Label:
Ayler Records – aylCD-013
Format:
CD, Album; Country: Sweden - Released: 2005
Style:
Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded
in concert at the Glenn Miller Café, Stockholm, Sweden, August 25 & 26,
2004.
Design,
Cover art By – Åke Bjurhamn
Layout By – Stéphane Berland
Photography By – Lars Jönson
Executive producer By – Jan Ström
One
of the joys of recorded jazz is rediscovering a deserving artist that fell into
the cracks of history. You've probably never heard of alto saxophonist Ulander,
for example, unless you followed Swedish jazz in the 1960s, when he was
actively recording with the likes of Berndt Egerbladh, a talented pianist who
composed hip post-bop tunes, and Lars Lystedt, a valve trombonist and longtime
fixture on the scene, or remember him as a member of radical pianist Per Henrik
Wallin's mid-'70s free trio.
The
problem was that few of those LPs were distributed outside of Sweden then, or
survive now, and Ulander recorded less than a handful of sessions between 1975
and today, preferring a career as full-time producer at Swedish Radio to the
rigors of the road. Live at the Glenn Miller Café is, in fact, Ulander's debut
session as a leader, and displays his circuitous, lyrical improvising in five
lengthy performances from 2004. In his younger days, Ulander exhibited a bit of
Jackie McLean's biting tone and edgy urgency when playing more straightahead
material, but now, exploring freer territory, he's neither extravagant nor
overly expressionistic, engaging in open, conversational interplay with bassist
Palle Danielsson and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love.
Lars-Göran
Ulander
Sedona,
Arizona is home to a series of peculiar structures. To the layperson eye they
are little more than cobbled together cairns slowly crumbling to dust. But to
the local populace of crystal-wearing, chakra-obssessed mystics these stone
piles are focal points, dots on a metaphysical map where spiritual energy pools
in abundance and believers gain regular ingress to other states of
consciousness. To the jazz fan the imperfect analogues are legendary clubs,
venues where doyens stride the stage and make history as they build on the
music night after night. The Village Vanguard, The Velvet Lounge, The Vortex, The
Bimhaus, these are but a few. Thanks to the assiduous efforts of Ayler Records
the Glenn Miller Café is earning a ranking among the number.
Jan
Ström refers to the Café as the label’s “number one ‘studio’.” That’s no errant
boast given that at least seven of the imprint’s releases to date were birthed
within its walls. I can’t help pondering what the cafés supper club friendly
namesake would have thought of much of the improv-centric music radiating from
the stage. Whatever his possible opinion of the place, the incongruity often
makes for some delightful irony; especially when ensembles like the Lars Göran
Ulander Trio are the purveyors for an evening. In common with certain others on
the Ayler roster including Anders Gahnold and Martin Küchen, Ulander represents
relatively obscure surname to most non-European jazz listeners. His work on the
Ayler-released Per Henrik Wallin compilation The Stockholm Tapes helped reverse
the tide of American anonymity, but those recordings dated from the 70s. This
recent one connotes his commercial debut as leader and presents a saxophonist
still in possession of considerable creative skills.
Joining
Ulander in the trio are two seemingly incongruous compatriots. My experience
with Palle Danielsson is pretty much limited to his work on various ECM
outings, mostly in the company of talented, but sometimes overly-sedate pianist
Bobo Stenson. Paal Nilssen-Love frequently represents the other side of the
coin, a powerhouse drummer comfortable in the company of Brötzmann and
Gustafsson and one who a breaks a heavy beading sweat every time behind his
kit. The two players meet beautifully in the middle between their respective
poles, Danielssonn producing a full-bodied tensile thrum when it comes to
pizzicato and Nilssen-Love favoring nuance as much as brawn in his myriad
rhythms. Ulander trolls the lower regions of his alto, brushing the tenor range
with a tone furrowed by emotive veracity.
“Tabula
Raasa G.M.C.,” first of three lengthy collective improvisations, finds the
three reaching a flexible consensus that sustains for nearly the entire set.
The Mingusian anthem “What Love” serves as a fitting median piece. The leader
engages Danielsson in a dialogue worthy of the source incarnations, mixing
dialects of Dolphy and McLean in a continuation of a conference initiated on
the earlier, enigmatically-titled “Intrinsic Structure I.” Sprawling in scope,
“Ionizacion- Variaciones E.V.” borrows kernels from Varese’s epochal percussion
ensemble piece and injects slivers of jazz time. All three tracks feature propulsion-packed,
texture-stacked solos by Nilssen-Love. Ulander’s own “J.C. Drops” closes the
concert and he shows an even stronger abiding influence of Art Pepper in his
velocious, often piercing lines.
Add
Ulander’s name to those of others like James Finn, Bill Gagliardi and Stephen
Gauci, saxophonists of the far-better-late-than-never fraternity who are
finally receiving some measure of their due. And thanks to the Glenn Miller
Café, a venue slowly accruing legendary status, for help making it happen.
_
By DEREK TAYLOR
September 5, 2005
(Dusted)
Here
you can buy ayler albums:
http://www.ayler.com/cd-catalogue.html
Buy
this album!
