Free Play Productions

Stephen Nachmanovitch: Violectra, viola d’amore, violin, viola, percussion, voice, electronics.
Anders Hagberg: Flute, alto flute, bass flute, contrabass flute, voice, electronics.

“The beauty of playing together is meeting in the One. Anders and I have become friends and collaborators over the years and over the distance between Virginia and Sweden. This is our second album together and the first in which we were playing together in the same room. He visited us in Virginia while on tour in April of 2024. We recorded this album over two days – on the second day was a total eclipse of the sun. We took the cover photo from my back porch at 2 PM and later went back down to the studio to play some more.
The fascinating thing about unscripted improvisation is that it is a form of abstract (you might say universal) art yet is rooted precisely in the moment and place where it is made. The session concluded and we roasted some salmon – hence the Salmon Sessions. Mingling and chanting in the eclipse. Just two people but so many sound words from the abyss of the past – viola d’amore, Burmese gong, contrabass flute. Electronics and archaic sounds.

Now it is 2025 and the world is in turmoil, but we offer you this, from a place of peace. “
– Stephen Nachmanovitch

Recorded in April 2024, in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a total eclipse of the sun.
see video of Blue Riders:

1 – Blue Riders – 4:51
2 – Mind in the Cave – 3:30
3 – Electric Salmon – 3:38
4 – Eclipse – 11:30
5 – Abyss – 2:16
6 – Journey – 9:44
7 – Secret Breath – 3:37
8 – Chant – 3:53
9 – Mingling – 4:45
10 – Gong d'Amore – 6:58

Total time 60 minutes

Stephen Nachmanovitch is an improvisational violinist and composer working across multiple media and art forms. He is the author of two books on the creative process, The Art of Is and Free Play. He has taught and lectured in many countries on creativity and the spiritual and social underpinnings of art, and on the ecology of mind. In the 1970s he was a pioneer in free improvisation on violin, viola and electric violin. He has presented master classes and workshops at many conservatories and universities, and has had numerous appearances on radio, television, and at music and theater festivals. He has collaborated with other artists in media including music, dance, theater, and film, and has developed programs melding art, music, literature, and computer technology.
www.freeplay.com

Anders Hagberg is a Swedish flautist, soprano saxophonist, composer, and professor of musical performance/improvisation at the University of Gothenburg, Academy of Music and Drama (Sweden). He has toured the world both with his own music and as a soloist in many ensembles. Improvisation and interdisciplinary collaborations are key aspects his artistry such as working across genres and cultures as well as with other art forms like dance and visual arts. He has written music for films and dance productions and released a number of albums under his own name. His international collaborators include artists from India, the Middle East, Japan, Brazil, West Africa, the United States, South Korea and Europe.
www.andershagberg.se