Alfred Matérn - Solo Solo (Self Release) [Jazz]

Alfred Matérn hails from Gothenburg but has ended up in New York where, in between dodging ICE agents, he lurks in the artistic underground honing his trumpet playing, compositional and black and white photography chops, whilst also dabbling in filmmaking and poetry, and, well, that's all I know or can find out.

He's also just released a really cool album called Solo Solo, and if minimal, quietly free jazz that sounds like it was recorded at 3am is your thing then you should definitely tune in. Credits are non-existent, so I'm presuming he had help on bass and percussion, and that he certainly chose wisely, the bass player especially - the grooves are tight, insistent and persuasive. The percussionist got an easier session ride but did the business when called on, such as the minimal percussive framework of, "Walk Don't Walk", their skittering addition to the free spirited, "Tre" or the evocative, far flung, more spiritually inclined shakes and rattles on "Fantasi".

Matérn for his part largely adopts a less is more approach to the album, eschewing solo work that overstays its welcome for short sharp phrasing and succinct statements, occasionally melodic but more often than not grittier, moodier, edgier, fluttering and acerbic. He's also got a box of electronic tricks/pedals with him, whether done live or post production who knows, but every now and then a phrase will spiral off into machine propelled cosmic realms to fine effect.

In today's political climate silence is not an option and Matérn is saying something on every track. This is jazz with attitude, it's jazz for dark rooms and late nights, jazz for the disenfranchised and discriminated against. It's exactly the sort of jazz I want to hear these days.

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Playlist Companion

Find Matérn in the Slow Jazz Playlist.