Volcanic Tongue Catalogue

Tarfala Trio
Syzygy

NoBusiness Records NBLP-35/36

2xLP + 7”
£33.99


Excellent live set, stunningly rendered, from the trio of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Barry Guy and drummer Raymond Strid. Tarfala formed in 1992 after a meeting at the Solo-92 Festival in Sweden. There have been two CDs so far on the Maya Recordings label but this deluxe 2xLP gatefold set with a bonus 7” and a large glossy booklet represents their first vinyl outing. This is classic high-energy free jazz, with Guy’s playing serving to drill them an elemental foundation deep into the earth, anchoring furious string navigations with massively heavy bottom end bombs that Strid knocks around all over the place, shepherding them into weird time fluxes that somehow combine static detail with constant movement. Gustafsson is, of course, one of the premier deconstructive thinkers on the saxophone but here his playing feels more focussed on classic free jazz grace and power, matching Peter Brotzmann in terms of lyrical fury and radical invention. Edition of 600 copies. Recommended.