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Mats Äleklint Quartet: Mats Äleklint Quartet
ByÄleklint is backed by strong and resourceful improvisers reed player Per "Texas" Johansson, double bassist Joe Williamson and drummer Christopher Cantillo. Äleklint, Johansson and Castillo enrich the music with additional reeds and keyboards, enabling their sound to become bigger and richer.
Äleklint's compositions stress the subtle, immediate communication between musicians. He sings with his trombone in a big and warm sound, sharing the leading role with Johansson, who expands and develops their flowing ideas. The rhythm section of Williamson and the restless, always imaginative Cantillo charges their interplay with tension and elements of surprise and humor.
The nine compositions emphasize Äleklint's versatility as a composer, improviser and leader. On "Landet Runt" and "Nattbuss," Äleklint and Johansson navigate between tight reciting of melodic themes and free abstractions while Williamson and Cantillo are busy fracturing the pulse and injecting weird, disturbing sounds. "Faller En Så..." melds the traditional swinging of Johansson on clarinet with the freer playing of Äleklint and the fast, busy rhythm section into one powerful unit. "Tulpaner Av Stål" is the most open-ended composition here, presenting the quartet in a muscular and energetic improvisational mode, with its supportive interplay intact. "Älgskog" unfolds as an arresting, dramatic story, narrated by four voices, each speaking from a different angle until all reach an enigmatic conclusion.
This is the powerful debut of a highly original musician.
Track Listing
Snabbt In, Snabb Tut; Landet Runt; Borgholm; Faller En Så…; Nattbuss; Hur Eller Dur; Tulpaner Av Stål; Braxen; Älgskog.
Personnel
Mats Äleklint: trombone, valve trombone, piano, thumb piano, pump organ; Per "Texas" Johansson: clarinet, tenor saxophone; bass clarinet; Joe Williamson: double bass; Cristopher Cantillo: drums, analog synth.
Album information
Title: Mats Äleklint Quartet | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Moserobie
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