Description
Swedish horn blower Mats Gustafsson’s forte is his unique ability to accommodate large, bellowing horn gusts and devilishly intricate microhorn chatter within the space of a single phrase. This technique, which allows a tsunami of sound to be answered by a volley of rapid-fire chirps, squeaks, and clucks, gives this solo LP the illusion of dialogue–as if there were two mad horn players in the room rather than one. And in Gustafsson’s hands, the give and take of his internal conversation is both convincing and intriguing. The Education of Lars Jerry, however, is not simply a showcase for Gustafsson’s use, abuse, and misuse of wind instruments. He is capable of sketching a wildly diverse landscape of mood and emotion–from scalding, angry blasts to jolting surprises to hilarious slapstick. With all these tools at his disposal, Gustafsson’s stories are as interesting as the language he uses to describe them. –S. Duda