released June 19, 2020

Distant calls / No questions
ibnmusik (ibn006)

A crisis necessitates new solutions.
In times of isolation and lockdown new ways of connecting and communicating in music must be considered.
How to listen?
In real time or who listens to who?
Listening one way or both ways or not at all?
Simultaneously - before - after?
Playing with or without pre-instructions?
Composition - improvisation? Spontaneous composing? Improcomposing?
In different pieces we have used different approaches to try and make music together in new circumstances.

Per Gärdin: alto (2, 4, 7) and soprano saxophones (1, 3, 5, 6)
Rainer Weber: bass clarinet, prepared bass clarinet (3), daxophone (6)

All compositions by Per Gärdin/Rainer Weber
Recorded in Stockholm and Bonn, May - June 2020
by Per Gärdin and Rainer Weber.
Mixing and mastering by Per Gärdin
Artwork: Frank Baquet

"In corona times it is difficult for musicians to sell their music due to a lack of performances. Musical interaction often also requires proximity, which is not always possible. Creative solutions are sought and this sometimes leads to fine results, such as in the case of the Swedish saxophonist Per Gärdin and the German bass clarinet player Rainer Weber. They make a virtue of necessity and prove with Distant Calls / No Questions that they are also able to make music and improvise remotely." ... "None of the musicians seem to add water to the wine; no matter how tortuous the course goes, the musical path is walked naturally. That's a conclusion that applies to the entire album. Boredom does not get a chance to act, because the wealth of ideas is great and Gärdin and Weber always surprise with new finds, timbres and ways to challenge each other. The result is seemingly unfettered and exciting music."
opduvel.com/2020/06/28/per-gardin-rainer-weber-distant-calls-no-questions/

"The Covid-19 pandemic forces musicians to necessitate new solutions for connecting and collaborating with other musicians. The duo of Swedish, Stockholm-based Per Gärdin and Germany, Bonn-based clarinet player Rainer Weber recorded their debut album as a duo while they were isolated in their homes, during the pandemic lockdown in May and June 2020. The Bandcamp platform enables both musicians to offer this fresh collaboration almost immediately after it was captured.

Gärdin and Weber contemplated a few old and new dilemmas related to free-improvised music. «How to listen? In real-time or who listens to who? Listening one way or both ways or not at all? Simultaneously – before – after? Playing with or without pre-instructions? Composition – improvisation? Spontaneous composing? Improcomposing?» «Distant calls / No questions» experiments with these different approaches.

The seven pieces attempt to answer a few of Gärdin and Weber’s dilemmas. The opening «Reflections» focuses on an urgent and dense, searching atmosphere where both Gärdin and Weber employ extended breathing techniques, but already establishes the chamber, quiet and emphatic tone of this meeting. «Triptych» offers a more introspective and implied dialog that begins to sketch a loose architecture. «Diptychon» contrasts the singing-melodic voice of the soprano sax of Gärdin with the breathy, ethereal of the prepared bass clarinet of Weber until both instruments sound as extending each other’s voices in this moving, meditating piece. «Palindrome» is a thoughtful conversation that employs the distinct circular breathing of Gärdin and Weber and injects an elusive feeling of moving out-of-time. «Mirror» introduces a much-needed sense of playfulness as Gärdin and Weber sound as dancing around each other. «No questions», where Weber plays the wooden daxophone (invented by the late Hans Reichel), adds to the delicate chamber atmosphere a strange and mysterious human voice gibberish. The last «Distant calls» highlights the profound, emphatic interplay between the more reserved Gärdin and the more extrovert Weber.

Hopefully, a future live or in-studio dialog of Gärdin and Weber may answer a few more dilemmas of this fine duo."
Eyal Hareuveni
salt-peanuts.eu/record/per-gardin-rainer-weber/?fbclid=IwAR01xRwou1SVwUQmVgdEoevbvkKKf50JUBev7grO3v8DbHhtqgSqgUCvDJg