ayler mixing with something that could come from… The Melvins.

1. Equality & Death (Mothers, Fathers, Where Are Ye?) 9:16

2. Satan in Plain Clothes 10:11

3. Francisco / By Way of Deception 22:56

4. Don´t Ruin Me / Love, Flee Thy House (In Breslau) 17:29

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten  double bass

Kjell Nordeson  drums and percussion

Martin Küchen  tenor and soprano saxophone

All compostions by Martin Küchen (STIM/NcB), except “San Francisco” by Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten (TONO) and “Satan in Plain Clothes” by Martin Küchen and Leo Küchen (STIM/NcB)

Recorded live at SMUP, Parede, Portugal by Luís Candeias on November 22 to 24th, 2016 | Mixed by Luis Candeias | Mastered by Luis Delgado

Produced by Angles 3 | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos | Photo by Nuno Moita

Gregorio / Gustafsson / Nordeson - Background Music (2018)

Recorded 19th January 1998 at WNUR Studios, Chicago 

Released by Hatology, 1998

1. Vanderin' (To Ken Vandermark) 04:22

2. A Tiny Bit More (To Tiny Kahn) 17:34

3. Cannots 04:55

4. Worn - First Variation 02:11

5. Worn - Second Variation 05:01

6. Worn - Third Variation 04:06

7. Just About Five - Beginning 04:52

8. Just About Five - Between 04:59

9. Just About Five - Conclusion 04:48

Mats Gustafsson - tenor saxophone, fluteophone

Guillermo Gregorio - tenor, alto saxophone, clarinet

Kjell Nordeson - drums, percussion

Per Henrik Wallin / Mats Gustafsson / Kjell Nordeson - Dolphins, Dolphins, Dolphins (2018)

Recorded at Fylkingen, Stockholm, August 26th (1, 6, 10), 27th (2, 4) and 28th, 1991 

Released by Dragon, 1992

1. Korpo II 03:00

2. Nu Nu Och Då Nu Går Då Och Nu 06:13

3. Marodörerna Över Bagdad 03:31

4. Dolphins, Dolphins, Dolphins 04:27

5. J.W. 10:34

6. Haecuba 08:09

7. Min Elva Kan Kaste Alba 02:39

8. Du Går Den Ton 10:07

9. Viska 04:24

10. Döbeln 1981 04:04

11. Omvända Stycket 04:38

12. I Should Care 02:36

Mats Gustafsson - saxophones

Per Henrik Wallin - piano

Kjell Nordeson - drums, percussion

Aaly Trio - I Wonder If I Was Screaming (2018)

Recorded at Soundtrade Studios, Stockholm, March 30 & 31, 2000. 

Mixed at Nordstudios in Stockholm, September 18 & 19, 2000. 

Mastered at Cosmos Studios in Stockhom, September 20, 2000. 

This music is dedicated to Bengt "Frippe" Nordström (1937-2000) and Åke Hodell (1919-2000), two great Swedish pioneers and innovators. 

Released on Crazy Wisdom , 2000

1. 3 On 2 06:30

2. There Is A Balm In Gilead 08:12

3. In Between Films (for Bruce Conner) 10:09

4. Left To Right [for Henry Grimes] 07:55

5. Send (for Lucky Thompson) 09:10

6. Würzburg 10:39

Mats Gustafsson - tenor & alto saxophone (right channel)

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone ,clarinet (right channel)

Peter Janson - bass

Kjell Nordeson - drums

Aaly Trio & Ken Vandermark - Live at the Glenn Miller Café (2018)

Recorded live at the Glenn Miller Café, Stockholm on March 10, 1999

Edited and mastered at Airwave Studios, Chicago on May 18, 1999

1. Unit Character (for Jimmy Lyons) 09:00

2. Ghosts 17:47

3. Alva Jo 12:24

4. Idioms 11:55

Mats Gustafsson - alto, tenor saxophone

Peter Janson - bass

Kjell Nordeson - drums

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, clarinet

Aaly Trio & Ken Vandermark - Stumble (2018)

Recorded live at Unity Temple January 17, 1998 

Released by Wobbly Rail 1998

1. Stumble (For Pee Wee Russell) 11:54

2. Umea 11:27

3. Hommage à Lillen 06:24

4. Song For Che 14:31

5. Why I Don't Go Back 13:37

Mats Gustafsson - tenor saxophone, fluteophone, flute

Peter Janson - bass

Kjell Nordeson - drums

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

Aaly Trio / DKV Trio - Double or Nothing (2018)

AALY Trio (Gustafsson, Nordeson, Flaten) on left channel.

DKV Trio (Vandermark, Kessler, Drake) on right channel.

Recorded September 23, 1999 at Airwave Studios, Chicago.

Released by Okka Disk, 2002

1. Left to Right (for Henry Grimes) 13:17

2. Angels 21:11

3. Awake Nu 17:07

Mats Gustafsson - Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone

Ken Vandermark - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Kent Kessler - Double Bass

Hamid Drake, Kjell Nordeson - drums

Vinkeloe | Smith | Nordeson - Elegans (BALANCE POINT ACOUSTICS 2018)

This trio has all of the quality of Vinkeloe's well-known trio recordings with Barre Phillips or the late Peter Kowald (both with drummer Peeter Uuskyla), but due to Smith's very original playing, and Nordeson's exciting performances on drums and vibraphone, the trio takes on a character of its own. Of course, Vinkeloe's playing is as stellar as ever.

According to double-bassist and occasional Biggi Vinkeloe collaborator Barre Phillips, “The music of Biggi Vinkeloe, with her beautiful melodies, instrumental tone and lush phrasing, the delicate, tasteful rhythmic offerings and harmonic richness of Kjell Nordeson plus the warm depth and microtonal colorings of Damon Smith all add up to a very enjoyable recording.” 

According to Marc Medwin of the Bagatellen web site, “I chose a late evening to audition this latest Nuscope offering for the first time, and now it never sounds quite right during the day. The duo and trio explorations exist, by and large, in afterglow, in the calm but magical world of overtone and shadow I associate with moonlight. The music is not reticent—far from it! It ebbs and flows with the quiet certainty of expectation, making the occasional moments of more extreme light and darkness more vivid. 

The opening to “Kinkajou” is one such instance; Smith’s puckish arco scoops and Nordeson’s percussive twitters giving rise to one of the disc’s most overtly dramatic exchanges. Vinkeloe, far from drawn into the serio-comic fray, exudes long-toned admonishments, she and Smith seeming to have swapped roles to engage in some beautifully orchestral interplay. Her flute work on “Parish”, on the other end of the spectrum, sounds an “Oriental” clarion call amidst ominous rumbles and microtonal clusters, Smith’s shredding moans and sighs sounding like the remnants of some butchered coral. Indeed, it’s hard to tell where bass ends and percussion begins before an uneasy calm is eventually restored. 

These are moments of obviously polarized unrest though, and much of the disc’s reflectivity can be gauged from the title track. What might be a military cadence, if Nordeson chose to engage stereotype, pervades the texture, his drum work a series of loosely defined in-tempo patterns that always seem to break down at the last moment. Vinkeloe and Smith dodge and weave, emerging repeatedly from Nordeson’s fractured structures only to be shoved, gently, in another direction. 

Most beguiling though, bespeaking midnight, is “Today, the sun is Blue”, a gorgeously contrapuntal Smith/Vinkeloe duet; the silence surrounding each gesture is magical, each phrase leads ineluctably into the next, maintaining a perfect but fragile blend of sound and silence, a recipe for disaster in the wrong hands. 

Many of the quieter moments here are so successful because the recording is absolutely first-rate. Nordeson’s subtle vibraphone is captured in a way that forms a perfect stereophonic contrast to the other players’ more sharply defined presences. The disc is a credit to Nuscope, whose output continues to be of the highest quality, and to this fine trio, from whom I hope to hear a lot more.” 

This disc is a stunning collection of duos and trios that is certain to have much lasting value for fans of both free jazz and free improvisation. The release features an 8-page booklet with liner notes from the great bassist Barre Phillips, and exciting new art from artist Caio Fonseca.

1. Today the Sun is Blue 03:21

2. Nattens 04:41

3. Elegans 07:23

4. Au petit Matin 02:50

5. Joilesse 03:35

6. Dwarswind 05:23

7. Separation 02:02

8. Lucidity 02:03

9. Parish 02:45

10. Chiche 03:19

11. Kinkajou 04:16

12. Carmin Fragile 04:56

13. Luer Bas Rouge 03:14

14. At the End of the Rainbow 05:15

Alto Saxophone, Flute – Biggi Vinkeloe

Artwork [Cover Art] – Caio Fonseca

Co-producer – Damon Smith, Russell Summers

Composed By – Biggi Vinkeloe, Damon Smith, Kjell Nordeson

Double Bass – Damon Smith

Drums, Vibraphone – Kjell Nordeson

Executive-Producer, Design [Graphic Designer] – Russell Summers

Liner Notes – Barre Phillips, Russell Summers

Mastered By – Alan Bise

Photography By [Biggi Vinkeloe] – Kristen Lidell

Photography By [Damon Smith and Kjell Nordeson] – Katherine J. Gin

Recorded By, Mixed By – Scott R. Looney

Recorded in Oakland, California on February 5, 2005 at 1510 Studios.

Mixed in Oakland, California on September 13, 2005 at 1510 Studios.

Mastered in Cleveland, Ohio on October 25, 2005 at the Cleveland Institute of Music.