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I’m in Vasterås, Sweden, a little city about an hour west of Stockholm, for the Perspectives Festival, curated by saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. The three-day event kicked off Thursday with a packed program, and there’s lots more today and tomorrow–a dynamic mixture of free jazz, noise, experimental electronics, and improvised music. Naturally the lineup is heavy on European talent, but there are some notable Americans on the schedule, including trumpeter Peter Evans, who plays solo, bassist Darin Gray and drummer Chris Corsano (in a trio with legendary Japanese free-jazz saxophonist Akira Sakata), pianist Marilyn Crispell, and noisy improv behemoth Borbetomagus. It’s hard to imagine a festival like this taking place anywhere in the U.S. right now, but the economic crisis is crunching Europe too–who knows if this biannual festival will be back in 2011. The panelists at an opening seminar moderated by Reader contributor John Corbett, who included several European label owners, did their best to put a positive spin on the collapsing record business, but nobody seemed too encouraged.
