CBVB is the Swedish duo of veteran bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet player-multi-instrumentalist-ethno-musicologist-educator-visual artist Christer Bothén, known by the younger generation from Mats Gustafsson’s Nu Ensemble and the new incarnation of the Fire! Orchestra, and young double bass player Vilhelm Bromander, one of the most interesting musicians in the experimental scene of Stockholm. The two resourceful improvisers have been working together since 2014, focusing on realizing a «highly consistent study of the big instruments’ sounding possibilities».

«Deep» was recorded on August 2015 and offers a suite of five joint compositions and one structured improvisation. It suggests a demanding yet an arresting listening experience. Bothén and Bromander weave rich, resonating textures, but textures that are comprised by highly disciplined, minimalist, patient and quiet movements of microtonal sonic events – delicate, almost transparent pulses and overtones and fleeting interferences, trembling and silences. Both keep searching and researching the dark timbral ranges of their instruments and how their respective sounds – breathes and their echoes, enigmatic winds and deep-toned bowing of the bass strings – and how these sounds blend into an almost tangible, breathing sonic unity.

There are some unpredictable events in this focused flow of microtonal sounds, but none of these events really interfere with this unique, cohesive experience, that keep drawing you deeper and deeper into its untimely dimension. You can only appreciate Bothén (who also did the cover art) and Bromander for their naked, brutal integrity and poetic performance.

Eyal Hareuveni

Christer Bothén (bcl, contrabcl), Vilhelm Bromander (b)