Friday, July 10, 2015

Recording: Swedish Azz

Artist: Swedish Azz

Songs: [unknown duet] + [unknown]*

Recorded at Hard Luck ("Wavelength 670"), Jume 23, 2015.

Swedish Azz - [unknown duet]

Swedish Azz - [unknown]

You can't have jazz without azz. The project from Mats Gustafsson ("he is known for his tonal belligerence," comments his wikipedia entry) and Per-Åke Holmlander is a simultaneous celebration and deconstruction of the history of jazz in his native Sweden. A lineup of sax/tuba/drums/vibes might be unusual enough, but the real key here is dieb13's turntablism work, which allows fragments of the original recordings to surface and be recontextualized. The upshot is something like listening to Bengt Nordström with the hair dryer on.

(Interestingly, this gig, played alongside The Ex, took place simultaneously with the local corporate jazz festival but apparently Swedish Azz had no place within it — as if a group that treats classic jazz as a living substance to be melded into something new instead of as a museum piece was a bit too much. Gustafsson, for his part, addressed the project's historicity with a sort of stoic disdain, telling off-colour stories about the musicians and generally acting if he wanted to be anywhere but a jazz gig. He commented at one point, "sorry about talking. This is typical jazz behaviour, and I hate it.")

* Does anyone know the title to these pieces? Please leave a comment!

No comments:

Post a Comment