Latest missive from the Swedish Association for Free Improvised Music is FRIM5, performed by the duo of Julia Strzalek and Cornelia Nilsson – without much fanfare, both women players and both quite young, bringing a much-needed dose of gender balance and new ideas / energy to the world of free improvisation.
Their ‘Scenery Somewhere’ was recorded in 2021 in a former hospital chapel (thus lots of natural echo) and it’s a single 27:19 mins of free music for the alto sax and drums. Strzalek is German-born but based in Stockholm, where she studied at the Royal College of Music, and more recently received the SKAP improvisation award, plus she’s already recorded two albums with her own jazz group. Nilsson likewise crosses over into many forms of jazz and free improv, and has an impressive history of European tours with many contemporary musicians. As free music goes, it’s notable how “careful” this duo are in their performance, proceeding gently up the slopes of exploration one step at a time, without much sense of urgency or feeling the need to be the first to plant their respective flags on the summit. This may be due to a natural sense of respect between the two players, making space for each other’s sounds, but it certainly results in music that somehow breathes compassion, yet without relinquishing the need for tension and dynamics. We’re also free from the constraints of call-and-response tropes, and neither player seems compelled to experiment with “extended technique” very much.
Alexander Hawkins is very accurate when he describes this as “the sounds of peace, patience, poise” in his sleeve note; I would emphasise the patience, both players weaving their delicate spell with a kind of quiet determination that is rare among modern free players, particularly those of the persuasion that can’t wait to start showing off as they rush headlong towards the moment of release. No, this record is one that takes its time. The label continues to abide by its strict design of red typography on a white field. (28/02/2023)