Fjall – the old Norse word for “rough hill”
A quartet formed with a view to making improvisations and instant compositions which avoid the highly active language of free improvisation and tends more towards ritual or even contemporary classical music. The result is atmospheric and occasionally unsettling, as the music ripples between spacious, metallic and otherworldly soundscapes to earthy, rhythmic and strident, yet melodic tones. The use of unusual/ethnic instruments married with two percussionists gives a distinctive flavour of the unexpected.
Featuring:
Martin Archer – concert flute, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, recorders, harmonicas, melodica,
sopranino saxophone, Hulusi flute, harmonium, glockenspiel, percussion, iPad.
Jan Todd – baritone psaltery, electric Harp.E, cross strung harp, tagelharpa, waterphone, Hulusi flute, cello, electronics, looping, field recordings, voice.
Fran Comyn – frame drums, tablas, gongs, cymbals, bells, bowls, hand percussion, field recordings.
Richard Jackson – drums and percussion.
“Eschews the noisy and chaotic free-improv jazz style, instead opting for a more subtle neo-classical improvisational idiom that is at once gentle and dreamy, at times even approaching a more minimalist, reflective musical palette. The feeling a listener can expect is contemplative and warm, very much atmospheric and layered. Fjall really sounds like nobody else, but at times some listeners might be reminded just a little of the Third Ear Band”. – Peter Thelen, EXPOSÉ
