Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark

Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark at The Stone (NYC) in March 2011 (YouTube).

Oslo street art

I was walking around Oslo yesterday afternoon, looking for street art. Here are some shots from the  Grünerløkka area.
The grapes of wrath (?), a C215 portrait and a quite new one from Cloudfather (at MIR).

See more portraits by C215, stencils and graffiti from Oslo.

Old folks with cans

We have had some disussion on straight street art and sellout in Norway recently, but these old folks of Trondheim (Norway) are my kind of street artists!

More pictures from Trondheim on Flickr.

The Unthanks + Wyatt + Antony

The live album with The Unthanks doing songs by Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons is scheduled for release later this year! We have mentioned the project several times, see one of them here.

Over at The Unthanks we steal this info:

"It was December 2010 that The Unthanks staged a concert that was at once both a slice of fun and probably their most daunting project yet. Over two sold out nights at the Union Chapel, London, their exploration of music by Antony & The Johnsons and Robert Wyatt was an irreverent joy, making The Independent’s Gigs of the Year list. Those London shows are captured on a live album which will be available later this year, and to mark the release, The Unthanks will take their Robert/Antony show on a short tour of UK and Ireland dates, previously only seen in London".

Soft Machine - Live in Brussels, 1971

Soft Machine recorded 15 January 1971, for RTBF.

The Band:

Mike Ratledge - Keyboards

Elton Dean - Alto Sax, Saxello
Hugh Hopper - Bass
Robert Wyatt - Drums
More info on  YouTube.

Images from Moldejazz 2011

Moldejazz 2011 is over.

- Festival artist Gjertrud Hals in the gallery Kunstnersentret Møre og Romsdal.
- Michael Duch and Kjetil Møster did some fantastic solo concerts at the venue Reknes.
- Supersilent is Supersilent, even with John Paul Jones in the band.
- Michael Duch spoke about his thesis on free improvisation at the Festival Academy.
- Magnus Broo, Paal Nilssen-Love and Tyshawn Sorey played some hot improvised music at Forum. One trumpet and two drummers, one of them Sorey, who did some cleaning and drinking as part of his playing too.
- Tyshawn Sorey was at it again with John Escreet Trio for an afternoon concert Friday, with Escreet (p) and Eivind Opsvik (b). What a powerful trio! And Sorey was at it again, I was almost impaled by a drum stick. The first row might not be the best place with him on stage.
- Dave Holland talked at the Festival Academy, and did five concerts as Artist in Residence. I attended a fine solo concert and the final concert of the festival in the Molde Church with Thimar. Dave Holland (b), John Surman (soprano, bass clarinet) and Anouar Brahem (oud) dedicated their music to the victims of the terrible killings in Oslo and on the Utøya island the previous day.

Sad days in Norway

Bombs in Oslo, and 80 (or more) young kids murdered in cold blood.
More in NYT and NPR.