Ivo Nilsson (1966) is – in spite of his relatively young age - one of the foremost Swedish interpreters on his instrument – the trombone – but also an innovator concerning interpretive practices, as well as a composer. Here he rightly takes up his position in Phono Suecia’s renowned Con Forza series, featuring one artist/composer per CD, allowing for plenty of headroom and duration.

Interestingly, Ivo Nilsson set out at a cellist, but later drifted over to the trombone. He looks upon the trombone as having a special standing among brass instruments. For one thing, he stresses the instrument’s similarities with the human voice, which has also always been said about the cello. Nilsson says: “One thing I want to make clear is the trombone’s special character among the brass instruments. One often thinks of this instrumental group as loud and dynamic, but the trombone is descended from the human voice to a great extent. It was used, for example, interactively with vocal soloists, to accompany chorales and dirges. The trombone comes from a sacred tradition”.
It is also stated in the introductory text of the CD booklet that Ivo Nilsson is not associated with “quick, extroverted virtuosity”, but with “carefully constructed tonal qualities and the weighing of timbres, to the milligram”.

Maybe, then, this prepares us for another kind of listening, a more careful attention, as we indulge ourselves in this CD with works written for Ivo Nilsson by prolific Swedish (or immigrated) composers, as well as one work composed by Nilsson himself.

Kent Olofsson (1962) contributes with the first work on the CD; “Treccia for Trombone Solo” (2000). It bursts on the scene – or emerges – with a sinewavelike progression, interspersed with Stockhausenesque breathing sounds. A very peculiar effect is reached by the circular breathing that Ivo utilizes, holding the line uninterrupted and seamless up to 2:25 – and there is no breath that deep. Of course, this can be reached by the use of machinery, but here it’s just Ivo Nilsson, his trombone and the circular breathing. The tone is balancing, cracking up and glistening in a speckled, broken down bursts along the intensely lasting line of tones, veering off like a barbed wire over hills and down through valleys, as far as you can see. Sometimes even Tuvinian xöömej (khoomei) effects are detectible, but Nilsson never over-does it, but keeps these nuances as nuances, and not as show-offs or games of virtuosity. There are even traces of the Nordic tradition of herding calls (in Swedish “kulning”) in this trombonic web, as you can feel some of that age old melancholic introversion – but only as hints, as gestures; very finely tuned by Nilsson, and of course very sensitively composed by Kent Olofsson.

Chrichan Larson (1956) has been seen by me as an enfant terrible of the cello, playing with the likes of violinist Anna Lindal and other wizard instrumentalists, and in different contemporary chamber groupings. He is also a composer, and his “Toile tournee” (1991) was written for alto trombone and tenor saxophone (the instrumentation is stated differently in the booklet versus the back of the CD cover, and if some criticism should be issued towards Phono Suecia, it might be complaints about a less than perfect proof reading at times…)
The blending of these two instruments makes for a compelling, shiny tonal surface, over which our perception glides and stumbles, thuds and slips. At times we get a grip and heave ourselves inside the sounding event, finding the back of a magnitude of mirrors, and at the bottom of the structure; an assortment of rocks collected on beaches and in mountainous terrain up north.
At certain instances this piece represents just the kind of violent and forceful – a bit repulsive - wind music that the introductory label text stated wasn’t the case here, but then again… I forgive them… and the piece is short!

Christian Marina (1965) originates in Romania, but has been a resident of Sweden for many years. His piece is called “Vae” (1998), which comes from a Romanian word expressing inner – or mental – pain. It has somewhat of a lamenting introduction, with falling glissandi, hinting at darker frames of mind. The trombone resides in solitary bliss throughout, and wanders however it wishes, it seems, striving up slopes, gazing across mighty depressions in the terrain, or sliding downhill, towards meandering rivers with cool water from the glaciers above.
The color of tone sometimes bring thoughts of bronze age horns, echoing between the burial mounds of local heroes as the sun reflects off of shiny birch leaves glittering in the summery breezes of long forgotten Junes.
There is a beautiful calm, clarity and solidity in this music by Christian Marina.

Arne Mellnäs (1933) is the grand old man of this issue. His contribution is “Rendez-vous 4; Hoquetus” (1997) for alto saxophone and trombone. This piece is frantic in a way we’d maybe expect from the generation that Mellnäs represents, since he reached maturity in the wilderness and revolutions of the 1960’s (which we are getting very tired of by now, but which did shape us who grew up then…) There is a splattering, chattering, battering conversation going on between the two instruments, and they seem – at most instances – to be involved in some kind of bar brawl, but it also happens that they calm down, or maybe they just get sp drunk that they momentarily lay their heads down on the table…
At times there is a funny ping-pong exchange of notes here, but I wouldn’t think this is a piece that you’d return to after having heard it one time. It’s simply to messy, aggressive, erratic – like so much of the music of Mellnäs’ generation… Kent Olofsson’s “Treccia” and Christian Marina’s “Vae” - not to mention Lars Sandberg's “With a certain Singing Quality” - are works you might want to enjoy, dwell in, several times, and which you may return to and long for – but Mellnäs’ piece is just for one spin, and that’s it…

Kjell Perder (1954) delivers a solo trombone piece – “Volcuna II; Jerico Jerico” (1995) – much in the vein of Luciano Berio’s Sequenzas or Anders Eliasson’s Disegni, i.e. rather complicated solo pieces with a touch of virtuosity, sort of demonstrating the possibilities of the instrument or the manifold expressions that might rise out of the solitude of the single performer, the single instrument. Perder succeeds very nicely here, keeping the attention of the listener throughout – and I wouldn’t rule out a re-spin of the work either! Ivo Nilsson, the interpreter, says about Perder’s piece that it displays “a mosaic of effects”. The musical annotations are interesting: “threatening, mysterious, triumphant”). As to the reference to the walls of Jericho Perder points out that he refers to our walls within, in this case.

Lars Sandberg (1955) is sensed as a mystic in contemporary composition - a shy genius - with often very barren, laconic musical statements to his credit. The title here doesn’t negate that feeling; “Med ett visst sjungande uttryck” (“With a certain Singing Quality”) (1998). The work is performed on alto trombone by Ivo Nilsson.
The musicality here is immense, touching, reaching right down into your farthest reaches, through simple and straightforward methods, totally lacking sentimentality or forced post-post expressions. Sandberg allows himself to be himself in a stunning way, and to hear this musicality and this compositional honesty shine alongside the compulsive avantgardity of form displayed by Mellnäs in his shortcomings on this CD is very revealing!
Lars Sandberg paints with light touches, and the result, appearing as the piece progresses, is similar to Japanese calligraphy on rice paper; delicate, balanced, weighed: – honest.

Ivo Nilsson (1966) concludes his portrait album with a piece he has composed himself; “Rotor II” for percussion and trombone (1999). This piece is quite different from the other works on this CD, as it utilizes percussion by guru percussionist Jonny Axelsson, who also has his own CD in this series; “Percussione con Forza” on Phono Suecia PSCD 126.
The impression of the music is truly up-to-date, almost Stockhausenesque in some ways, and also with eastern diversions in some of the percussion-trombone constellations. It also has an electroacoustic feel to it, at the outset and elsewhere, but this impression is completely illusoric, as we only hear trombone and percussion. The family of percussive instruments is of course very large, so the possibility of choice timbre is readily at hand, and Ivo Nilsson has composed these possibilities into a tight-knit, exemplary score, no doubt: very exciting, lots to hear, lots to study - …and enjoy!