Dancing to Robert Wyatt

The dancer Paulo Ribeiro used "Insensatez", from Robert Wyatt´s album "Cuckooland" (2003), in his solo show "Sem um tu não pode haver um eu" (2013).

Info from Teatro Viriato here, and a promo video on Vimeo here.

Skadedyr

Check out the Norwegian band Skadedyr, and their album "Kongekrabbe" (Hubro 2013, int. release 10 January 2014), if you like hard-to-classify music, in the area of impro and jazz. It swings, it rocks and it makes some noise, and it´s great fun too, like the track "Partylus", sounding like the soundtrack to a wild party where people fight to play their favorite records.

"Skadedyr" is the Norwegian word for vermin, and four out of five track titles play with the word "lus", meaning lice. The album´s title is the kind of crab you see on the cover!
This band must be a treat in concert, as long as they don´t bring any vermin along.

According to the record company, Anja Lauvdal and Heida Katine Johannesdottir Mobeck are the driving forces behind the album, but they have a bunch of musicians to help out: Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson, Hans Hulbækmo, Torstein Lavik Larsen, Joakim Heibø, Ida Løvli Hidle, Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø, Adrian Løseth Waade, Ina Sagstuen, Lars Ove Fossheim and Marius Klovning.

Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses Feat. Susanna Wallumrød

Now this is a concert I really would have liked to attend!
Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses Feat. Susanna Wallumrød in Trondheim´s cathedral, Nidarosdomen, August 2013.

Øystein Moen is on keyboards and Erland Dahlen plays the drums.

Duos on Rune

I´m a bit late with these two albums on Rune Grammofon, but finally having had time to listen, consider this a recommendation of the two, and check them out yourselves!
And with great music, you are never too early or too late. True?



Evan Parker & Joe McPhee: "What/If/They Both Could Fly" (Rune 2013) is a recording from the Kongsberg Jazz Festival 2012, and you may even watch a few minutes from the concert in the video above.



James Plotkin & Paal Nilssen-Love: "Death Rattle" (Rune 2013) is a wild, raw and fantastic guitar - drum duo album! Just listen to the track "The Skin, The Colour", worth the money by itself!

Pulp Fiction Meets Ivor Cutler

Cockadoodledon´t!

Canterburied Sounds

Voiceprint / Floating World have rereleased "Canterburied Sounds", originally 4 CDs released by Voiceprint in 1998.

What you get is historical material from the archives of Brian Hopper, documenting the very early stages of the Canterbury scene.

Robert Wyatt is of course present on a lot of tracks, see which ones in glorious black over at Un Discographie de Robert Wyatt.

For the more than average interested Canterbury fan.

December Video Festival

Gare Du Nord from Lotta Melin on Vimeo.

I have been surfing YouTube and Vimeo a lot these last days, to catch up after my lost autumn in hospital.
Here is a selection of jazz, imrov, noise and dance for you.

- Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang and Ingar Zach at the Nefertiti 6 Dec 2013.
- Mary Halvorson, Peter Evans and Weasel Walter - Dither Extravaganza - Gowanus Lofts 26 Oct 2013.
- C Spencer Yeh, Chris Corsano and Stine Janvin Motland at Wels Unlimited 9 Nov 2013.
- Lasse Marhaug & Kjell Bjørgengen at Wels Unlimited 8 Nov 2013.
- "Gare Du Nord". Coreography Lotta Melin. Music Maja Ratkje.

Gharbzadegi cover

Here is a cover of Robert Wyatt´s "Gharbzadegi" (from "Old Rottenhat" 1985) by Carmine.
It was originally recorded in 2000, but never released until now.

Musicians: Théo Jarrier (dr), Olivier Roueff (sax) and Julien Retaillaud (voc, keyb, g).

Free download on Bandcamp.

Théo Ceccaldi Trio and Joëlle Léandre

Oh my! Please watch this video with Théo Ceccaldi Trio and Joëlle Léandre live at La Dynamo 10 December 2013!
The trio is new to me, but I have had the pleasure of hearing Joelle Leandre a couple of times at the Molde International Jazz Festival (with Maja Ratkje and Spunk).

I think all of us better check out the new album on Ayler Records: Théo Ceccaldi Trio + Joëlle Léandre - "Can You Smile?" (2013).

Robert Wyatt "`68" (Cuneiform 2013) (part 2)

One of the really nice surprises in 2013, was the release of Robert Wyatt´s old stuff on "`68" (Cuneiform)!

We had a blog post on the album back in October, and here is just a follow-up, so you may see and compare the CD and vinyl versions. There are different pictures on the sleeve (back) and in the CD booklet versus the LP inlay, with Aymeric Leroy´s interview with Robert Wyatt from December 2012.

The radio edit of the track "Rivmic Melodies" is not on the vinyl album, but you get it by using the download code. The track is not listed on the sleeve of the CD either, but it´s there for sure.

The white vinyl album (500 copies) is sold out, but you may buy CD or downloads, or pre-order a blue vinyl version (500 copies) on Cuneiform´s Bandcamp site.

Merry Christmas to All of You!

Bugge Wesseltoft plays "What Child is This ~ Greensleves" at Bergen Jazzforum 8 December 2013.

Robert Wyatt stencils

Argentine street artist M. has made some Robert Wyatt stencils.

Check out his drawings and stencils on Flickr.

Charles Bradley: "Changes"

How about a Black Sabbath cover today?

Here´s soul man Charles Bradley (featuring The Budos Band) with "Changes". It was released as a 7" for Record Store Day not long ago, and Daptone Records uploaded it on SoundCloud.

All Ears 2014

Oslo´s great All Ears festival 2014 is happening 9-12 January.
Unfortunately I´m not able to go, but recommend the festival, both for the music (impro, noise ++) and the atmosphere.

9 January:
Kim Myhr / Axel Dörner
Jooklo Duo
Ken Vandermark

10 January:
Lasse Marhaug in conversation with Thurston Moore
Ståle Liavik Solberg / John Russell
Pär Thörn
Great Waitress
Aspec(t)
Thurston Moore / Pika

11 January:
Rob Young in conversation with John Tilbury and Eddie Prevost
Elisabeth Harnik
Frode Gjerstad / Monkey Plot
Thurston Moore
Kjetil Hanssen / Ronny Wærnes / Pika
Selvhenter / Staer

12 January:
Agnes Hvizdalek
Ken Vandermark / John Tilbury / Eddie Prevost

Bone: The Gift of Purpose

The Bone´s album "The Gift of Purpose [Hopper Family Benefit Album]" is now on Bandcamp.

From Bandcamp:
"Cuneiform has collaborated with two members of the Bone trio – guitarist Nick Didkovsky and drummer John Roulat – to release a benefit album to help the family of Bone's third member: bassist Hugh Hopper, who died of leukemia in 2009. Hugh was known to many as the legendary bassist for Soft Machine. The album is called 'The Gift of Purpose,' and features a live concert that Bone performed at Baltimore's Orion Sound Studios on Feb. 16, 2008, during Hopper's last tour of the States, in addition to a bonus track by Didkovsky, Roulat, Colin Marston (Behold....the Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Krallice) and Daevid Allen (Gong, Soft Machine, etc)".

Pay $7:99 or more.

Hello again, I'm probably back

Just a short notice to explain the lack of postings in the blog, and other social media.

I don't want to go into details online, and want no fuzz about it, but I have been seriously ill, and hospitalized for two months.

I'm working my way back online, and back on my feet, and thanks to fantastic health workers on all levels (and lots of other people too), I seem to have got a second chance.

I won't be able to attend concerts as often as I wish the next months, so you have to go instead of me!

Enjoy life!

Best wishes

Svenn

News from Rune

Two new ones and one upcoming on Rune Grammofon

Evan Parker & Joe McPhee: "What/If/They Both Could Fly":



James Plotkin & Paal Nilssen-Love: "Death":



Bushman´s Revenge: "Thou Shalt Boogie!"

The Thing XXL live at Jazz em Agosto 2013

Check out The Thing XXL live at Jazz em Agosto (Portugal) 2013, playing "India".

Mats Gustafsson - Sax
Peter Evans - Trumpet
Mats Äleklint - Trombone
Terrie Ex - Guitar
Jim Baker - Keyboards
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - Bass
Paal Nilssen-Love - Drums

Maja S. K. Ratkje live at the Punkt festival 2013

Maja S. K. Ratkje with live video work by Tord Knudsen. Introduction by Dave Mullan. Filmed by IJ Biermann. Full concert.

Great music! Great lights!

Robert Wyatt "´68" (Cuneiform 2013)

Now folks, will you please find your credit cards and start ordering!
Cuneiform just released what Robert Wyatt calls  "The missing links in my life's work, no less!"

The album "´68" has 5 tracks of demos made by Robert Wyatt in USA, after the Soft Machine tour with Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1968.
The music ended up in different forms on recordings by Soft Machine and Matching Mole, and lots of the music on ´68 is being released here for the first time.

Read more and order over at Cuneiform´s Bandcamp, and check out Aymeric Leroy´s interview with Robert Wyatt when you get your records.

Tracks:
1. Chelsa [Robert Wyatt/Kevin Ayers] 5:00
2. Rivmic Melodies [Robert Wyatt] 18:17
3. Slow Walkin' Talk [Brian Hopper] 3:00
4. Moon In June [Robert Wyatt] 20:33
5. Rivmic Melodies [Robert Wyatt] "Radio" edit 05:33

Musicians:
Robert Wyatt: vocals, piano, electric piano, hammond organ, bass, drums, percussion with
Jimi Hendrix: bass ("Slow Walkin' Talk")
Hugh Hopper: bass (second half of "Moon In June")
Mike Ratledge: Lowrey organ (second half of "Moon In June")

Arve Henriksen and Supersilent

Here you get Arve Henriksen (trumpet, vocal) at Jazzhouse Copenhagen (9 October 2013), with Jan Bang (live sampling), Audun Kleive (percussion), Ingar Zach (percussion) and Helge Andreas Norbakken (percussion), and Supersilent with Stian Westerhus Live at Paradox, Incubate Festival, Tilburg (17 September 2013).

Supersilent is Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken and Helge Sten.

Malala

Malala didn´t get The Nobel Peace Prize, but here is a tribute from Bergen street artist Habitus.

The heading means "Listen".

The stencil was part of a short lasting container street art exhibition.

Parker, Formanek, Alcorn live in Baltimore

Evan Parker (sax),  Michael Formanek (b) and Susan Alcorn (pedal steel) live at the Windup Space in Baltimore Maryland (September 29, 2013).

Fujii, Wildenhahn, Tamura and Dueñas live at Spectrum

How about some dancing on a Friday night?

Join Satoko Fujii (p), Mizuki Wildenhahn (dance), Natsuki Tamura (tp) and Fain S. Dueñas (dr) at Spectrum (where?) 27 August 2013.

You will find more over at Kjreilly´s account on YouTube.

Gunhild Seim

For those of you collecting Robert Wyatt references, here is another one. Norwegian jazz magazine Jazznytt (no 3, 2013) hear elements of Soft Machine and Robert Wyatt on Gunhild Seim´s album "Story Water" (Drollehålå 2013).

OK, if I might agree to some extent. The track "A dream within a dream" embedded here, is not a typical one, as if any of the tracks are (think rock, jazz, pop and lots more!), but the track "Pale sunlight" just might have been a Robert Wyatt song.

This live recording is a commissioned work for the Vossajazz festival  in 2012.

Musicians: Gunhild Seim (trumpet, percussion, vocals), Trym Bjønnes (vocals, guitar), Klaus Ellerhusen Holm (clarinet, baritone sax), Petter Frost Fadnes (c-mel sax, baritone sax), Vidar Schanche (guitar, vocals), and Ståle Birkeland (drums, electronics, vocals).

A highly recommended album.

Read a review over at Bird is the Worm.

Langham Research Centre and Peter Blegvad

See a fragment of the performance of "Eschatology" by Langham Research Centre (Felix Carey, Iain Chambers, Philip Tagney, Robert Worby) and Peter Blegvad at Café Oto 2 October 2013 over on YouTube.

I was lucky to see the same people at the Borealis Festival in Bergen in March.

Nile Rodgers presents "7x7"

We have already had several blog posts on Belgian artist Jean Pierre Muller´s project "7X7" from 2012 (here is one).

The project involved Robert Wyatt, Terry Riley, Nile Rodgers, Archie Shepp and others.

Here is a "new" video on the project.

Va Fongool

I was preparing a blog post on the three first promising releases on Va Fongool this autumn (Christian Winther/Christian Meaas Svendsen, As Deafness Increases and Lana Trio) when I suddenly noticed some sad tweets saying that one of Va Fongool´s main men, Eirik Tofte, had passed away.

May he rest in peace!

As Anders Holm Ingeelsrud of Va Fongool says on their site and on Facebook:
"Needless to say, all releases has been postponed untill further notice".

Fred Frith´s Gravity

Check out this great video from Fred Frith´s Gravity performance at Roulette (NYC) 20 September 2013.

They play "Terrain", dedicated to Lindsay Cooper (1951 - 2013).

"Gravity" was released by Ralph in 1980, and I just have to track down the original soon, with the Alfreda Benge cover. Promise!

"Terrain" was on the Art Bears album "Hopes and Fears" (Recommended 1978), on which Lindsay Cooper played, and on the 1990 CD reissue of "Gravity".

According to Roulette Events, the band is:

Fred Frith, guitar/electric bass
with
Marie Abe, accordion
Myles Boisen, sound
Jordan Glenn, drums
Kaethe Hostetter, violin
Kasey Knudsen, alto sax
Dominique Leone, keyboards
Ava Mendoza, guitar
Lisa Mezzacappa, bass
Aaron Novik, clarinet/bass clarinet
William Winant, percussion
Wobbly, sampling

Via YouTube.

Lo´Jo

Lo'Jo and Guo Gan on Tour in China and Vietnam - June 2013

Music from "Cinéma el Mundo" with Robert Wyatt.

More info on YouTube.

A Doll´s House

[TRANSART13] A doll's house (selection) from VISUAL COMMUNICATION PROJECT on Vimeo.

Maja S. K. Ratkje and Frode Haltli perform "A Doll´s House" at Transart in Bolzano (It) 24 September 2013.

Espen Reinertsen: "Forgaflingspop"

Espen Reinertsen (sax, misc) has visited the blog before as a member of the slow impro bands Koboku Senju and Streifenjunko.

I think you might like his new album "Forgaflingspop" too, where he still is improvising, but also delivers some very charming pop tunes!
Be warned, all lyrics are in Norwegian, but if you are like me, the atmosphere of the song is still worth a lot, even if you can´t catch the meaning of the words.

The Album title is "Forgaflingspop". Now "Gaffel" is fork and "Forgafling" might mean using your fork too much? Not that it makes much sense too me, but it´s a nice sounding word!

The track titles are also in Norwegian, and Google Translate might even manage some of them.

Additional musicians:
Erik Nylander - acoustic drums and percussion, assistant programming and recording
Eivind Lønning - trumpet, flugelhorn and mellophone.

Listen and buy for next to nothing on Bandcamp.

Bob Marley in Bergen

Trompetut

Norwegian speaking visitors, might want to check out my new blog Trompetut (or perhaps not?), where I will post stuff happening in Bergen (art, literature, street art, etc), that I feel will be too much in Robert Wyatt and Stuff.

There will be almost no parallel postings on Trompetut and Robert Wyatt and Stuff.

Everything Robert Wyatt will of course  be posted here!

Per Jørgensen and Friends

Per Jørgensen and Friends did a great concert at Bergen Jazzforum Friday evening.

The band improvised around sketches by trumpeter and vocalist Jørgensen, with a couple of this blogger´s favorites, Terje Isungset (dr, perc, wood, stones etc) and Sigbjørn Apeland (harmonium, organ) in focus.

The band is Per Jørgensen (tp, voc), Sigbjørn Apeland (organ, harmonium), Morten Qvenild (keyb), Morten Skage (el-bass) and Terje Isungset (dr, perc), and they (probably?) did their first concert at Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2012, but they don´t seem to have released any recorded material.

I might have missed some info this Sunday morning, but Terje Isungset seems to be the only one of the musicians doing some promo on the net, managing his own site.

Don´t miss these guys if you have a chance to hear them.

Organize your own PUNKT festival

I didn´t make it to the PUNKT festival of Kristiansand (No) this year, so I have compensated by listening quite a lot to the new albums from Arve Henriksen and Jan Bang.

If you buy Henriksen´s "Places of Worship" (Rune Grammofon 2013) and Bang´s "Narrative from the Subtropics" (Jazzland 2013), you will have most of the central members of the PUNKT gang on two discs. I recommend both of them!

Arve Henriksen is taking us to different places of worship, with titles like "The Sacristan", "Abandoned Cathedral" og "La Cimetière Marin", together with Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Lars Danielson, Stahlquartett, Eivind Aarset, Jon Balke, Ingar Zach. Beautiful music with a dark edge to it, and the album ends with the touching "Shelter from the storm" with Erik Honoré singing.

Jan Bang is traveling the Subtropics this time, on "Narrative from the Subtropics" (Jazzland 2013), presenting 13 pretty short tracks of intense music, using both poetry reading (in Norwegian by Nils Chr. Moe-Repstad), traditional Estonian singing (Tuule Kann) and a bunch of great musicians. the full list of participants: Jan Bang, Lars Danielsson, Sidsel Endresen, Dai Fujikura, Tigran Hamsayan, Arve Henriksen, Erik Honoré, Robert Jürjendal, Tuule Kann, Nils Petter Molvær, Nils Chr. Moe- Repstad)Undark, Stian Westerhus, Eivind Aarset and David Soler.

If you want to read some more than my short message, here are the AAJ reviews of "Narrative from the Subtropic" and "Places of worship".

Rune Grammofon gave me a CD version of the Arve Henriksen album too, when I bought the LP, Jazzland didn´t even offer a download code with the vinyl. Now who won that competition?

1967

One of my standing searches for Robert Wyatt news on Google (Google 15 years today - hurrah!) suggested that I read David Stuart Ryan´s new book "1967" (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2013).

It´s a novel happening in England in the year 1967 of course, one chapter for each month, with the standard ingredients sex, drugs and rock & roll, matched with well known happenings, like the Rolling Stones drug bust and the Beatles meeting the Maharishi. You have read it all before I guess.

What caught my eye was taken from the chapter "September", where we are at The Roundhouse with Paul and Sylvie for The UFO Festival:

"Just after midnight came another assault on the senses from The Soft Machine, the drummer, Robert Wyatt, stripped to the waist as he worked himself up into a frenzy of powerful ecstatic rhythm that forced Sylvie and Paul to re-enact their mating dance all over again" - and later - "...she moved fluidly to the surging rhythm of the bass guitar, the lead guitar and the crashing drumming in the background as The Soft Machine played "Hope for Happiness" at full volume right next to them on the stage....".

According to both Michael King´s "Wrong Movements. A history of Robert Wyatt" (1994) and Graham Bennett´s "Soft Machine. Out-Bloody-Rageous" (2005) Soft Machine played this concert September 9 on the same bill as Pink Floyd, The Move and Denny Laine, while Ryan throws in Arthur Brown instead of Laine. For the show I guess?

Soft Machine shared a bill with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" a couple of times in June this year.

Any old timers visiting, who were present at any of the shows mentioned here?

I´m Not the Loving Kind

Mark Lanegan covers John Cale´s "I´m not the loving kind" on his new album "Imitations" (Heavenly Recordings 2013).

"Im not the loving kind" was first released on John Cale´s album "Slow Dazzle" (Island 1975).

Visit Mark Lanegan´s site.

The video was directed by Andrew Van Baal.

Stop this cupid war!

A message from Argus.

Arp

Arp is New York musician Alexis Georgopoulos.

His new album "More" is just Out on Smalltown, and what caught my eye was this description: "..an album that could soundtrack a tea party at which Pink Floyd and Robert Wyatt are creaming the scones, while Sparks pour the tea", and in fact - why not?

Listen and read some more over at Fader, or head on over to Smalltown´s Soundcloud. Some snappy tunes there.

Bleeding Edge Trio

Evan Parker (ts, ss), Okkyung Lee (cello), Peter Evans (tp) at The Stone, NYC - Sept 19 2013.

Thanks to Don Mount´s YouTube channel.

Cruising with Beffen

I love the strange, small scale concerts that are happening around Bergen!

Yesterday we went on a concert trip on Bergen´s famous boat Beffen (room for 20 people and 3 musicians), listening to Ensemble Avgarde, being Øyvind Skarbø (dr, perc), Jostein Stalheim (acc) and Sigurd F. Olsen (viola). The fourth instrument was the boat itself, and captain Kåre Solvang was a master playing the motor!

We also went ashore for some coffee, listening to works by composers Rebecka Sofia Ahvenniemi and Bjørn Bolstad Skjelbred, and ended up in a quite posh bar to finish the evening.
Playing contemporary music in a bar with Saturday drinkers? I´m not convinced about that part being wise.

Avgarde is the Bergen concerts series for contemporary music.

Jenny Hval covers Paul Simon

Jenny Hval sings Paul Simon´s "The Cool, Cool River" (1990).
According to a message on Twitter it was recorded on her phone, for a compilation for Cokemachineglow.

More Jenny Hval sounds on SoundCloud.

Lindsay Cooper (1951 - 2013) RIP

Sad news indeed: Lindsay Cooper died yesterday, 62 years old.

She played bassoon and oboe with Henry Cow and Slapp Happy/Henry Cow, and if you have a record collection with Canterbury related bands, she is probably on a lot of them too (Art Bears, Steve Hillage, Hatfield And the North, Egg, etc etc).

- A message on her death from Chris Cutler on Prog Archives.
- Biographies on Calyx and Wikipedia.
- Lindsay Cooper discography.

I had a blog post on her 28 June, starting with "Let´s hear it for Lindsay Cooper..", today I say Rest In Peace.

What? No Evan Parker Biography?

I was hoping to read Peter Urpeth´s crowdfunded biography of Evan Parker in not too long.

The book, titled "The Intensity Of Purpose", has been mentioned in the blog a couple of times (see here, and The Wire too), but now it seems like the book failed to reach it´s goal over at Unbound (the publishing platform).

Let´s hope the book gets funded in one way or the other!

In the video: Evan Parker, John Edwards and John Russell at the Vortex (London) (2013).

Nuance

Nuance from Marc-Antoine Locatelli on Vimeo.

I found this video of Lucas Boirat dancing with lights over at Colossal (great site!), and just have to post it here too.

Music: “Ants” de EdIT / Planet Mu Records
Video: Marc-Antoine Locatelli

Argus and Yatzy

Bergen street artists Argus and Yatzy seem to have made their own outdoor gallery, and Argus has some views on the location in his own blog too.

You might have seen some of the motives in this blog before, but anyway the first two photos focus on Yatzy, the next two on Argus. And as always, click on them to get larger versions.

Shining: I Won´t Forget

It´s Monday and I need a kick in the butt from Shining, to get the rest of the week on track.

Here they are doing "I Won´t Forget", from their latest album "One One One" (2013), recorded by NRK P3´ in Oslo. More info on YouTube.

They are playing eight concerts in USA, starting tomorrow:

9/17 Brooklyn, NY -- Saint Vitus
http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/eve...

9/18 Montreal, QC -- Les Foufounes Electriques
https://gtn.ticketabc.com/events/shin...

9/19 Toronto, ON -- Wreck Room
http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/eve...

9/20 Chicago, IL -- Reggie's (W/ Without Waves)
www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/356333/

9/23 Denver, CO -- Marquis Theater
http://tinyurl.com/ShiningDenver

9/25 Santa Ana, CA -- Observatory
http://tinyurl.com/ShiningSantaAna

9/26 San Francisco, CA -- Slim's
http://tickets.slims-sf.com/events/34...

9/28 Los Angeles, CA -- Roxy Theater (W/ Chameleon Conductor)
www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/349699/

Julia Holter

I gave in trying to make a list of all the people who say that they are inspired by Robert Wyatt, or are compared to the man. There are so many, and I have to admit that can´t always see the connection.
The last one I saw in Norwegian was something like "he sounds like a mix between Leonard Cohen and Robert Wyatt"! Now beat that one!

When it comes to Julia Holter I see the point! I know her two fine pop albums "Ekstasis" (RVNG 2012) and "Loud City Songs" (Domino 2013), and I think Robert Wyatt might have sung some of the songs if he wanted to, or they even resemble some he already did.

Listening to (among others) "World" (in the video) or "City Appearing" from "Loud City Songs", made me think of Anja Garbarek´s "The Diver" (Wyatt sings on her "Smiling & Waving" album), and perhaps "Stay Tuned" too (Wyatt covers it on "Comicopera").

Here is Julia Holter from Amby (July 2013) - Gimme Your Answers: An Interview w/ Julia Holter:

AMBY: Who influences you as a songwriter and musician?

Julia Holter: A lot of people–Joni Mitchell, Guillaume De Machaut, Robert Ashley, Robert Wyatt.

Sigbjørn Apeland and Stephan Meidell

Do we have a new duo in the making?
Friday night I heard Sigbjørn Apeland (organ) and Stephan Meidell (acoustic guitar) play a beautiful set at the Bontelabo venue in Bergen, an old industrial hall with great acoustics.
Apeland mostly playing the organ this night, not deconstructing the instrument or attacking it in various ways, while Meidell mistreated his guitar by playing not only the strings, but dragging the guitar along the floor to make the sounds needed.

The same evening we also got to hear the singers Mari Kvien Brunvoll, Eva Pfitzenmaier and Johanne Birkeland perform in almost complete darkness, moving around the hall using the acoustics of the hall as their instrument.

A fine Friday night in Bergen.

Marc Ribot and Matana Roberts

The Friday video is with Marc Ribot and Matana Roberts at the Issue Project Room (NY)
(12 september 2013).

It seems like this was the encore at the end of a solo Marc Ribot concert. John Leon has got more for you on YouTube.

Kaboom Karavan x 2

Miasmah recently released two albums by Kaboom Karavan. "Short Walk with Olaf" is a re-release of the debut from 2007 and "Hokus Fokus" is brand new. All music: Bram Bosteels.


Since I always have a hard time describing the great music on Miasmah, let´s hear it from the company:

On "Short Walk with Olaf" - "Mixing influences from the Electronica and Ambient scene with Americana, Free Folk and Avant-Garde Jazz to name but a few, Short walk with Olaf is first of all an incredibly beautiful and mystical piece of work that should fall in taste with everyone interested in film music, travels, small villages & deserted places. Olaf finds his place somewhere between the atmosphere of Jim Jarmousch films, Lounge Lizards and Volcano the Bear and is a great starting point for getting into the strange sound world of Kaboom Karavan".

On "Hokus Fokus" - "Listening to Hokus Fokus feels like staring frozenly into a postcard sent from your long-lost uncle that went missing in the Amazon after an expedition gone-wrong (circa year 1935). Merge this image with the decaying sounds of an old Tom Waitz record slowly tuning out in the background and your getting close. This is not instantly gratifiable music, but rather a thick fog of details, sounds and atmospheres blended together with utmost precision and skill to create something quite unique that really shines with repeated listening and full immersion".

And I really like their 2011 release "Barra Barra" (Miasmah 2011) too.

Still in doubt? Check out the Miasmah sounds on SoundCloud.

Mary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea (Firehouse12)

Mary Halvorson Septet´s new album "Illusionary Sea" was released on Firehouse 12 today, and it´s sounding great!

Let´s cite Firehouse 12: "Halvorson closes the recording with a surprise, paying tribute to one of her musical heroes, Robert Wyatt. Her exquisite arrangement of "Nairam" - penned by Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine and recorded under the title "Maryan" on Wyatt's album Shleep - is the first cover to appear of any of Halvorson's albums as leader."

The septet:
Jonathan Finlayson - trumpet
Jon Irabagon - alto saxophone
Ingrid Laubrock - tenor saxophone
Jacob Garchik - trombone
Mary Halvorson - guitar
John Hébert - bass
Ches Smith - drums

Why don´t you run over to Firehouse 12 to buy the album (or just listen, if you don´t like it here)?

And the Mary Halvorson - Robert Wyatt connection is not quite new. AAJ says this about her previous album on Firehouse 12, "Saturn Sings" (2010): "The harmonies, says Halvorson, were influenced by such diverse inspirations as trumpeter Clifford Brown, singers Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye, pianist Thelonious Monk, saxophonist Archie Shepp and composers Alexander Scriabin, Dmitri Shostakovich and Robert Wyatt".

Buskin´ for Lol Coxhill

The French library La librairie Compagnon is paying homage to Lol Coxhill (1932 - 2012).

They will stage a solo concert with Jean-Philippe Ramos (20 Sept.), whom we know from the solo project "The chansons of Robert Wyatt et moi..." (now turned into a trio).

A bit off track for me this library, you will find their address on Facebook.

Reel Recordings

What happened? Is it over for Reel Recordings? What a pity!

It seems so from a posting over at "Hibou, Anemone and Bear", and the The Reel Recordings site even seems to be down today.

A bit more on their releases over here (Forced Exposure).
In my picture: The records with Robert Wyatt participating.

And please comment if you know some more.

TJO and Marius Neset

You may have noticed that i try to promote a lot of Norwegian musicians? Well, here is one I have hardly mentioned, and the only one that people have been asking for posts on!

Finally, meet Norwegian sax-man Marius Neset, here with the great Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, playing at Bergen Jazzforum 6 September.

Musicians: Marius Neset, Eivind Lønning, Erik Eilertsen, Erik Johannessen, Daniel herskedal, Peter Fuglesang, Hanna Paulsberg, Eirik Hegdal, Jovan Pavlovic, Espen B, Petter Eldh and Gard Nilssen.

See also Jazz Peter´s YouTube for videos of the same gang at Jazzhouse, Copenhagen
(4 September).


Added 11 September: Another video was uploaded to YouTube toda (23 min.) - check here.

Borealis 2013: Notation Project

Borealis: 2013: Notation Project Documentation Film from Borealis Festival on Vimeo.

This one is for those of you (both of you?) interested in graphic scores.

Bergen´s (and the world´s!) Borealis Festival present their Notation Project, and if you have read this blog regularly, you will perhaps recognize several of the people being interviewed.

My photos from the 2013 Borealis Festival are on Flickr.

Sorry, here is Ylvis

The crazy Bergen comedians Ylvis seem to be conquering the world with their latest video "The Fox". Gangnam style a la Norway?

You might as well hear it from me, and for good measure I´ll throw in their "Stonehenge" video too.

It might be even more difficult to hear Norwegian "pop stars" sing English lyrics after this blog post.

Interrupting Cutler

Sunday we had a post on an old Franz Ferdinand song ("Jacqueline"), partly inspired by Ivor Cutler, and today some more old Ivor Cutler news (news to me at least)!

In 2003 The Brian Irvine Ensemble released the CD "Interrupting Cutler" (Coyote Records), a fine mix of some kind of funky party free jazz, with several short tracks where they "interrupt" Ivor Cutler on vocal samples from the Cutler album "A wet handle" (Creation 1997).

Find musicians and tracklist over at Discogs, and visit Brian Irvines´site.

"Interrupting Cutler" won the BBC Jazz Awards for best new work in 2003.

Three Trapped Tigers at PUNKT 2012

The Punkt Festival in Kristiansand is starting tomorrow (6 - 8 September).

I´m not going this year, but let´s get a PUNKT feeling anyway in the blog, with Three Trapped Tigers in concert, and a remix by Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang, Eivind Aarset and Erik Honoré from the 2012 festival (posted on YouTube by Jazzland).

Snowden and Manning

Both Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning have been observed on the streets of Bergen lately.

Here you see Snowden on the (not to bullet proof) Stars & Stripes, made by unknown artist, and the blue pair made by Bergen´s most active street artist, Argus.

More Argus on Flickr.

Northern Sounds

Trailer for documentary Northern sounds from Tarquinia Films on Vimeo.

How about this? A movie on "Northern Sounds" - "a road-movie on the trail of the Nordic music scene", available on Vimeo on Demand. I might watch this one.

Directed by Alain Boegner.

Part 1: Norway-Sweden
with Mental Overdrive, Bugge Wesseltoft, Katzenjammer, Thomas Dybdahl, Ost & Kjex, Mari Boine, Dungen, Wildbirds &Peacedrums, Junip feat. José Gonzaléz.

Part 2: Denmark-Sweden (Malmö)-Finland-Iceland
with Who Made Who, Under Byen, Peter Von Poehl, Grand Avenue, Cirkus feat. Neneh Cherry, Olafur Arnalds Ben Frost, Finntroll, Eternal Erection, Lau Nau, Gus Gus.

Jacqueline

Oh my, I´m slow! Am I the last person to realize that the Franz Ferdinand song "Jacqueline" is (partly) about Ivor Cutler?

Read "Ivor, my inspiration", Alex Kapranos´ piece on Ivor Cutler, published in The Guardian in April 2005. He says this about his friend Jacqueline, who visited Ivor Cutler at home:

"She described the scene to me of how she rejected him outright because he was just an old man. She said: "Why would I possibly be romantically interested in you?" And he replied: "You see me just as an old man, but I'm looking at you with the same eyes that I had as a young man." That was the inspiration for our song, Jacqueline, looking out through one set of eyes and seeing yourself reflected as you actually are in the gaze that comes back at you".

Arild Andersen

Today a nod to bass player Arild Andersen for sharing videos on his own YouTube channel.

In this blog post you see and hear Arild Andersen (b), Paolo Vinaccia (dr) and Tommy Smith (sax) play "Blussy".

DOLK: Wildlife (Bergen, Aug - Nov 2013)

Bergen Street Artist DOLK opened his first exhibition in Bergen yesterday, at Galleri s.e.
From the top: "Puppy Love" (installation, Russian wolf "meets" Star Wars) with "Comfort Zone" in the background), Che (cutout) and "Jesus" and "Superman Toy".

More photos from the opening on Flickr.

Kevin Ayers, Eulogy by Galen Ayers

Listen to Galen Ayers wonderful speech about her father, during the Kevin Ayers Memorial Event at Cafe Sa Fonda, Deià, Majorca, 16th August 2013.

You will find more info on kevinayers.org and on YouTube, and since we are in Deià here, don't forget to look for "Tuning up at Dawn. A memoir of music and Majorca" by Tomás Graves (Harper Perennial 2005).

Angles 10 - Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden

Angles 10 - Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 25 August 2013!

Musicians (from YouTube):
Martin Küchen - alto saxophone
Magnus Broo, Goran Kajfes -trumpet
Eirik Hegdal - bariton + sopranino sax
Mats Äleklint-trombone
Alexander Zethson - piano
Johan Berthling-bass
Mattias Stahl - vibes
Andreas Werliin - drums
Kjell Nordeson - drums

Please check out the Angles and Angles 8 albums on Clean Feed too!

Festivals in Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand and Oslo

Some autumn festivals happening in Norway, all of them probably worth a visit:

- Bergen Assembly 2013. An Initiative for Art and Research (August 31 - October 27).

- Nuart, the Stavanger street art festival (September 7 - October 20).

- Punkt festival in Kristiansand (6 - 8 September).

- Ultima - Oslo contemporary music festival (5 - 14 September).

Yodok

The Trondheim based musicians Kristoffer Lo (tuba) and Tomas Järmyr (dr) are the duo Yodok.

They recently released their first full length album ("#2") of "improvised doom" (as the label calls it) on The Perfect Hoax.

The one track album lasts for 76 minutes, where they build layers of sound using tuba and drums (not sounding like tuba and drums for long stretches) and electronics for 30 minutes, making a break with some minutes of a more stripped down musical landscape, before they go into massive droning (Sunn O, Earth?), and finally some real banging the drums too, after 50 minutes or so.

Ouch, that was boring description! You better listen to it, to hear that it is a great record, from musicians who seem to be able to play "all kinds" of music! Check out their bands and projects on their web sites to be convinced!

Wyatting blog put to rest

My Norwegian Wyatting blog has been put to rest, after seven years of almost daily updates.

I must say I already regret it a bit, but updating two blogs was a bit too much.

Bear with me if some local Bergen stuff (not related to music you might be interested in) pop up here from time to time, will you, and try not to look at the Norwegian labels that may find their way in between the English ones at the bottom of the posts (see previous post to get an idea - "utstillinger" being the same as "exhibitions").

Damn right! Norwegian Wood?

I visited what may become a new exciting venue in Bergen yesterday ("Bontelabo"), originally a cold storage building for fish, to see the group exhibition "Life is the only way".

How about Bogotá artist Humberto Junca Casas combining logotypes of Norwegian black metal bands (pictured here Burzum and Enslaved) and drawings of violent events in Colombia´s recent history? All done on old Colombian school desks.

I wondered a bit about the connection, but found this in a handout: "..also questions the ramification between the two countries and the embracement of the evil"!

"Damn right! Norwegian Wood?" was produced for "COLOMBORAMA" in Oslo earlier this year.

Some more pictures from the exhibition right here.

Maja Ratkje: "Voice" (Rune Grammofon 2002/2013)

Maja Ratkje´s first solo album "Voice" (Rune Grammofon 2002) is now out on vinyl (still available on CD too).

The music was recorded around Oslo, on (citing the cover:) Gemini tape recorder, hard disk, dictaphone, minidisk and different samplers", and was produced by Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje and Jazzkammer.

This is still a stunning album, it´s fun, beautiful and downright scary. Try the track "Insomnia" on full volume, a guaranteed hair raising experience (if you have hair that is).

I´ll tell you a secret today. When I was a very young man, I used to turn off all the lights in my room, lay down on my back on the floor, and play Pink Floyd´s "Careful with that axe, Eugene" (the track you heard during the explosion in "Zabriske Point"), turning the volume up to eleven.
If I was sure I was going to be able to get up from the floor these days, I might try the same thing with "Insomnia".

Cover: Kim Hiorthøy.

Robert Wyatt posters

A friend pointed me to a series of three posters based on Robert Wyatt songs.

The posters seem to be the result of a school project, done by Yaara Kass, who kindly said it was OK to post one of them in the blog (click for larger version).

Han Bennink

Han Bennink! What a guy!

I haven´t heard him live that many times, but he always makes a good show. I´ve seen him solo, and in duos with with Frode Gjerstad (Molde and Bergen), Aki Takase (Molde), and last week in Bergen with Terrrie Ex (picture).

Now please watch the beautiful film on Han Bennink on zappabach.tv!

Yumi Hara Cawkwell: "Shipbuilding" and "O Caroline"

Yumi Hara Cawkwell recorded at Last Waltz, Shubuya, Tokyo, 13 June 2013, playing "Shipbuilding" (Langer/Costello) and "O Caroline" (Sinclair/Wyatt).

Marilyn

The mushroom season is on, and here is my first catch!

Marilyn "Cantarella" Monroe! Not poisonous I hope?

Argus has a blog post on non-urban street art.

Albatrosh & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra - "Seaweed"

Let´s jump back to this year´s Moldejazz festival again. Andreas Paleologos, who did the live animation during the concert with Albatrosh and TJO, recently uploaded a fine video on YouTube.

The musicians:

André Roligheten - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Eyolf Dale - piano
Sissel Vera Pettersen - alt saxophon and vocals
Eirik Hegdal - saxophones og clarinett
Morten Barrikmo - clarinett, bass clarinet og contrabass clarinet
Hayden Powell - trumpet
Eivind Lønning - trumpet
Hild Sofie Tafjord - horn
Erik Johannessen - trombone
Kristoffer Lo - tuba
Ola Kvernberg - violin
Lene Grenager - cello
Mats Eilertsen - contrabass
Tor Haugerud - drums/percussion

Andreas Paleologos calls himself Cuckoomusic on YouTube, and you might even enjoy his Michael Jackson "Beat it" remix too?

Rivmic Melodies

"Rivmic Melodies" by Robert Wyatt from the album '68.
Brand new album available October 8th on Cuneiform Records (YouTube)

Added 20 August:


More info here

Robert Wyatt won´t be attending Green Man

Since we had a blog post on Robert Wyatt meeting Richard King at the Green Man Festival in Wales these days, we feel obliged to post a new message saying: "... Robert Wyatt won't be attending Green Man due to personal reasons".

Let´s hope everything is OK despite this.

Mary Halvorson at The Stone

Mary Halvorson plays six evenings at The Stone (NY) in August.
Please note the last three evening record release concerts for the album "Illusionary Sea", already mentioned in the blog, since she nods to Robert Wyatt.

On the video a Mary Halvorson/Joe Morris duo.

The program:

8/13 Tuesday (KR)
8 pm
Mary Halvorson and Joe Morris
Mary Halvorson (guitar) Joe Morris (guitar)

10 pm
Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook
Mary Halvorson (guitar) Brandon Seabrook (guitar)


8/14 Wednesday (KR)
8 and 10 pm
Thumbscrew
Mary Halvorson (guitar), Michael Formanek (bass) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)


8/15 Thursday (KR)
8 and 10 pm
Thumbscrew
Mary Halvorson (guitar) Michael Formanek (bass) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)


8/16 Friday (KR)
8 and 10 pm
Mary Halvorson Septet
Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Tim Berne (alto sax) Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax) Jacob Garchik (trombone) Mary Halvorson (guitar) John Hébert (bass) Ches Smith (drums)
3 night record release event for Illusionary Sea on Firehouse 12 records!


8/17 Saturday (KR)
8 and 10 pm
Mary Halvorson Septet
Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Tim Berne (alto sax) Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax) Jacob Garchik (trombone) Mary Halvorson (guitar) John Hébert (bass) Ches Smith (drums)
3 night record release event for Illusionary Sea on Firehouse 12 records!


8/18 Sunday (KR)
8 and 10 pm
Mary Halvorson Septet
Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Tim Berne (alto sax) Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax) Jacob Garchik (trombone) Mary Halvorson (guitar) John Hébert (bass) Ches Smith (drums)
3 night record release event for Illusionary Sea on Firehouse 12 records!

Blow Out in Oslo

If you are in Oslo this week, check out the strong Blow Out program at Café MIR (FaceBook)!

Wednesday 14 Aug

Paal Nilssen-Love/Ståle Liavik Solberg

Vilde & Inga + Akira Sakata

Poing + Paul Lovens

Wolfram + Frode Gjerstad


Thursday 15 Aug

Frode Gjerstad/Børre Mølstad/Roger Turner

Sten Ove Toft

Mette Rasmussen/Alan Silva/Ståle Liavik Solberg

Mats Gustafsson/Günter Christmann/Paul Lovens


Friday 16 Aug

Tradition Trio (Johannes Bauer/Alan Silva/Roger Turner)

Eivind Opsvik

Ketil Gutvik/Kristoffer Alberts/Okkyung Lee

Receptacles


Saturday 17 Aug

Matiné some other place (TBA):
Lasse Marhaug/Joe Williamson/Ståle Liavik Solberg

Evening:

Han Bennink/Morten Gunnar Larsen

Terrie Ex/Paal Nilssen-Love

AKODE

Dr Kay and his Interstallar Tone Schientists

And let´s not forget, Oslo Jazzfestival is happening too!

1982 + BJ Cole and BJ Cole + Poulomi Desai

Sigbjørn Apeland (fiddles, violins), Øyvind Skarbø (dr, perc) and Nils Økland (org), aka the great folk-impro trio 1982, were invited to play at the Sildajazz festival in Haugesund (Norway), with pedal steel guitarist BJ Cole.

1982 played while walking the stairs too, and don´t forget the "1982 + BJ Cole" album on Hubro!

In July, BJ Cole (pedal steel guitar) and Poulomi Desai (prepared sitar) played at Cafe Oto in London.
More info on that happening to be found on YouTube.

Michael Mantler: Hide and Seek

Today, let´s just take the easy way out, and link to "Between sound and space - an ECM Records resource (and beyond)", where they review Michael Mantler´s album "Hide and seek" (ECM 2001). Robert Wyatt and Susi Hyldgaard sing Paul Auster´s lyrics on that one.
Run on over there and read!

At least we have mentioned the album earlier in this blog, see here and here.