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ARTIST
TITLE
Nanaimo Swing
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
DOT 006LP DOT 006LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
4/17/2026

"The residents of Scandinavia and those of coastal regions of Canada have more than a few commonalities. For one thing, they love seafood as well as the act of gathering it. And while this briny lust was not the sole rationale behind this, Mats Gustafsson's third visit to the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia, I am certain it was on his mind. After all, his second visit to the city, with his band Fire!, was designed around a fishing trip envisioned by promoter/label head Jack Tieleman as a sure way to lure those salmon-hungry Swedes to town. That such a gambit was not conjured up again must mean that either Kjetil Moster (a Norwegian rather than Swedish musician) had no overwhelming lust for fin or that their schedule was just too tight. I have asked about this several times, and the lack of response makes me wonder if it is a touchy topic. Maybe there's some kind of law against anti-piscatorial activity in Norway, so things have to be kept hush-hush. But that's just a guess. Regardless, this duo LP is totally great, savage and funny in equal measures. Whether there's sea salt on his lips or not, Mats is one of the great saxophonists of his generation, playing everything from traditional post-bop sax to explosive experimental electronics and many many things in between. The other half of the duo, Kjetil Moster, plays with Mats in a wild quintet called The End, and has a vast array of other projects and ensembles with whom he plays and records. Together, they form and exciting unit, employing a vast array of techniques (freaky and otherwise) to create music ranging from elegantly floating reed interactions to full-on fire music form-tussles. The music at times recalls everything from Eric Dolphy's backyard birdcall practice to rusty electronics worthy of Lasse Marhaug. That Mats and Kjetil are able to flow back and forth between such distant poles during their first-ever appearance as a duo speaks to an excellence in communication as well as lightning-fast response time. It is a gas and a blast from start to finish. How I wish I'd been there!" --Byron Coley