Gush
Gush was a pivotal, piano-less free jazz trio from Sweden, active from 1990 to 1994. It featured the foundational line-up of Mats Gustafsson on saxophones, Sten Sandell on piano and electronics, and Raymond Strid on percussion.
Emerging as a crucial force in the vibrant Stockholm creative music scene, Gush was celebrated for its profound collective interplay and a strikingly broad sonic palette. While rooted in the high-energy language of European free improvisation, their music was uniquely textural and spacious. Sandell’s prepared piano and live electronics interacted with Strid’s detailed percussion and Gustafsson’s muscular yet nuanced saxophone to create works of dynamic range, from fragile, pointillistic exchanges to powerful, dense climaxes. Their innovative approach left a lasting mark on Scandinavian free music.
Norrköping
Norrköping
Raymond Strid: Drums
Sten Sandell: Piano, Voice
Mats Gustafsson: Soprano, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones
Recorded on 5 May 2003 at Crescendo, Norrköping, Sweden.
Live in Tampere
Live in Tampere
“The Swedish trio Gush, consisting of Mats Gustafsson, pianist Sten Sandell, and percussionist Raymond Strid, is an interesting and unusual improvising trio. Gustafsson wields prodigious and imaginative technique in a near overwhelming manner and Strid’s work has a pleasant clattering quality that recalls Paul Lovens, but it’s Sandell that’s something of a wild card. While perfectly capable of performing in an abstract manner, he is more likely to play surprisingly, in this context, “inside.” Sometimes this takes the form of chords that seem indebted to Abdullah Ibrahim, while on other occasions a brooding romanticism insinuates itself between the roaring and banging. Sandell thus provides a relatively unusual kind of glue for this kind of free improv performance. Still, a newcomer to this disc would surely come away most impressed with the sheer force and variety of sonic assaults that Gustafsson creates.” –All Music
—
Drums – Raymond Strid
Piano, Voice – Sten Sandell
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Fluteophone, Flute – Mats Gustafsson
Recorded November 3, 1996 at the Tampere Jazz Happening, Pakkahuone, Finland.
Live at Fasching
Live at Fasching
Recorded June 12, 1996 at Jazzclub Fasching, Stockholm
Drums – Raymond Strid
Piano, Voice – Sten Sandell
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Fluteophone – Mats Gustafsson
Gush Wachs
Gush Wachs
Recorded at the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation 18 May 1994, in Studio 2 at the Broadcasting House, Stockholm, Sweden
Flageolet, Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Fluteophone – Mats Gustafsson
Percussion – Raymond Strid
Piano, Harmonium, Analogue Synthesizer, Voice, Percussion – Sten Sandell
Violin, Viola, Electronics, Synthesizer– Philipp Wachsmann
From Things To Sounds…
From Things To Sounds…
Recorded at Fylkingen, Stockholm, May and October 1990
Drums, Guitar – Raymond Strid
Piano, Harmonium, Sampler, Keyboards, Percussion, Voice – Sten Sandell
Sopranino Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute– Mats Gustafsson
30 – Kraków 2018
30 – Kraków 2018
3-CDs box-set documents Gush residency at Alchemia club in Krakow in November 2018 celebrating band’s 30th aniversary.
Gush performs precisely as one might anticipate from a trio of seasoned musicians who have collaborated for three decades. Gustafsson’s saxophone emulates the qualities of the human voice, Sandell’s piano evokes both lyricism and percussive rhythm, while Strid’s drums exude a captivating, enigmatic fluidity in their aesthetics. Their collective efforts yield an intense, abstract beauty in the seamless convergence of sounds, culminating in an organic, harmonious unity.
—
CD ONE
Recorded at Alchemia Nov. 26th 2018
Performed by Gush / Anders Nyqvist / Sofia Jernberg
CD TWO
Recorded at Alchemia Nov. 27th 2018
Performed by Gush / Philipp Wachsmann / Christine Abdelnour
CD THREE
Recorded at Manga Nov. 28th 2018
Performed by Gush Gush /Jörgen Adolfsson / Peter Söderberg / Sven-Åke Johansson
Mats Gustafsson – reeds and flute
Sten Sandell – piano
Raymond Strid – drums
with:
Sofia Jernberg – voice
Anders Nyqvist – trumpets
Philipp Wachsmann – violin
Christine Abdelnour – alto sax
Peter Söderberg – lute and guitar
Jörgen Adolfsson – reeds
Sven Åke Johansson – voice
Liner notes by Brian Morton
Photos by Krzysztof Penarski and Lars Jönsson
Produced by GUSH & Marek Winiarski
Recorded and mixed by Rafał Drewniany