2017 · Album
Ljubljana
Recorded 2015 (concert recording) · Clean Feed Records · Produced by Not specified in source material
Two Heavyweights, No Compromise
A muscular wrestling match where neither musician bends, yet both listen with absolute attention.
Ljubljana arrived in 2017 to immediate recognition from the improvisation community. All About Jazz reviewer Mark Corroto called the pairing of Mats Gustafsson and Craig Taborn "an amazing cooperation" with "quite high" wow factor. FJC's Eyal Hareuveni heard it as serious, uncompromising work—"a meeting where some mean blows and kicks were exchanged," with both players refusing to soften their distinct voices for the sake of agreement. This was not a cult record fighting for attention. The critical response was swift and strong.
What made critics respond so immediately is audible throughout: these are two musicians operating at full intensity without any apparent negotiation. Gustafsson's saxophone—dense, physical, sometimes abrasive—meets Taborn's piano (equally assertive, equally unwilling to play accompanist) and neither gives ground. The album captures a concert recorded in 2015, and the live setting matters. You hear two people communicating in real time, responding to each other's gestures while maintaining complete artistic independence. Taborn doesn't cushion Gustafsson's tone, and Gustafsson doesn't defer to piano tradition. They correspond immediately, as reviewers noted, but correspondence here means equal conversation, not accommodation.
For listeners new to either musician, Ljubljana works as proof of concept: here are two masters of spontaneous music at their most engaged. It's not peripheral or for specialists only. It's the sound of professionals taking each other seriously.
