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Raymond Strid
Raymond Strid started to play the drums relatively late. As he had become addicted to listening to music, sometimes spending eight ours a day in front of the stereo, he was encouraged to start playing himself (and to this day, he is still a dedicated listener and audiophile). With no musical background he thought the drums would be the easiest instrument to learn. He was particularly inspired by some of the European master drummers like Han Bennink, Paul Lytton and Tony Oxley.
Strid's first concert was 30 September 1977 and he subsequently performed in a variety of local groups in Stockholm. In 1988 he formed the Swedish trio GUSH together with Mats Gustafsson and Sten Sandell. From that point work has also included a wide number of groupings and projects such as Guy/Gustafsson/Strid, Crispell/Jormin/ Strid and the free jazz trio LSB (Fredrik Ljungkvist and Johan Berthling). The Electrics (Axel Dörner, Sture Ericson and Ingebrigt Flaten) was formed in 2000 and that same year he became a member of the Barry Guy New Orchestra. Strid has been touring and participating at major improvisation festivals in Europe and North America. He also considers that, since around 2005, his playing moves stylistically between free improvisation and free jazz, sometimes mixing the two. Raymond Strid also teaches improvisation, methods and aesthetics.
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Westgaard / Hernandez / Strid: The Knapsack, The Hat, and The Horn
by Glenn Astarita
The Knapsack, The Hat, and The Horn is a compelling exploration of free improvisation and acoustic sounds. The album, recorded in a single day in Gävle, Sweden, features Hein Westgaard on acoustic steel string guitar, Katt Hernandez on violin and Raymond Strid on drums. It dives into a rich soundscape that merges elements of hypnotic folk motifs, chamber music and abstract sonic territories, creating a unique listening experience that feels both adventurous and deeply personal.The music draws inspiration ...
read moreTrespass Trio featuring Susana Santos Silva: Live In Oslo
by John Sharpe
Although Swedish saxophonist Martin Küchen is the toast of festival-goers across Europe for the variously sized Angles ensembles he fronts, which revel in sometimes exuberant, sometimes heart-rending riff-fuelled anthems, he also pursues somewhat more somber strands of expression. One involves the sort of adventurous sonic explorations heard on Animal Quotes (Relative Pitch, 2022). But another, and the one heard on Live In Oslo, finds him in small group settings designed to negotiate his often dirge-like compositions. For this ...
read moreTrespass Trio featuring Susana Santos Silva: Live in Oslo
by Mark Corroto
Adding Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva to Swedish saxophonist Martin Küchen's Trespass Trio for the 2018 Blowout Festival in Oslo, Norway was “a no-brainer." The inclusion of her trumpet, which features in ensembles led by Mats Gustafsson, Fred Frith, and Torbjörn Zetterberg, to name but a few, requires little or no thought. It is as if the four previous Clean Feed releases by the Trespass Trio, The Spirit Of Pitești (2017), Human Encore (2013), Bruder Beda (2012), and “---was there ...
read morePat Thomas: Bagman Live At Cafe Oto
by Mike Jurkovic
Cacophony! Cataclysm! Clamor! Construction! Reconstruction! Deconstruction! These are some of the signposts that lie ahead while listening to the relentless siege of Bagman Live at Cafe Oto. The sonic destroyer, British pianist Pat Thomas—who at age 60 is beginning to cut a wider swath through the free jazz world then ever before— spearheads fellow raconteurs, drummer Raymond Strid and saxophonist Sture Ericson, through a senses-clearing blowout of maximum proportions- Call the music what you will, even call it ...
read moreSture Ericson / Pat Thomas / Raymond Strid: Bagman Live At Cafe Oto
by John Sharpe
An improvised set from London's Cafe Oto in 2019 by an Anglo/Swedish trio brings together the piano and electronics of Pat Thomas (Derek Bailey's Company, Blacktop, Shifa), the saxophones of Sture Ericson (Position Alpha, The Electrics) and drums of Raymond Strid (Gush, Tarfala Trio, Barry Guy New Orchestra). After years of familiarity they united under the moniker Bagman in 2018, though this is the outfit's debut. As befits the principals' backgrounds in improv, free jazz and slightly more mainstream fare, ...
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