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Mats Gustafsson

Member of: DUX Orchestra

Mats Gustafsson, born in Umeå in 1964, is a Swedish saxophonist, improviser and composer whose baritone and tenor playing has the force of a rock band. He leads or co-leads The Thing, Fire!, Gush, Sonore, Swedish Azz and the NU Ensemble, has played in Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet and Barry Guy's New Orchestra, and has worked with Sonic Youth, Merzbow, Jim O'Rourke, Otomo Yoshihide, Yoshimi and Ken Vandermark.

Watching A Dog Smilling (LP)
2024 album on NoBusiness in an edition of 300 copies by two of the best contemporary free reed instruments players.
But A Cry Of Pain Rolls Up A Mountain (7")
Reeds and fiddle duo by two eminent Swedish improvisers released by Ideal in 2005 in an edition of 300 hand-numbered copies.
Two Balls Are Enough
The debut album from the duo of Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and Swedish reedist Mats Gustafsson - both musicians have routinely blown past the rules of the traditions from which first emerged—folk and free jazz, respectively—to explore constantly expanding worlds. It was only a matter of time before these iconoclasts collided to create something wonderfully raw and unexpected.
Vindögæ
*2026 stock* Reed players Mats Gustafsson and Andreas Røysum bonded over common understandings of the physical and political dimensions of music. Across generations and other accountant-like statistics (zzz...), they decided in 2021 to start playing together as a duo, and thus Vindögæ was unleashed on the Norwegian audience. It was on five cold December evenings, during which the country once again was preparing for lockdown, that the sound of Vindögæ opened up to a much-limited club audience. T…
Cuts Cut
Merzbow, Mats Gustafsson and Balázs Pándi, recorded at Victoriaville in 2018 and completed with new recordings in 2025: electronics, bass and baritone saxophones and drums in brutal noise and free jazz.
Traces
*2026 stock* Cosmic Ear is a new group bringing together Christer Bothén, Mats Gustafsson, Goran Kajfeš, Kansan Zetterberg and Juan Romero. Their debut album Traces is released by We Jazz Records on 23rd of May, 2025. Including 6 deep cuts, Traces is an album that sees Cosmic Ear tracking down the "traces" of the legendary Don Cherry's legacy while paving their own way in contemporary creative music expression. Christer Bothén, a collaborator with Don Cherry during his Swedish period in the 1970…
Ifaname
*300 copies limited edition* Mats Gustafsson meets Jan St. Werner in 2019 when they both perform with Peter Brötzmann and a group of prolific improvisers for three days at Flutgraben in Berlin. Mats and Jan notice their mutual passion for performing not just inside spaces, but also with them, activating environments and shaping sound through diversion. Mats introduces Johan Berthling, whose complex bass explorations complement the frantic jitter of Mats’ saxophone and pedals, and Werner’s digita…
(Fake) The Facts
Special session in january 2013 for Recordstoreday 2013. Recorded at Martin Siewert‘s studio Garnison 7 in Vienna. First and final pressing of 400.
Backengrillen
”Music and art without definite labels is a necessity for a better living - create your own individual genres and open up for more death-jazz-core-noise-metal-poetry to enter your world of destroying the local and global stupidities around us” - Mats Gustafsson "We really hope this slab of stupid, violent death rock will ruin someone’s day. Haha." - David Sandström Backengrillen is a new ensemble with their roots in HC, punk, noise and free Jazz. All members from Umeå, with roots in the original…
Now Jazz Now 100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings 1960-80 (Book)
277 pages. 196 x 268 mm. Open NOW JAZZ NOW and you're not just looking at a book - you're entering the minds of three lifelong obsessives. Byron Coley (music writer and critic), Mats Gustafsson (saxophonist, The Thing, Fire!), and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth founder, solo artist) have spent decades accumulating, discussing, debating, and above all listening to free jazz and free improvisation. This book is the result of that shared mania. What they've created isn't a conventional history or a ra…
Sustain
"In the quarter century since the members of AALY Trio were last in the studio together there have been countless performances and albums made by the core members of the band. The remarkable parallels that existed between the improvised music scenes in Stockholm and Chicago from 1995 to 2000 extended well beyond the collaboration with AALY and me. Those circumstances are no longer the same due to the shifting sands of the international scene: artists, venues, record labels, writers, radio DJs, a…
Baro 101
"Baro 101" unites Mats Gustafsson, Paal Nilssen-Love, and Masele Asmamaw for an electrifying fusion of Scandinavian free jazz and Ethiopian traditions. The album’s two expansive tracks showcase intense improvisation, with Asmamaw’s krar injecting unique rhythms and melodies, creating a bold, genre-defying musical journey.
Pivot
"The band showed up, four folks from three different spots on the globe -- Chicago (Vandermark, Reid); Nickelsdorf, Austria (Gustafsson); Philadelphia (Taylor). They assembled their gear and sound-checked at the studio. There was a four-way freedom at play, structures but liberties and no need for elaborate explanation. Everyone spoke the same shorthand. Cues were understood; timings were implicit and considered; space was made for chances to be taken. In creative music, you sometimes need to re…
Live At The South Bank
2025 stock ** "On South Bank - the most vital and essential document of Reid and Hebden's five-year partnership-- it feels clear that, at least onstage, they were finally able to go the distance. The invocation "Morning Prayer" opens slowly, circling in space with a meditative calm. For 17 minutes, the pair traces lines around the other's rhythm, Hebden's electronics and keys shaping a cradle for Reid's busy tom-and-cymbal patter, and vice versa. Back in 2006, on Volume 1, "Morning Prayer" felt …
Tarfala
*2025 stock* "Listening to the tapes of this live concert from Culturen Västerås, persuaded me that certain attributes of the playing of Mats Gustafsson and Raymond Strid are indeed bound with “Terroir”. There is probably a useful Swedish word describing this, but the French word nevertheless seems appropriate in describing a sense of place, something earthy and powerful. My thoughts moved to volcanoes and in particular glaciers, which of course abound in Sweden. The explosive power of the volca…
Falling And Five Other Failings
2025 stock Mats Gustafsson plays slide, tenor, baritone, bass saxophones. Christof Kurzmann uses special ppooll software and voice, live processing. Recorded, mixed & mastered at Garnison 7, Vienna by Martin Siewert. Artwork by Jimmy Draht. Liner notes by Ken Vandermark. Limited vinyl edition of 300 with screen-printed covers. Ken Vandermark, from the liner notes: "On the surface, its fundamental components seem to come from the 20th century: the saxophone (invented in 1846, but not coming to th…
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Abet?! አቤት?!
Specially released for Record Store Day 2012, April 21th. Recorded during two 'Saxophone' projects of The Ex in Ethiopia. Trio-side December 28 2009 in the Bateau Ivre, Kazanchis, Addis Abeba. Solo-side Februari 22 2011 at Yared Music School, Sidist Kilo, Addis Abeba.
Split
*200 copies limited edition* John Duncan's "SAXMIX" is one massive piece of contemporary experimental music, which lets noise collide with free jazz and extreme minimalism. Duncan is a master when it comes to these things, and he is an artists constantly evolving, mutating and challenging. The sax thing then? JD has invited some of his fav sax players to collaborate with him; Mats Gustafsson, Antoine Chessex, Martin Escalante, Dror Feiler and Ulrich Krieger. Did I say MASSIVE? Well, it is. Schei…
Jag Dricker, Jag Dricker, Alltså Finns Jag
*200 copies limited edition* Gustafsson and Lindsjö had collaborated in the mid-eighties in the Swedish-American group The Bad Quartet. Playing local gigs in both New York and Lund. Lindsjö later moved back from New York City to reunite with Gustafsson in Stockholm, where the ensemble Gush had just begun to establish itself. With their shared American influences in mind, Raymond Strid was recruited on drums to form the trio Maxcolic. The trio started off in a free improv funk/rock that contraste…
DEG
A live recording of a great performance from Kevin Drumm, Mats Gustaffson and Leif Elggren. Recorded live at Fylkingen Oct 10, 2001 on the Blue Tower Sound System.
Gush 30 Kraków 2018
3-CDs box-set documents Gush residency at Alchemia club in Krakow in November 2018 celebrating band's 30th aniversary. Gush performs precisely as one might anticipate from a trio of seasoned musicians who have collaborated for three decades. Gustafsson's saxophone emulates the qualities of the human voice, Sandell's piano evokes both lyricism and percussive rhythm, while Strid's drums exude a captivating, enigmatic fluidity in their aesthetics. Their collective efforts yield an intense, abstract…
Live Album
Flute, harp, drums: a rare combination that this trio turns upside down. In the wake of John Zorn's experiences on the borders of jazz and noise, the collaboration between Delphine Joussein, Rafaëlle Rinaudo and Blanche Lafuente aims at pushing their instruments beyond their limits, with the enthusiasm of a mad scientist... It is no coincidence that the three musicians, considered the missing link between Nirvana and Sun Ra, have already aroused a big curiosity and are constantly touring accross…
Fonstret N.3 - Edition Festival For Other Music (Magazine)
Fonstret is a project of Stockholm’s Edition Festival for Other Music focused on publishing new works and surfacing material from the festival’s archives. Book sewn with open spine. 170 x 239mm. 192pp. 1+1 Pantone 546C, 120 gsm offset paper inside, 300 gsm offset paper covers. Text by: Johan Arrias, Elsa Bergman, Nadine Byrne, Erik Carlsson, Scott Cazan, Jon Collin, Mats Dimming,Niklas Fite, Marta Forsberg, Joel Grip, Mats Gustafsson, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Isak Hedtjärn, Karin Hellqvist, …
Watching A Dog. Smiling
*300 copies limited edition*New release on NoBusiness from two of the best reed instruments' veterans. Mats Gustafsson – slide flute, flute, baritone sax and live electronicsLiudas Mockūnas – sopranino, soprano, reedless soprano, overtone, bass sax and contrabass clarinet
Afro Blue
Saxophonist Mats Gustafsson is notorious for his prolific nature and constantly expanding circle of collaborators, but few of his partnerships have been as powerful and profound as Gush, the Swedish trio which formed way back in 1988 and celebrates its 36th anniversary in 2024. This performance was captured live at the famous Stockholm jazz venue Fasching on December 17, 1998, and the music excited all three musicians when they revisited it this year. The album is named for the Mongo Santamaria …
Exhale- Volume 2
Tip!  *200 copies limited edition*Erwan Keravec - bagpipes,Mats Gustafsson - piano mate and slide saxophoneRecorded September 13 and 14, 2017 by Martin Siewert, ViennaMastered by Martin Siewert, ViennaCover design/illustration: Lasse MarhaugPhotos by Mike KeysendalThanks to: "Stark Reality"Hans Falb and HeidiTitles inspired from Ted Huges "Crow" (Faber & Faber 1970)
Their Power Reached Across Space and Time - To Defy Them Was Death - Or Worse
World-renowned horn player Mats Gustafsson teams up with Joachim Nordwall to create Their Power Reached Across Space Ana Time- To Defy Them Was Death- Or Worse- an avant-garde masterpiece. Gustafsson and Nordwall push their instruments to the limit, almost mirroring the title of the record by "reaching across space and time". The duo creates a sense of vast, three-dimensional auditory expanses. "This is where acoustics and analog synths meet. It is unique music. Unheard Vibes. Perfect for specia…
Hidros 9 - Mirrors
Conducted by Mats Gustafsson for two 9 piece chamber ensembles, 4 soloists, tape machine, turntable. Recorded at the Avant Art festival, Warsaw, Poland, 2022. The monumental composition for 27 musicians by Swedish saxophonist, improviser and composer Mats Gustafsson is an in-depth exploration and continuation of the previous piece Hidros o.T. (2019), commissioned by NyMusikk Trondheim, inspired by the mirrored forms and visual structures of artist Mathias Pöschl. Controlling 3 different groups o…
Opus One
'The initial idea behind Ensemble E was to combine traditions of Contemporary Music, Noise, Improvised music, Free Jazz and other experimental music fields and traditions with the deeper music traditions. This is deeper research of traditional and non-traditional ways of expressing folk music of Scandinavia, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine and more. Much more. By putting them next to each other/ on top of each other/ inside of each other. Creating new ways. The instrumentation of Ensemble E is spectac…
Why Do You Mourn
The End is near - after two albums on the now defunct UK label Rare Noise, the powerful project of Sofia Jernberg (vocals), Kjetil Møster (clarinet and tenor saxophone), Mats Gustafsson (flutes, baritone saxophone and electronics), Anders Hana (baritone and bass guitar) and Børge Fjordheim (drums) release their third album on Trost. They combine Avantrock, Jazz and a haunting beautiful voice to a seethe mix of emotions, noise, music - a sonic landscape, dynamic and captivating. This album is a t…
Mouth Eating Trees And Related Activities
*2023 stock* "Swedish multi-reed artist Mats Gustafsson was just beginning to come into his own at the time of this recording. The oddly titled Mouth Eating Trees and Related Activities catches him at the cusp when his prodigious technical abilities were starting to be subsumed into an impressive musical presence. It doesn't hurt that his companions for this freely improvised session are stalwarts like Barry Guy and Paul Lovens, who provide accompaniment that's creatively telepathic. While Gusta…
One To (Two)...............
*2023 stock* These 18 short duets between cellist/trombonist Gunter Christmann and Swedish new music provocateur and saxophonist Mats Gustaffson eschew all melodic pretension, leading to some very difficult, though rewarding listening. Christmann performs mostly on his stringed warrior, where scratches and little sounds lead the way. Somehow, when matched with the saxophonist's highly developed sense of rhythm and sporadic flurry, the results lure the listener into a den of revolutionary fervor.…
Off-Road
Tip! *2022 stock. In process of stocking* Their second duo recording, the follow-up to 1999's Apertura. Off-Road finds the two of them forsaking their earlier, glacially meditative m.o. for a shower of digitally recomposed slivers, the metal-on-metal timbre of a saxophone equipped with contact mics, Grubbs's chiming electric guitar, and Gustafsson's pro rhythm analog synthesizer clipped to the bell of his horn.
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Naja
*In process of stocking* Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson might have a separate discography for his solo records. He's investigated the possibilities of unaccompanied reed music from almost every angle. Presented with the opportunity to make a new solo record under the isolation of the pandemic, Gustafsson returned to a project he'd conceptualized but never realized: the playing-card pieces of Peter Brötzmann. Although these Fluxus-like prompts are better known through the two card sets the G…
Hidros 8 Heal
Tip! For the 8th edition of Mats Gustafsson's NU Ensemble, Gustafsson focused on the current state of the world, „Hidros 8 Heal" is an attempt to rise and find the questions about the state of things. there is an extreme unbalance on local and global levels at the moment — from ideological, economical, cultural and political perspectives – and we need an equilibrium of some sorts very soon. can it heal ? what can make it all heal? and for how long can it heal? Anna Högberg - alto and baritone sa…
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Prosperity
*In process of stocking.* Next Festival Records is thrilled to announce that the new album 'Prosperity' from Mats Gustafsson & Christof Kurzmann, has been added to the catalogue. Mats Gustafsson is a Swedish saxophone player, composer, and improviser. Gustafsson works on the boundaries of noise, electronica, contemporary rock, and free jazz, as well as contemporary dance and theatre production. He performs solo and in various all-star impro projects. He has gone on international tours with artis…
Vertical
Tip! Written, performed, and produced by Mats Gustafsson (STIM/N©B) & Tony Lugo. Mats Gustafsson: Alto, Tenor, Baritone and Bass Saxophones, FluteTony Lugo: Drums, ElectronicsMats Gustafsson & Tony Lugo: Concatenative Synthesis & Machine Listening Algorithms Recorded May-July 2021 by Olof Madsen at Discaholic Studios, Nickelsdorf, Austria & Craig Bowen at Tempo House, Baltimore, MDMixed by Craig BowenMastered by Lasse MarhaugDesign by Tony LugoPhotography by Mats GustafssonArtwork by Peter Brötz…
Contra Songs
Tip!  *In process of stocking* ‘Alone at night. Large church room. Lots of air. Stone. Wood. Glass. Quietness. Stillness. The dead and the alive. Surroundedness. ‘Existentialistic matters spinning. Peaceful state of mind. The dialectic equilibrium of complete stillness and deeper thoughts on contra-resistance on local and global levels. Fighting (y)our stupidities. Contra. I have never ever before gotten myself into such an unusual setting for a recording project. And yet, so simple. So naked. S…
Xylophonen Virtuosen
A collection of improvised duets with guitarist Jim O’Rourke and reedist Mats Gustafsson. All of the material has been newly remastered for release on 2xLP & digital and marks the first ever vinyl pressing with previously unreleased tracks. Tracks A1, B3 (excerpt), C1, C2 and D3 (excerpt) were in parts or in its complete form released on legendary Incus label (1999) with a different mix and master. The duo recorded the improvised duets at Chicago’s Acme Studios during 1999, with Gustafsson on te…
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Volume 1. "Inhale"
“The debut record of Luft (the duo comprised of Mats Gustafsson and Erwan Keravec) - is a two volume album of exceptional explorations within the bagpipe and reed universe ——unknown music of poetic beauty and high energy cascades. Fast moving changes in texture and layers vs static repetitions and alternatives densities and melody treatments! Vol 1 - is focusing on the interaction between the two persons/ instruments - with a huge variety in extended techniques and various ways of treating the i…