SPUNK & Joëlle Léandre at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter

Only five minutes of the SPUNK & Joëlle Léandre All Ears concert at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in January, but enough to make me wish I was there!

You probably want to check out their "Live in Molde" album from 2014.

SPUNK: Adventura Botanica

You must not forget to get Spunk´s new album "Adventura Botanica" on Rune Grammofon (2014).
The limited vinyl versions were unfortunately gone in no time though.

The music is based on a commissioned work for choreographer and dancer Odd Johan Fritzøe. Fritzøe´s performance is inspired by the works of Charles Darwin, and here is what is written on his Vimeo: "In the same way as Darwin studied coevolution between plants and insects, Frtitzøe´s ensembly has been inspired by the Darwin ´s theories. The quartet SPUNK has created potent noise poetry provided from five sound sculptures".

The tracks are named after plants: White Water Lily, Mountain Clover and Common Hepatica. Quite an organic and evolutionary album from SPUNK this time.

Have a listen on Rune Grammofon´s Soundcloud, and watch the video from Fritzøe´s performance below.

SPUNK is: Kristin Andersen (trumpet, flutes), Lene Grenager (cello), Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (voice) and Hild Sofie Tafjord (french horn).

Cover: Kim Hiorthøy.

Also well worth checking out: Maja Ratkje´s "Adventura Anatomica" (Semishigure 2006) for another Odd Johan Fritzøe piece.

Adventura botanica from Odd Johan Fritzøe on Vimeo.

Das Wohltemperierte Spunk

Respect to Spunk! What a project!

It has taken them 12 years to play their way through the 12 notes of the equal tempered scale: one note each year, on a set day somewhere in Oslo!
The music was recorded and is being released by Rune Grammofon in a beautiful six CD box called "Das Wohltemperierte Spunk".

Spunk started at The Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum 20.01.2001 - 20:01 with B, and finished with the G 20.12.2012 - starting at 20:12 in the Physics building, University of Oslo.

I have played all of the CDs this weekend, and it´s massive! We get almost seven hours of droning improv, and you better listen! The music does not work very well as ambient music, at least not for me.

Several of the recordings were done outdoors (on an island, by a river, on the roof of the Ospera House) and C was recorded inside the Oslo City shopping mall.
The voices, the weather and the birds fit in just fine!

Spunk is Kristin Andersen (tp, fl), Lene Grenager (cello), Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (voc, viol, harmonica, accordion, theremin, + misc) and Hild Sofie Tafjord (french horn, + misc).

500 copies are for sale (300 NOK) from Rune Grammofon.

Liner notes: Anne Hilde Neset and Rob Young.
Cover design: Kim Hiorthøy.

I haven´t been able to locate lots of reviews on this box, but the Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter called it "deeply fascinating" (not online), and I agree on that.
I would really like to read an expert review on this one, so please comment if you have seen some.

And congrats to Maja Ratkje who has been nominated for The Nordic Council Music Prize 2013!

Added 25 February: A great review by Thomas Millroth in Sound of Music - "Vältempererad Spunk", in Swedish.

SPUNK in Nest

SPUNK in NEST from SPUNK on Vimeo.

SPUNK built their own nest during this year´s Ultima festival in Oslo.
SPUNK is Hild Sofie Tafjord, Lene Grenager, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje and Kristin Andersen.

SPUNK with Joëlle Lëandre

Wednesday evening SPUNK and Joëlle Léandre invited to an improv party at the Molde Jazz Festival.
They started with an open and free set together, then Léandre had a fantastic solo set, where she talked and sang a story with the bass, SPUNK did a beautiful piece (yes beautiful improv is possible) and finally they all went into an energetic finale.
The audience more than happy, encore (video) and standing ovation - what a night!

The fine musicians of Spunk are: Kristin Andersen (tp), Lene Grenager (cello), Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (voc, misc) and Hild Sofie Tafjord (horn, misc).

SPUNK at exhibitions

SPUNK recently played at Rom 8 in Bergen. This performance was filmed (in better quality than my videos!) and the videos from this performance are now exhibited at the gallery Knipsu. At the opening of the SPUNK exhibition, they played live via Skype, and it worked quite well too!
Musicians: Kristin Andersen (flute, trumpet), Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (vocals) and Lene Grenager (cello). (Hild Sofie Tafjord is still part of SPUNK (!), but she has been travelling.)
SPUNK also played a concert for invited guests at Hanne Borchgrevink's art exhibition for the Bergen International Festival. Video uploaded by Maja Ratkje.

Spunk live in Bergen

I own all their albums, but finally I got to hear Spunk live too! Unfortunately Hild Sofie Tafjord was not playing this evening, but Kristin Andersen (tp, fl), Lene Grenager (cello), Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (voice, electronics) played an intense, improvised and fine concert!
Just as important (?) as the music was videos (from cameras attached to the musicians) and live drawing by Asbjørn Flø and Andreas Paleologos. I really enjoy watching videos at concerts!
Perfect sound (but not on my videos I'm afraid) by John Hegre.

I'm really  looking forward to hear Spunk with Joëlle Léandre at Moldejazz this summer, and please note that Rune Grammofon just released the Spunk video "Light",  from a commissioned work for the Henie Onstad Museum (Oslo)  in 2008. I have just had quick view, but it's looking good!

More artists to Molde

I guess the program for  Molde International Jazz Festival is almost complete now, and I will probably not bother you any more with this until July (no, I won´t promise anything).
Today the festival announced several of this blog´s (more or less) regular visitors too: Kjetil Møster, Michael Duch, Karl Seglem, Eirik Hegdal and Spunk (Maja Ratkje, Hild Sofie Tafjord, Lene Grenager, Kristin Andersen) with Jöelle Léandre (announced by Wyatt and Stuff already in January).
This may be a nice festival once more,  so let´s just celebrate with Jöelle Léandre and Carlos Zingaro.

All Ears 2010 (3)

The third evening at All Ears brought a new series of good concerts.
First ones out were Kristin Andersen (tp), Anna Zaradny (sax) and Inga Margrete Aas (bass), with some relaxing impro, and then Cunt Rash blew it all, by delivering a perfect 10 minutes long set of pure blow out powernoise. You better watch out if you meet Daniel Meyer Grønvold (guitar) and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums).
Anla Courtis came all the way from Argentina, and he insisted that it was summer outside! That guy must have a pretty wild imagination, and he proved it too, by using what he found lying around to make music. The instruments were clothes hangers, clothes lines and beer cans, and of course, drinking beer and drying clothes are summer activities!
C. Spencer Yeh (vocal, violin and microphone stands) and Okkyung Lee (cello) delivered a great set too, and the evening ended with Paul Lytton (dr), Johannes Bauer (tb) and Jon Rune Strøm (b). Some free jazz at the end was just perfect (for me, at least).

If you check Maja Ratkje´s Twitter, you will see she might be planning a record with two of the people mentioned in this blog post, Okkyung Lee and Kristin Andersen.

And now they say it was NO EARPLUGS in the All Ears urinal.

All Ears 2010

The program for the All Ears festival (Oslo, 14 - 17 January) is out!

THURSDAY 14 JANUARY, Fabrikken

• Projecting Surface (Dryer/Heule/Laastad/Volden)
• Anna Zaradny
• Lucio Capece / Werner Dafeldecker
• Han Bennink / Frode Gjerstad

FRIDAY 15 JANUARY, Fabrikken

• Basshaters
• Dag Magnus Narvesen / Stine Janvin Motland / Johannes Bauer
• Robert Piotrowicz
• Stian Westerhus / Zach Hill

DJs: Soft Bondage

SATURDAY 16 JANUARY, Fabrikken

• Kristin Andersen / Anna Zaradny / Inga Margrete Aas
• Cunt Rash
• Anla Courtis
• C. Spencer Yeh / Okkyung Lee
• Paul Lytton / Johannes Bauer / Jon Rune Strøm

DJs: Soft Bondage

SUNDAY 17 JANUARY, Henie Onstad Art Centre

• Paul Lytton (electronic set)
• John Tilbury

Unlimited 23

Unlimited 23 is happening right now in Wels (Austria), and that looks like an exciting festival! I hope to see and hear bits and pieces from these happenings. Spunk is there, and Maja Ratkje is participating in a John Zorn project and also working with Hild Sofie Tafjord in Phantom Orchard Orchestra. Canterbury heroes Fred Frith and Chris Cutler are on the program too.

Information stolen from here:

friday, nov. 6, starting at 7pm
spunk [maja ratkje, hild sofie tafjord, kristin andersen, lene grenager]
speak easy [phil minton, thomas lehn, ute wassermann, martin blume]
john zorns cobra „wels operations“ [ikue mori, zeena parkins, shayna dunkelman, sylvie courvoisier, okkyung lee, maja ratkje, kazuhisa uchihashi, fred frith, david watson, chris cutler, tony buck, noid haberl, makigami koichi]
ktl [peter rehberg, stephen o'malley]
dj l8@ the bar

saturday, nov. 7
afternoon @ different venues in town
phil minton & dieb13 @ im pavillon / 2pm
pamelia kurstin „thinking out loud“ @ im kornspeicher / 3pm

evening program @ schl8hof, starting at 7 pm
agra dharma [koichi makigami, sylvie courvoisier, ikue mori]
lotte anker & okkyung lee & lindha kallerdahl
phantom orchard orchestra [ikue mori & zeena parkins with sara parkins, maggie parkins, shayna dunkelman, maja ratkje, hild sofie tafjord]
fred frith & chris cutler

sunday, nov. 8, starting at 2pm
afternoon @ medienkulturhaus wels, galerie der stadt wels
ikue mori with mark nauseef, makigami koichi, kazuhisa uchihashi
zeena parkins "saw sun here" [zeena parkins, maggie parkins, sara parkins]

evening program @ schl8hof, starting at 6pm
lotte anker & sylvie courvoisier & mark nauseef
peter evans & okkyung lee
glacial [david watson, lee ranaldo, tony buck]
the ex 30 years party! [terrie hessels, andy moor, katherina bornefeld, arnold de boer]
dj l8@ the bar: christof kurzmann & andy moor

Young Nordic Jazz Comets

Norwegian PELbO and Icelandic The Ingimar Andersen Quartet shared the first price of the talent contest Young Nordic Jazz Comets 2009. I heard PELbO in Bergen in April 2008, and suggested that festival organizers should hire this band in my Norwegian blog "Wyatting".
PELbO is Ine Kristine Hoem - vocal/elektronic, Kristoffer Lo - tuba, Trond Bersu - drums, and now I realize that I heard Ine Hoem last week, with another tuba player.

Kantarell

SPUNK serve "Kantarell" (that is "Chantarell") on Rune Grammofon. SPUNK is Kristin Andersen, Hild Sofie Tafjord, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje and Lene Grenager. They improvise and make noise as they use to do. In other words: Perfect dance music.
Yolk, blob or alien cover: Kim Hiorthøy (as usual).

See also the special offer on the three vinyl albums (Maja Ratkje, Ultralyd, Stian Westerhus) on Rune's side project "The Last Record Company" (TLRC) here. The covers of the TLRC albums are made by Grandpeople.