SOLO

Sebastian Strinning, Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Preparations
 

NEW SOLO RECORD "TURM" OUT NOW

DOCUMENTARY

CONCERTS

TBA

REVIEWS

Aargauer Zeitung / Pirmin Bossart

Ezz-thetics / Stuart Broomer

WIRE

FreiStil und Vital Weekly

VIDEOCLIPS

PRESS TEXT

Interesting music doesn't need to hide behind weighty and cryptic language. The new solo album TURM (TOWER) by saxophonist Sebastian Strinning announces the setting plainly in the title: the recordings were made in November 2020 in the Esterliturm near Lenzburg, a concrete column almost 50 meters high, in the middle of a forest. The tower as an extension of the instrument is definitely more than a gimmick of conceptual music; the decision to remain halfway up a lookout tower instead of fully ascending it is not just a mere poetic background image. The cold, massive concrete and metal windings of the tower have a reinforcing, disturbing and distorting effect in equal measure on the sounds Strinning derives from his tenor saxophone and his uniquely developed preparations. The tower and immense reverb form the basis of what improvised music stand for: space, acoustics, concentration, situation, and the moment in particular. It goes without saying that Strinning knows how to play with these elements in an adept and open manner. He brings this moment skillfully to the surface in a multifaceted way. It scratches, bangs, groans, screams, then puffs softly and hums again, and the wind as background noise contributes its share to this polyphony. Here, narrowness and spaciousness become equally audible, making the album a highly concentrated acoustic experience. The mood changes from claustrophobic to melodious and poetic. Sometimes the image of a cathedral flickers in your minds eye, sometimes a dungeon. And the fact that this almost puts you into a trance as a listener, intensified in places by clear, sparse rhythms, shows that someone here not only masters his instrument and its immense sound spectrum, but also allows himself to be catapulted into a new concept by the complexities of the situation, while simultaniously shaping the outcome in its entirety. (Anja Nora Schulthess)