Bengt Nordström
Vinyl Box

Listening notes

Released in 2023 on the Ni-Vu-Ni-Connu label, the Bengt Nordström Vinyl Box is a substantial multi-disc set catalogued as nvnc-lp032/036 + nvnc-ep001. The release spans five LPs and one EP, gathering a considerable body of material under the genres of avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, free jazz, and jazz.

The set is organized across six titled groupings. The first four LPs carry the titles Natural Music, Drastic Plastic, Någonting, and Reality, each presenting extended side-length pieces. Side A of Natural Music runs nearly sixteen minutes with "Bird Notes And Folk Tunes," followed by "Spontaneous Creation" at a similar length on Side B. Drastic Plastic gives over its C side entirely to a three-part Corsica suite clocking in at just over twenty-two minutes. The LP titled Någonting pairs two sides of equal duration, each at 16:43, with the titles "P" and "Någonting." Reality closes the four-LP portion with "Sigurd Rascher Variationer" at nearly eighteen minutes and "Reality" at just over eleven.

The fifth LP, titled To Bengt, shifts noticeably in format. Its two sides collect a larger number of shorter pieces, many bearing Swedish-language titles. These include tracks running under two minutes alongside slightly longer pieces such as "Cellar Fright I" and "Cellar Fright III," as well as three Otterberget pieces and the four-minute "RRRHHMMMM RRRRRRRHHHHMMMMM!" The side J sequence closes with "Flickorna I Småland" at 2:47.

The accompanying EP, When Will The Blues Leave, presents four numbered pieces split across two sides, each running just over four minutes.

The tracklist titles alone — mixing Swedish phrases, location names, phonetic transcriptions, and direct English statements — suggest an idiosyncratic organizational sensibility consistent with the free improvisation and avant-garde jazz genres under which the set is classified. Whether examined as an archival project or a newly assembled collection, the Vinyl Box represents a significant release in terms of sheer scope and runtime within Nordström's discography on this label.