Reviews RCD2136

Colin Stetson and Mats Gustafsson had barely met before they launched into this four-part double-sax duel onstage in Vancouver in 2011. But the encounter proved electric enough to merit this release, on which they goad and serenade each other, chasing the vibration from the screaming upper registers to trouser-shaking low-end. Stetson is Arcade Fire and Bon Iver's go-to saxophonist and has released solo music on Constellation; Gustafsson is Sweden's premier free-jazz reedsman, and the garage rock sensibility of his trio The Thing is sublimated here into a thrilling, surprisingly melodic dialogue. 8/10.
Uncut (UK)

An unadorned duo set featuring two of the best living saxophonists, playing two of the biggest instruments in the world (seriously - their bass saxes are of elephant-wang proportions). Gustafsson, resident reed-demon of The Thing, among many others, has long been one of left-leaning music´s most renowned and riotous player. Stetson may be the hornman for ostensibly epic indie warblers Arcade Fire, but last year he made a massive dent in avant circles with the amazing solo album "New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges". "Stones" is a compelling four-track set of stout subsonic onslaught and skittering pointillism, flowing from sparse interplay to mutual droning tar and all-out fire music. The best bits sound like a foghorn in a meteor shower, or a heard of lazy Brachiosaurs being hassled by a cheeky Archeopteryx.
Rock-a-Rolla (UK)

The saxophonists Colin Stetson and Mats Gustafsson share a hard-nosed fascination with pure sound, along with a wariness of genre convention. Both have earned the loyalty of indie-rock obscurantists as well as avant-garde jazz partisans, partly by refusing to fit in. They hadn't ever played together before the 2011 Vancouver Jazz Festival concert that yielded “Stones” (Rune Grammofon), with Mr. Stetson on bass and alto saxophones and Mr. Gustafsson on baritone and tenor. It's a rangy, spontaneous dialogue, an eventful 35 minutes parsed into four tracks. At times, as in the tongue-slapping staccato portion of “Stones That Can Only Be,” they land on the same strategy in rough tandem. Elsewhere, as on “Stones That Only Have,” they root around like a couple of grumbling wildebeests. (The titles are a nod to the Swedish poet Gunnar Ekelof. ) Whatever the effect, their report is capacious; this shouldn't be the end of it.
New York Times (US)

Stetson largely eschews his usual gimmicks and concentrates on pulling deep vibrations out of the brass, with the bass and baritone saxes combining to create a luxuriant, warm bed of sound. There's actually a lot less scalding skronk than one might expect from this meeting, with the two players instead exploring various extended techniques, from wet key slaps and moaning sub-vocalizations to raw overtones and wide, Ayler-ish vibrato. But, when the tension mounts, there's an effortless ferocity that sounds like two giant, mechanical stags clashing antlers amid flurries of sparks.
Jazzwise (UK)

Baritone and bass saxophone (chiefly) exploit the full range of each instrument and beyond, veering from the comical to the menacing, with moments of both delicacy and grace, impersonating hypnotic machine-like pulses ... this is an eloquent and fluid exchange between two skilled instrumentalists.
The Wire (UK)

The fore must have the baryton saksofon and bassaksofon, the best and the oldefar i saksofon families, and the energy bomb av ekspressivitetet. The fantastic improvisatørene følger hverandre tett, med sterk collapsing musitet, likeverdig brewing i raskt omskiftelige omgivelser. Gustafsson tenor og barispill he som alltid energisk, fills av hans varied spilleteknikker og hylende masculinitet. Stetson står ikke tilbake for kraftverket fra Umeå, og er i tillegg hakket mer teknisk virtuoso, noe som kommer særlig Fremd når han tar opp altsaksofonen. Denne utgivelsen viser tydelig hvorfor ad-hoc-møter kan være enestående lykketreff. Større energiutladning fra to musikere scal man lete lenge etter!
Jazznytt (NO)

På "Stones" møter vi kanskje to av verdens mest creative utøvere av nyere, eksperimentell improvisasjon av idag. Vi møter to musikere uten locker eller grenser. Vi møter to musikere som commiserer perfect gjennom de fire låtene, og vi møter to musikere som setter oss som lyttere på solid prøver. Og he det ikke det musikk genentlig scal gjøre? Gi oss ideer, sette i gang følelser, opprøre, glede eller provosere. Alt dette gjør de to råtassene på en eksemplarisk måte!
Jazznytt 2 (NO)

Steintøft. Ti minutter ut i "Stones that rest heavily" løsner skredet i det sterke samspillet mellom Mats Gustafsson og Colin Stetson. De to saksofonistene tilhører den frie improvisasjonens fortropp, og utvider sporet etter Evan Parker, Peter Brötzmann and Anthony Braxton. If you have a massive foreign duo som et oppomme av dyrisk lyd. The later grovt og kommer med vrangen ut. He intensified gjennomgående, selv når de demper uttrykket og vender seg innover. 5/6.
Aftenposten (NO)

Mats Gustafsson and Colin Stetson can also be attested to abundance and depth, who roar into their deep horns on "Stones" like two deer during the rut. This CD is a natural event. Sometimes with Stetson you wanted something more of what he sometimes has too much structure on his own CDs. Because here most of it comes down to strength and physical endurance, and this can be a bit exhausting for more than 30 minutes. It is always impressive.
Jazzthing (DE)

The polyphemic rendezvous by COLIN STETSON & MATS GUSTAFSSON at the Vancouver Jazz Festival was a typical festival idea, but admittedly one that was obvious. The two format-breaking saxophonists of the present time united - what an ooomph effect. Even Sonore hardly has ROAAAARRRRR anymore. It is no coincidence that the Swede through The Thing and Stetson with Arcade Fire, Tom Waits, TV On The Radio, Bon Iver etc. are jazz musicians with popular music appeal and furious persuasiveness. Gustafsson founded the rustic, but by no means competitive clash of his rough baritone & tenor sax power with Stetson's bass & altosaxgrowl, now heard as Stones (RCD 2136), with a tribute to Gunnar Ekelöf (1907-1968), that outsider, who in the quarries of the Swedish language worked through the senselessness and absurdity of existence. With lines like you are the grain of sand / on whose stock / I want to build my desert or The only thing that exists / in what there is / is what is in it / something different was the author of The Way of an Outsider (1941) and Non serviam (1945) Gustafsson's motivation for resistance. No stone is hard enough not to show its golden innards under the flutter-tonguing chisel blows of the two sound mets, so as not to bleed under the roaring pressure. Lapis exillis. Under brooding and piercing emphasis, the combined poetry rocking screaming with wild sweepings and frenetically twitching and popping attacks. The sea is the greatest sculptor. With lines like you are the grain of sand / on whose stock / I want to build my desert or The only thing that exists / in what there is / is what is in it / something different was the author of The Way of an Outsider (1941) and Non serviam (1945) Gustafsson's motivation for resistance. No stone is hard enough not to show its golden innards under the flutter-tonguing chisel blows of the two sound mets, so as not to bleed under the roaring pressure. Lapis exillis. Under brooding and piercing emphasis, the combined poetry rocking screaming with wild sweepings and frenetically twitching and popping attacks. The sea is the greatest sculptor. With lines like you are the grain of sand / on whose stock / I want to build my desert or The only thing that exists / in what there is / is what is in it / something different was the author of The Way of an Outsider (1941) and Non serviam (1945) Gustafsson's motivation for resistance. No stone is hard enough not to show its golden innards under the flutter-tonguing chisel blows of the two sound mets, so as not to bleed under the roaring pressure. Lapis exillis. Under brooding and piercing emphasis, the combined poetry rocking screaming with wild sweepings and frenetically twitching and popping attacks. The sea is the greatest sculptor.
Bad Alchemy (DE)

As already mentioned elsewhere in free style, there are first critics of Gustafsson's undoubtedly great saxophone playing. One could also find his “permanent ecstasy” problematic, criticizing the almost complete absence of breaks, empty spaces, silence and restraint. And if there is reluctance, then only under the pretext of intensity and ecstasy to help triumph, that is to make it all the more a real goal. In a nutshell and anticipated: this criticism is not weakened on Stones, but rather confirmed. Stetson and Gustafsson do not take prisoners, they go all out, there is fire from all the pipes, only short breaks to breathe. Stones is a document of ecstasy, of "more is more", of intensity. And that's exactly what it seems what the two musicians are striving for: intensity, density, excessive demands and loudness. The grandiose way in which they achieve this and the detours they take again and again despite everything is impressive. The reviews will not go silent, but they will have to accept that Stetson and Gustafsson, who met for the first time in this live document, share an aesthetic of abundance and exuberant play - and that they combine in a successful, yet subtle way Enter into a conversation that must seem like an outcry to the listener. However, this document does not only “shout”, it is only discussed, discussed and reasoned at a very intensive level. The intensity wins. And that's just as well.
Freestyle (AT)