Instrumental, Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***
Despite having Susanna Lindeborg on piano, Salamander isn't a Mwendo Dawa offshoot but very much an entity of its own she took part in, with its own strengths and merits. They made five albums during the first half of the 80's, but only their debut, recorded live at the Northsea Jazz Festival in The Hague in the summer of 1981, fits within with this blog's time frame.
The album is full of very good
multifaceted music, ranging from wild free jazz outbursts sometimes
reminiscent of Albert Ayler to gentle lyrical passages and further on
to cheeky silliness and then back again. Honest music that
never takes itself too seriously, never falls into over-cerebreal
traps which makes it a very accessible and very entertaining piece of work.
The first side is my favourite, and
consists of three compositions by saxophonist Cecilia Wennerström.
Despite all being different in tone and style, the three tracks make
a flowing but cohesive whole. Second side has two tracks ”Vaggsång
för havet” by Katarina Karlsson and the charmingly jerky
”Ekorrhjulet” by drummer Vanja Holm. Both tracks
feature Karlsson's vocal and may be an acquired taste, but they're so
disarming (especially on ”Ekorrhjulet”) I don't mind them.
Seemingly overlooked, Salamander was a most convincing constellation with a personal
tone and an endearing charm, always open to surprise both themselves
and the listener with compositions that not necessarily followed the
expected direction.
Full album playlist
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