Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mats Gustafsson: Piano Mating

3

Mats Gustafsson: Piano Mating

By

Sign in to view read count
Mats Gustafsson: Piano Mating
Sure, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson is a rock star. A star in the same sense that Thurston Moore is a jazz artist or Merzbow generates ambient sounds. It's not so much that we would expect to see those three gentlemen receiving a Grammy Award, but that imitators of their styles will. Someday. In other words, innovators pioneer sounds, take Charlie Parker of instance, that others capitalizes on.

If you follow Gustafsson's career, you must always expect the unexpected. Early saxophone explorations with Barry Guy, Paul Lovens, Per Henrik Wallin, and Sven-Åke Johansson were explorations into the European tradition of free jazz. His sound explorations widen with his collaborations with the Chicago musical scene spearheaded by Ken Vandermark. From there an explosion of styles happened, from his rock/noise band The Thing, to Peter Brötzmann's ensembles, and collaborations with Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O'Rourke, Agusti Fernandez, the Italian free jazz band Zu, and the aforementioned Moore and Merzbow.

But always there were solo recitals, on saxophone—acoustic and amplified, slide saxophone, fluteophone, and electronics. That is where we find him here, sans saxophone. Piano Mating is his piano recital without the piano. He explained that he found a quasi-synthesiser called the Dubreq Pianomate, manufactured in the 1970s, which was developed to attach to an acoustic piano and create its own synthetic sound to accompany your piano. Gustafsson produced both sides of this LP with the Pianomate alone, wrestling multiple drones from ungovernable machine.

The LP ultra-clear 180g heavyweight vinyl with screenprinted artwork is released in a limited edition of 500 feels like a piece of sculpture itself. Listeners can decide which is Side A or B, since the LP doesn't give away its secrets. Gustafsson works his micro-tonal magic upon a series of rising drones that parallel his Slide Away (Kning Disc, 2005) recording. He evokes mood here more than music, drawing together varying pitches, while tuning and detuning the notes. The sound invades your pores, crawls under your skin and disorients the senses. Heard at low volume, the sounds are almost comforting. Twist the knob and a sort of psychosis ensues. Piano Mating is like a reversible jacket, one side for church, the other is suitable for rampage.

Track Listing

Side A; Side B.

Personnel

Mats Gustafsson
woodwinds

Mats Gustafsson: Piano Mate

Album information

Title: Piano Mating | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: X-ray Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
View events near Stockholm
Jazz Near Stockholm
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.