Mats Gustafsson: Hidros 9 Mirrors

For saxophonist, composer, conductor Mats Gustafsson, the motto "go big, or go home" has always applied to his music. Whether it is blowing his baritone saxophone in the avant garage band The Thing or battling the Japanese noise artist Merzbow, Gustafsson is constantly expanding concepts of composed and improvised music. Through various ensembles such as Gush, Fire! Orchestra, Swedish azz, Fake The Facts, AALY Trio, Sonore, and his duos with everyone from Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, to Steve Swell, Christian Marclay and Craig Taborn, he never repeats an idea. The same goes for his ongoing Hidros (sweat) experiments started back in the late 1990s, where he utilized graphic scores along with instant composing. He has dedicated his Hidros music to the likes of Patti Smith, Little Richard, and György Ligeti.

Hidros 9 Mirrors was recorded at the Avant Art Festival in Warsaw, Poland in 2022. Gustafsson assembled 25 musicians comprising of two nine-piece chamber ensembles, The Norwegian NyMusikk Trondheim and The Polish Avant Art Ensemble plus the soloists Anders Nyqvist (trumpet), Colin Stetson (amplified bass saxophone), Hedvig Mollestad (electric guitar), Per-Åke Holmlander (tuba), Jerome Noetinger (Revox tape machines), and Dieb13 (aka Dieter Kovačič) (turntables). Unlike his other Hidros projects where he would also double on multiple instruments, Gustafsson is occupied here with the sole task of conduction.

Gustafsson's use of graphic scores instigates varying tempos, moods and energies. "Intro" begins with Stetson's bass heavy amplified saxophone stirred by Noetinger and Dieb13 electronics. Gustafsson contrasts the electric soloists and Holmlander's deep tuba with the acoustic sounds of the chamber ensembles' pluck, knock and strum. His coordination of sound is loose, but he is careful to not devolve into noise. He draws out soloists, be it Stetson, Nyqvist or Mollestad to find a path through the landscapes created by both of the chamber ensembles' interpretations of the graphic scores. The sounds are part free improvisation, part minimalism with an orchestrated electronic soundtrack that threatens constantly to go off the rails. It is just that it never does.