Stefan Wistrand - tenor and soprano sax
Joakim Simonsson - piano
I received this in the mail a few days ago and am giving it a listen right now - its from the Swedish label Einnicken, which I was previously unfamiliar with. I was also totally unfamiliar with these two musicians. The album is made up of six completely free improvisations - the website says they got together to record a set of standards and were more impressed with what they came up with on their own. I have to say that I'm very favorably impressed as well. Both musicians are extremely capable, straddling a variety of stylistic lines; the main interest for me is the close level of interplay between the two. In particular, Simonsson stretches from rootsy gospel-ish chords to plunging, abstract clusters within the space of minutes, and Wistrand has a really deep, gravelly tone on tenor which I like a lot. The whole thing seems much more focused than entirely free duets usually do - these guys obviously have played together quite a bit, and have a good feel for each others' ranges. There's plenty of swirling abstraction, as one might expect, but they also keep things varied with some beautifully lyrical passages and some gorgeous on the spot (presumably) themes... it seems like they really explored the space and found some interesting corners along the way. Definitely recommended.
Einnicken Records
Linear Mode
