Luft

Iskra

Iskra:

Jorgen Adolfsson- reeds, misc. invented instruments, synthesizer, etc. 

Tuomo Haapala- bass violin, misc. invented instruments, etc. 

Sune Spangberg- percussion, etc. 

Iskra did this one on their 20^th anniversary and it shows why they were one of the key Swedish/Scandinavian improv groups in the 70’s and 80’s. On this disc are free improvs as well as some through-composed pieces. The offerings here give some idea of what ECM might be recording if they were more accepting of the wild and the wooly. There’s a very large variety of musical moods here: primitive, reflective, delicate, introverted, and humorous (“Dance of the Gnomes”- don’t judge it by its silly title). Iskra consistently avoids free clichés and pitfalls, constantly creating new sound textures, fresh approaches and more than a couple of things to plain marvel at.

Dragon (Of Sweden)

DRCD- 200

Richard Grooms