Scandanavian Sax/Drums pairing of Martin Küchen and Ståle Liavik Solberg with the renegade multi-instrumentalist-master-improvisor Steve Beresford.

MARTIN KÜCHEN / saxophones

Originally a flautist, Kuchen took up the saxophone and dived headlong into free improvisation drawing inspiration from fellow Scandanavians GUSH, Lokomotiv Konkret and Iskra.

In the last decade he has toured and performed in Scandinavia and Europé with figures like Phil Minton, Sirone, Mark Sanders, Burkhard Beins, Andrea Neumann, Tony Wren, Cloudchamber, Tony Bevan, Luc Houtkamp, Joe Williamson.

Küchen's work had always connoted something extremely organic to me, combined with a strong sense of ground, of dirt and well-trodden floors. On "The Lie & The Orphanage", he evokes both of those sensations in spades, grinding, wheezing, gutturally rumbling with extreme corporeality and determination, eliciting sounds that, even in this age of post-saxophonic exploration, are startlingly new. Much more importantly, they read as true, as deeply felt expostulations, all building to the astonishingly visceral, multi-tracked finale. Strong, vital work. - Brian Olewnick - Olewnick.blogspot.com

Martin Küchen, 20. 1. 2012, Sarajevo from Mrtvaja Records on Vimeo.

STEVE BERESFORD / piano, electronics

Steve Beresford is one of the giants of British improvised music, a restless multi-instrumentalist whose irreverent and anarchic spirit has been disrupting and galvanising improvised music for forty years. A superb pianist, he also plays an assortment of electronic devices and toy instruments. Always balanced precariously on the edge of chaos, he possesses an energy and verve that can animate any musical situation.

STÅLE LIAVIK SOLBERG / drums

Young Norwegian drummer playing iin VCDC with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Frode Gjerstad as well as other groups.