Gustafsson, for all his brash screeching, is a particularly accomplished player with an amazing ability to create snaps, crackles and pops on his baritone. He has lung power to spare but also can tone down the wildness and use understatement to great effect. On Catapult, Gustafsson confounds those listeners who know him as this generation’s Brötzmann. His solo playing (this may be one of only two solo baritone records ever recorded?) is actually gentle and intellectual. Nine themes make up the record including tributes to Albert Ayler and Lars Gullin, folk themes and even two melodies written by Gustafsson’s daughter. What makes the disc especially interesting is the wide tonal range of the baritone and how that range is applied to Gustafsson’s varied techniques. The music is not just melodic or harmonic; it is percussive and ambient as well. An improvisational master class.