When heralding Lisa Ullén’s novel approach to piano composition, Bruce Lee Gallanter of the Downtown Music Gallery claimed it would appeal to fans of John Cage and Cecil Taylor alike. Strong praise indeed, but it’s certainly apt given that Ullén is a musician who does not stick to any accepted conventions - structure and form remaining entirely within her domain. Having studied in her native Sweden at Stockholm’s Royal College of Music, Ullén is a devotee of improvisation that centres predominantly on free jazz and avant-garde experimentation – both evident on her latest release, Heirloom.     

Ullén’s versatility is reflected in her choice of collaborators since the 1990s including double bassist Nina de Heney and New-York based South Korean cellist Okkyung Lee on albums such as Look Right, and as part of Space Trio with drummer Anna Lund and bassist Elsa Bergman where she embraced free jazz and contemporary classical. Ullén even leads her own Resistance Orchestra aka Motståndsorkestern releasing the album Sekvenser och Lager in 2018 - the same year as her last solo release Piano Works – 27 pieces that ranged in length from 49 seconds to almost fifteen minutes - and also the same year that she was awarded Swedish radio’s Jazz Composer of the Year.
 

The musician’s latest release is an extraordinary undertaking where she performs the same three pieces of music two days apart at Stockholm’s artist-operated contemporary arts venue Fylkingen. It is apt that Heirloom is her first LP release, each evening’s performance occupying a side of vinyl, but rather than venturing to compare the two performances, it is recommended instead to listen to each of the six pieces as independent compositions.

The first piece is the title track ‘Heirloom’ - a freeform exploration with Ullén emphasising the fact that the piano is an instrument of strings, veering between playing standard notes and striking the strings themselves. Using the entirety of the keyboard, version one centres on lower more foreboding tones, while for version two the higher notes are drawn into the equation. 

The second piece ‘Fragrance ‘is an altogether gentler affair – the title seems absolutely fitting here with Ullén nurturing the piano, straddling melody with melancholy. Never lifting in tempo (which is also true of the album more generally) or passion, this is a haunting but incredibly understated piece. The final composition, ‘After Sun’ is the highlight and interestingly the one in which the piano plays the least part. Starting effortlessly with an understated synthesised crackle, Ullén teases us with strings - white noise continuing to grow as the notes appear unexpectedly from across the tonal spectrum. Toying with us until a third of the way through, the piano enters playing semi-conventional modern classical notations, before resuming in the same way. Version two (as you’re probably getting the gist) is substantially different. 

Heirloom is a fascinating experiment that demands your full attention. Accompanied by a photo of the possessions that Ullén brought from South Korea to Sweden as a young adoptee, this is an exercise in a lifetime of dedication to her art. To find out more