Gjerstad, Frode (et al.) / Sekstett
Label: Conrad Sound

Larry K.
Reviewed 2011-06-02

SEKSTETT / Gjerstad, Skuset, Grenager, Tafjord, Mølstad, Moe
Conrad Sound, 2010

No text accompanies this CD, mixed and mastered by Frode Gjerstad (clarinetist), who recorded it at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter on June 30 and July 1, 2009. Sekstet is a group of musicians known for both electric and acoustic projects. Here the instruments are acoustic: clarinets, guitars, cello, French horn, tuba and double bass. They are played mostly at the extremes of their ranges or in other unusual manners, without recognizable melody, harmony, rhythm or expression of clear emotional message. Rather, it’s like watching quick action takes from early Earth - primordial life forms come and go, eat each other or ignore each other, while the weather vacillates between stormy, sunny, and softly windy. This sound world is definitely an acquired taste.

1. (5:01). Plucked, tapped strings; then bowing like whale song, becoming more insistent, dissonant, wailing in mid-register.
2. (15:15). Growls, bubble/snuffing and some high-pitched instants, then a herd of sea cows starts calling, followed by low-pitched bowing sounds evoking views of sunlight arcing through emerald green, icy seawater. High-pitched string calls return, with clarinet squeaks, mid-range, but random-sounding plucking of various strings, making no melodic sense, gradually intensifying in pace and texture. Honks, zips, chirps, and twitters give way to rubber-band twangs.
3. (12:15). Clarinet tweaking, a horn moaning over a string ostinato of 3 or 4 tones played in a circle. Mid-piece one hears buzzing string bowing. Scratchy squeaks with background buzzing occur at the track’s ¾ point, giving way to tired tuba honks, quiet and slowing horn, and cello tones with no melodic, harmonic or rhythmic pattern. Elephants and donkeys settle in for the night.
4. (9:04). Dripping, pizzicato strings, sustained French horn and tuba. Sounds like an old three-master ship pushing creakily through the waves while rainstorm remnants drip off the sails and a distant foghorn sounds. Then, sunlight appears, sea gulls call, the wind causes ship fittings to squeak and sails to rustle. Strings warble quietly, and water washes against the ship’s sides.
5. (11:51). Foghorns sound, the clarinet imitates a piccolo, strings complain tunelessly, tuba snorts, and the animals of the savannah make their varied sounds. A primordial pool bubbles with methane, frog eggs float, dragonflies flit and the clarinet hits normal range, while horns sound high and strings make gasping sounds in spasmodic rhythms. Pseudo-trumpet runs appear over string scratching, clarinet lipping, followed by slow horn mourning sounds. It all dies away, horns having the last sustained note.