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ISM
Frode Gjerstad (alto sax)
Mostly short saxophone solos by this unknown to me Norwegian improvisor. Usually starting with simple motifs and then modifying and distorting the basic alto sax sound in various ways-more or less breath, overblowing, multiphonics, 'sour' notes- he never seems to stay with one technique for long. There are however unifying ideas within each piece, and the sound is what ties them together as musical structures, not theme and motivic development.
So, for instance, in a piece like 'Talkism', we're given many of the various ways in which an alto sax can be made to scream; straight overblowing, biting the reed, squeally harmonics- a set of 'scream demos' maybe.
Gjerstad's notes for the disc include the admission that, "...the element of surprise is very important for me when I do solo pieces." Indeed, it often sounds to me like he himself is surprised by what's coming out of his horn, and maybe that's the idea.
-jeph jerman
Circulasione Totale
Gandsveien 15
4017 Stavanger, Norway
email: fgjersta@online.no