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| Ståhls Blå Schlachtplatte Moserobie MMPCD 024 | | Jonas Kullhammar Quartet with Norrbotten Big Band Snake City North Moserobie MMPCD 031 |
Publicity for the Bad Plus dubs them “the loudest piano trio ever.” Somehow “the loudest vibraphone/sax quartet ever” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but that does give you some idea of the intensity of Schlachtplatte. There are echoes of the 1960s avant-Blue Note sound, but the sensibility is unmistakably contemporary – a controlled sensory overload, set to a compulsive groove built out of whizzing, precisely assembled cut-ups in a manner suggesting drum machines and looped samples. Bassist Filip Auguston and drummer Thomas Strønen are a perpetual one-two punch of a rhythm section (the demented pogo-stick drumming on “Harads” has to be heard to be believed), and saxophonists Joakim Milder and Håkon Kornstad play with a near-hysteria that finds room both for ferocity and touches of drollness. Vibraphonist/leader Mattias Ståhl is a quicksilver presence: as so often with post-Bobby Hutcherson vibes-playing, the vibes ripple over or under or to the side of the music, like a ghost in the machine.
Jonas Kullhammar’s Snake City North is a similarly energetic, knock-you-out album; indeed, the liner notes include the saxophonist’s exhortation to “play it loud (godammit...).” (OK, OK, I will!) Kullhammar has recorded most of the tunes on the disc before, but this time pianist Torbjörn Gulz has expanded them into handsome charts for Sweden ’s crack Norrbotten Big Band. The leader is a forceful player, though his fluent momentum cuts through the dense musical thickets without a sense of encountering much resistance. There’s nothing especially startling or idiosyncratic about the music: it offers eloquent hard bop variations, updates on the blues, 1960s “Sidewinder”-style funk, a joky “Bebopalulia.” But it’s still beautifully done, with a welcome sense of fun, and the results are a feast for big-band lovers. If you want something with an edge, though, Schlachtplatte is the disc to plump for.
~ Nate Dorward
Posted by nate on June 7, 2005 11:44 AMI've been listening to Milder since the early 90s. I like a ghost in the machine, too.
'Schlacht' means 'battle', 'Platte' 'record',
'Schlachtplatte' a feast of freshly slaughtered animals.
Hello everyone!
"Schlachtplatte" is the truth. What are they putting in the water up there? The drummer is all over the place, takes a lot of chances, sounds young and his approaches are a joy to hear develop.
Anyone heard this band's earlier recording?
Posted by: mschaumann at July 14, 2005 7:04 PMNope, though the Penguin Guide gives it a big thumbs-up.
A positive writeup of the new one in this month's Coda too, incidentally.
Posted by: ND at July 14, 2005 9:43 PMNope, though the Penguin Guide gives it a big thumbs-up.
A positive writeup of the new one in this month's Cadence too, incidentally.
Posted by: ND at July 14, 2005 9:44 PM— wanted to expand some on Nate's original thoughts on the Kulhammar, as well as the Moserobie label in general. (Just about every disc from this label, by the way, is very well recorded.)
Kulhammar is one of those "fingers" players who still manages to pack enough punch (meaning, genuine emotion in his phrases) that you don't get bored with his lines. His tone's beautiful — quintessential saxophone performance major undergrad "I want that tone" tone. He plays mostly out of a Henderson bag to my ears (descending sixteenth note "cascade" licks are one giveaway), BUT the track "Bebopalulia" has some of the most convincing Sonny-Rollins-in-the-mid-60's playing I've heard on record — that brilliant stutter step approach to eighth notes that few saxophonists can capture (— Joe Lovano is one, on 52 St. Themes).
For more Mattias Ståhl, check him out on Alberto Pinton's The Visible on Moserobie. Pinton's sort of a Scandinavian version of Vinny Golia (who Pinton thanks for inspiration in his liners), but his chops (phrasing, breath control) are sometimes even more fine-tuned than Golia's. The guy has skills!
Ståhl is also on Fredrik Nordström's No Sooner Said Than Done on Moserobie, which nearly picks up where Out to Lunch left off, though with tenor in place of alto, flute, and bass clarinet. In Nordström's case, his husky tone and disjunct melodies also evoke Archie Shepp's work with Bobby Hutcherson. It's a record that might initially seem to be dragged down by some kind of "I love the New Thing from the 60's" affection, but it somehow works its way through this influence to find its own expressive means. Worth checking out, especially if you like Ståhl's playing.
Posted by: Laton Carter at September 12, 2005 8:57 AMregarding pinton's the visible:
http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/000701.html
Posted by: emory davis at September 12, 2005 10:05 AMConsistently explosive is said Ståhls Blå record, listening to it quite often yet again this past month or so. They come off as a group that's played together a lot, almost lethargic across written sections, like The Impressions when everyone's a nanosecond off amidst unison harmonizations. No one's lining up to solo, fantastic writing, smoking reed and drum work, to speak nothing of Ståhl. And this isn't as acute an approach as Hutch/Land/Cowell, say. A+++++++. Have these blokes recorded together elsewhere/since?
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at June 21, 2007 4:28 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................