Anklam

The debut solo album by Swiss double bassist and composer Fridolin Blumer is unusual even for the rarity-filled catalogue of Carpe Diem Records. As a stylistic counterpoint to the many early music solo albums, “Anklam” is a production of entirely improvised contemporary double bass music that focuses on immediate musical creation in the moment rather than reviving centuries-old compositions. Fridolin Blumer is a jazz musician who has dedicated his entire musical career to exploring music beyond the written score, and even beyond formal musical concepts. His style cannot be easily defined by the conventional understanding of music. His music consists primarily of sounds that develop and move over time, creating structures as they move through and around them. It is not descriptive, it does not attempt to represent something outside itself, it tells no story other than its own. The album is called “Anklam” because it was recorded in the Mecklenburg town of the same name. Fridolin Blumer opens up a wide space of possibilities for understanding and insight by remaining as grounded and elemental as possible. In this way, he creates a work of sound art that is simultaneously spiritual and profoundly human.