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.

Pram

I found this great stencil by AFK in Bergen today.

I wonder what AFK is trying to tell us? Focus on your babies? Hmm.

Distare Sonanti

In 2010 we liked the album "Clinamen" with the trio Giovanni Di Domenico (keyb, electronics), Arve Henriksen (tp, electronics) and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (dr, perc), and this blog post is just to tell you they are back.

It seems like "Distare Sonanti" was released as mp3s on Either/OAR in the autumn of 2012, and a CD was released this spring.

This album is just as fine as the previous one. Most of the tracks are group improvisations, and I still think we can say it is perfect for fans of Supersilent, and other people with good taste!

Fine musicians all of them of course, but a little extra star to drummer Yamamoto shouldn´t make anyone envious.

All Summer Long

Well, we are soon in the middle of August, and now John Cale´s new summer single suddenly appears.

"All summer long" was recorded during the "Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood" (2012) sessions, but Cale felt the song was not dark enough to fit in on that album.
No physical release it seems. Check it out here first, and buy on iTunes if you like it. I did.

“When writing for Shifty Adventures I noticed an apparent theme of claustrophobic darkness and so of course, I felt at home in that place. There were though a handful of songs unfinished. One in particular was me dreaming about a breeze, space and light." Read more at Double Six.

Lol Coxhill, Veryan Weston and Sam Coxhill-Davis

A new video with Lol Coxhill popped up on YouTube recently, and of course we must have it in the blog!

Here you have Lol Coxhill (sax) with Veryan Weston (p) and Sam Coxhill-Davis (g), who seems to be Lol´s grandson, live i June 2011.

I seldom regret missing a concert or two, but at the last moment I decided not to go to Oslo to hear Lol Coxhill at All Ears in 2007! Aaargh!

POING and Maja Ratkje live in Belgium

How about John Lennon´s "Working Class Hero", with POING and Maja S.K. Ratkje, live in Vooruit, Ghent (Belgium) in June 2013?

Poing is Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (sax), Frode Haltli (accordion) and Håkon Thelin (bass).

More videos on Frode Haltli´s YouTube channel: Brecht/Weills "Der Song von Mandalay", "Ein Liebersversuch" and "L'Internationale" + "Solidaritätslied" together with 100 singers.

Ketil Gutvik Weekly

Anyone going to Oslo in the late summer?
If so, you may want to take notice of the Norwegian guitar player Ketil Gutvik´s concert series "Gutvik ukentlig" ("Gutvik weekly"), that has been going on for 10 years now.

The program is quite impressive, and you will find the last four concerts this year in the bottom of the blog post. The concerts are held in a record store called "Stein and Jord" and the entrance fee is next to nothing. The "Gutvik ukentlig" site is in Norwegian, but I think you will manage to find your way, no matter what planet you come from.


Tuesday 13 August
Akira Sakata (JP) / Fred Lonberg-Holm (US) / Paal Nilssen-Love / Ketil Gutvik
/sax/cello/trommer/gitar/
+ Ungsoloen: Natalie Sandtorv
/stemme solo/

Tuesday 20 August
Okkyung Lee (KOR) / Jørgen Mathisen / Andreas Wildhagen / Ola Høyer / Ketil Gutvik
/cello/sax/trommer/kontrabass/gitar/
+ Ungsoloen: Johan Lindvall
/keyboard solo/

Tuesday 27 August
Per-Åke Holmlander / Kjetil Møster / Ståle Liavik Solberg / Ketil Gutvik /tuba/saksofon/trommer/gitar/
+ sesongstart for konsertserien Blow Out: TBA
/NB! Venue: MIR, Toftesgate 69/ (only this concert)

Tuesday 3 September
Steve Noble (UK) / Rolf-Erik Nystrøm / Ketil Gutvik
trommer/sax/gitar/
+ Ungsoloen: Ole Mofjell
/trommer solo/

Metric: Synthetica

I must admit I have not listened much to the band Metric, but take a look at this video with Emily Haines and James Shaw doing "Synthetica", backstage at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in 2012. And hey, watch out for flying motorbikes!

I was really looking for news on Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, but I couldn´t find anything.

So what to do? Let´s have a blog post from 2007 on Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton´s great album "Knives don´t have your back" (Last Gang 2006), and that will get us a Robert Wyatt link to! Robert Wyatt has been singing lyrics by Emily´s father, Paul Haines ("Curtsy" on "Darn it" American Clave, 1993), and he even wrote liner notes for the "Knives don´t have your back" album.

Here is most of the blog post from 2007 (the video and links in that post are not working any longer):

"Check out the new record from Emily Haines, "Knives Don't Have Your Back".Who, if not Robert Wyatt, wrote cover notes for her album? "Haines doesn't take a predictable route to the inside of your head. No grandstanding. She's a true daughter of the revolution, and has inherited wisdom beyond her years. So how does she reach us? By quietly closing the stage door behind her, dodging the limelight glare for now. She slips around the edge of the stage, almost disappears, keeps to the shadows like her parents taught her, then is suddenly positioned right beside your ear. She's speaking your language but don't be so sure you know what she's thinking - this might be all in code. She's drawn in breath and drawn you in, too. You're hooked but it's not her fault; maybe she was just saying "Hello". (RW)".

Emily Haines is Paul Haines' daughter, and the cover of her album looks like a nod to "Escalator Over The Hill"

Susana Santos Silva / Torbjörn Zetterberg: "Almost Tomorrow"

Trumpet and bass, what a great combination!

You better check out Portuguese Susana Santos Silva and Swedish Torbjörn Zetterberg´s new album "Almost Tomorrow" on Clean Feed (2013).
I really don´t know how much of the music that is improvised, and how much that is composed (downloaded, no cover, you know how it is) but it sounds like we get both kinds. And it is great music all the way!

Clean Feed puts it this way: "This is music with a research quality, almost a scientific experiment. But don’t worry: what you have here is not a dry, cold, difficult, pretentious record. Completely the opposite: this is a dance of sounds, a permanent discovery of the one’s and other’s selves and of that elementary social sum obtained when a 2 comes from an interpersonal encounter", and I won´t disagree.

Below you will see a live video from Associação Verde-Rubro, Porto, Portugal May 24 2013.

Sidsel Endresen and Stian Westerhus – Porgy & Bess, Vienna

Watch Sidsel Endresen and Stian Westerhus at the Porgy & Bess club in Vienna 1 February 2013. Full concert.

Mirror To The Soul

OK, I might have had too much sun the other day, but I came out of a record store with a double vinyl album of rhythmic fun from the Caribbean!

This is usually not my kind of stuff, but still, it is great fun! Experts on the area might have something to say on the selection of songs (please comment), but at least to an amateur like me "Mirror To The Soul. Caribbean Jump-Up, Mambo & Calypso Beat 1954 - 77" (Soul Jazz Records 2013) seems close to perfect.
Click right here for a list of artists and songs.

Jump-up, calypso and mambo it is, but also with traces of reggae, ska and jazz.

I have to admit I fell for party songs like Lord Brynner´s "The queen sings calypso" and Fabulous McCleverts´ "Don´t blame it on Elvis", and not to forget Lord Flea´s nods to jazz in "Calypso be bop".

It seems like you may buy several versions of this release (CD, CD-box ?, double vinyl), with or without download codes, and +/- a documentary on the Caribbean 1920 - 1972.
The documentary is a selection of what seems like news clips, and contains little music.

"Don´t blame it on Elvis
for shaking his pelvis.
Shaking the pelvis has been in style
ever since the river Nile".

August

Alright, let´s face it, it´s August already!

To "celebrate", check out Motorpsycho and Reine Fiske, and their version of Arthur Lee´s (Love) "August" (Rome, May 2013).

"August" is a track on Motorpsycho´s highly recommended album "Still life with eggplant" (Rune 2013).