Mats Gustafsson

For the Finnish footballer, see Mats Gustafsson (footballer).
Mats Gustafsson

Mats Gustafsson during a concert in 2010
Background information
Born 29 October 1964
Umeå, Sweden
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Saxophone, fluteophone
Website matsgus.com

Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish saxophone player and a stalwart on the Scandinavian free jazz scene. He is known for his tonal belligerence and intensity when improvising.

Career

Gustafsson first came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Christmann's Vario project and the band Gush (started in 1988). He later played widely with musicians such as Gunter Christmann, Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Paul Lovens, Barry Guy, Yoshimi P-We, Derek Bailey, Magnus Broo, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O'Rourke, Thomas Lehn, Evan Parker, Misha Mengelberg, Zu, The Ex and Sonic Youth.

Since the early 1990s Gustafsson has been a regular visitor to the United States, forming a particular affinity with Chicago musicians such as Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang and Ken Vandermark and recording for the city's OkkaDisk label. This resulted in a more traditional "free jazz" style in contrast to his innovative early work with European improvising musicians.

In addition to projects with musicians, Gustafsson has worked extensively with artists from the worlds of dance, theatre, poetry and painting.

Gustafsson was awarded the 2011 Nordic Council Music Prize.[1]

Gustafsson currently lives in Gärsnäs, Skåne, Sweden and Vienna, Austria.

Selected projects

Mats Gustafsson at Moers Festival, June 2006, Germany
Mats Gustafsson at "Sonore" concert, Lviv, 14 Dec 2008

Major collaborators

Festival curator

Gustafsson curated the Perspectives festivals in Västerås, Sweden in 2004, 2007 and 2009. This festival of musical improvisation is noted for its cross-genre character and creative atmosphere among musicians.[2] The festival slogan for 2004 was "Fight Global Stupidity", 2007 "Fight Local Stupidity" and for 2009 it became "Fight (y)our stupidity".

Gustafsson was also joint curator of the 2010 Konfrontationen festival in Nickelsdorf, Austria.[3]

Gallery

Photos: Hreinn Gudlaugsson

Discography

Solo albums

With AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark

Collaborations

With Per Henrik Wallin & Kjell Nordeson
With Jaap Blonk & Michael Zerang
With Ken Vandermark
With Jim O'Rourke
With David Grubbs
With Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo & Steve Shelley
With Greg Goodman & George Cremaschi
With Agustí Fernández
With Paal Nilssen-Love
With Sonic Youth & Merzbow
With Barry Guy Solo/Duo
With Gord Grdina Trio
With Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid
With The Sons Of God
With Masami Akita & Jim O'Rourke
With Colin Stetson
With Ich Bin N!ntendo including Christian Skår Winther, Joakim Heibø Johansen & Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard
With Agustí Fernández & Ramon Prats
With Correction
With Merzbow & Balázs Pándi
With Merzbow, Balázs Pándi & Thurston Moore

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Mats Gustafsson wins the Nordic Council Music Prize 2011". Musikpris.org. 2011-06-01. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  2. ↑ "Perspectives 2004 - Festival for Creative Music". NyaPerspektiv.se. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  3. ↑ "Konfrontationen Nickelsdorf 2010". Konfrontationen.at. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  4. ↑ "MIch Bin N!ntendo & Mats Gustafsson". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  5. ↑ "Mats Gustafsson Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.

External links