Swedish reeds player and improviser Mats Gustafsson's extended saxophone techniques
draw equally from the fiery free jazz blowing tradition and the European microtonal
schools. Born in 1964 in the culturally rich area of Umeå, he was exposed
at a young age to various Swedish improvisers such as saxophonist Lars Göran
Ulander and pianist Per Henrik Wallin. His first instrument was the flute, but
by his early teens, Gustafsson was playing saxophone as well. Around the age
of 14, he put his saxophone mouthpiece on his flute to bring an instrument along
on a trip, and since then has played this creation, the fluteophone, in addition
to other, more standard reed instruments. His first improvisations were with
drummer Kjell Nordeson, who would later form the AALY Trio with Gustafsson.
Mats Gustafsson moved to Stockholm in the mid-'80s, and there met musicians
such as Sten Sandell and Raymond Strid. The three formed Gush in 1988, two years
after Gustafsson's duo with Christian Munthe, Two Slices of Acoustic Car, began.
He also worked with Berlin-based Sven-Åke Johansson during this time,
thus becoming acquainted with the German scene. In 1990, Gustafsson performed
in Derek Bailey's Company in London. He also began visiting the U.S. regularly,
becoming a regular in the Chicago improvising community as the '90s progressed,
working extensively with Hamid Drake and Ken Vandermark, among others. Gustafsson
has also performed and recorded with Barry Guy, Paul Lovens, Georg Graewe, Jaap
Blonk, and as a member of Peter Brotzmann's all-star Chicago Octet/Tentet. Gustafsson
has collaborated with artists in other media as well, including dance, theater,
poetry, and painting. Among his many ongoing projects is the AALY Trio, with
Nordeson and bassist Peter Janson, whose third album, Live at the Glen Miller
Cafe, came out on the Wobbly Rail label in 1999. In 2000, he issued a new solo
album on the Drag City subsidiary, Blue Chopsticks, a Steve Lacy tribute entitled
Windows. Hidros One followed in early 2001. — Joslyn Layne
