Aalberg | Kullhammar | Zetterber | Santos Silva – “Basement Sessions Vol.4 (The Bali Tapes)” (Clean Feed, 2017)

“Basement Sessions Vol.4 (The Bali Tapes)” is another one the newest album released this month by “Clean Feed Records”. The album was recorded by a group of avant-garde jazz musicians – it’s Espen Aalberg, (drums, percussion), Jonas Kullhammar (saxophone, flute), Torbjörn Zetterberg (bass) and Susana Santos Silva (trumpet). All musicians also play gamelan.  These four jazz musicians are interesting and innovative avant-garde jazz players. They had been collaborating with numerous of other famous experimental jazz masters. Original, interesting and vivacious playing, extraordinary and unusual musical decisions and modern musical language are the main elements of these musicians improvising style. Avant-garde jazz elements, Europe and Asia countries ethnic music intonations and styles are gently combined all together in one composition. Dynamic, expressive and vital sound is heard in most part of these musicians albums. Original and unique sound, playing manner and innovative improvising had made these musicians famous and adventurous avant-garde jazz masters.

Album compositions are based on avant-garde jazz and Asia music traditions. The synthesis between European avant-garde jazz traditions and Indonesian music intonations make an effort to unique and extraordinary sound of this album. Along with acoustic instruments all musicians are playing with gamelan. Mikrotones, extraordinary sounds, Indonesian music harmony, expressive melodies and rhythms are highly effecting main sound of the improvisations. Various sounds and elements of gamelan create exotic and adventurous sound and expand the comfort zone of instruments. The main elements of Indonesian music such as mikrotonal harmony, dynamic, subtle and ethnic rhythmic, traditional scales and other important musical language traditions and intonations are demonstrated in these compositions. All musicians masterfully reveal the main elements of Indonesian music, expand the technical abilities of gamelan and connect it with avant-garde jazz. The main elements of European, especially – Scandinavian experimental jazz tendencies are heard in this album. Jonas Kullhammar saxophone and flute improvisations are based on free and creative musical experiments. Expressive, full of masterful virtuosity, wild fast arpeggios, sudden and colorful glissando, powerful blow outs and intense riffs – these elements are heard very much in his improvisations. Jonas Kullhammar try out many different playing techniques, combining together traditional and innovative ways of playing. Torbjorn Zetterberg bass improvisations have vibrant and solid sound. It’s full of adventurous musical decisions, sudden and extraordinary stylistic waves, original and inventive musical decisions. Because of wide range of different extraordinary ways of playing, high variety of different unusual timbres and m=noises are heard. Bassist pay high attention to the search of extraordinary and intense sound – he expand the technical abilities of bass, and create original and innovative sound. Trumpeter Susana Santos Silva brings to these compositions bright, vivacious and evocative sound. Expressive, wild fast and powerful improvisations are full of different musical expressions, have original musical language which is based on spontaneous and inventive musical decisions. Espen Aalberg intense and vibrant drum rolls, powerful and very fast solos, extraordinary and weird percussion sounds, free and creative musical experiments and vivacious and energetic improvising create a solid musical pattern and rhythmical basement of the improvisations. The main aim why this album has extraordinary and different sound is a marvelous combination between traditional European music acoustic instruments and Indonesian gamelan traditions. The main elements of these two absolutely different countries, cultures and music styles are masterfully and outstandingly combined together. All these elements gently and organically fit together in one composition and make an original, unique and extraordinary sound.