Tarfala Trio

Tarfala Trio: Syzygy

by John Sharpe
October 8, 2011

A quick glance at Wikipedia reveals a bewildering number of definitions of Syzygy, the name of the third offering from the Tarfala Trio, comprising English master bassist Barry Guy and the Swedish pairing of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and drummer Raymond Strid. Two meanings stand out as being particularly apt: the first, referring to a straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies; and the second, a term used by the psychiatrist Carl Jung to mean a union of opposites. While the former ...

Recording

Tarfala Trio, "Syzygy": Live in Belgium, 2009

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
November 8, 2011

The Tarfala Trio is a hot avant trio commodity. It's Mats Gustafsson, tenor and alto fluteophone (?), Barry Guy, acoustic bass, and Raymond Strid on drums. You might well know Matt via his association with Brotzmann's Chicago Tentet. He is a blazing gamer and has big ears to shout or whisper as needed. Barry Guy is one of the premier new jazz bassists, of course, and can solo or play ensemble with his very own sound and inventive genius. Raymond ...
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Recording

Tarfala Trio - Syzygy (NoBusiness Records, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
July 25, 2011

Drawing on the legacy of Albert Ayler's extraordinary trio LP Spiritual Unity, The Tarfala Trio, consisting of Mats Gustafsson on saxophones, Barry Guy on bass and Raymond Strid on drums and percussion take the notion of open-ended free jazz and make an impassioned statement that would certainly have made Ayler proud. Opening with “Broken by Fire," the band sets the stage for their opening improvisation by probing at the edges of the music, before Gustafsson finds a path with ecstatic ...
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