Qualm

LP version. Something is moving in the clouds. On October 23, Zinnober Records will release Let’s Find Those Parrots In The Clouds, the full-length debut album by Qualm, an open improvisation collective and a multi-headed hydra with a body made of free jazz.

Founded by Philipp Hager (playing in ZEMENT and other projects) in 2020, Qualm has never been a fixed-band concept. The project has appeared in different formations and formats, remaining deliberately open-ended and ready to branch out in new directions at any moment. Drawing from 1960s and 1970s free jazz, 1980s free funk, European improvisation and instant composition, Qualm treats collective improvisation not as a method, but as a place to explore.

For the debut album, Hager has assembled a formidable current lineup: Andrew Bernstein, saxophonist of critically acclaimed avant-rock group Horse Lords, alongside Hager himself on saxophone, Christian Büdel (ZEMENT) on drums, and Sebastian Dyrschka (DRNTTCKS) on electric bass and synthesizers. The collective has also collaborated with double bassist Stephan Goldbach (Trio Vier et al.) and numerous other musicians.

Recorded as a freely improvised one-day session, Let’s Find Those Parrots In The Clouds consists of four pieces suspended between explosive spontaneity and deep concentration. Swirling saxophones collide with pulsive, polyrhythmic drumming, while droning basslines and synthesizers create a shifting sonic ground beneath them.

The result moves freely between expressive free-blowing, dense collective interplay and introspective composition, music that can erupt without warning, dissolve into texture, or suddenly lock into a groove. It is uncompromising, playful and immersive: a sonic offering for open ears willing to dive deep.