Wednesday 30 January 2019, 7.30pm
The programme will include two sets
Set 1.
- Jaap Blonk - solo ‘Vibrant Islands’ 25m
- Beibei Wang- solo 15m
- Jack Goldstein with ‘Herethere’ film by Blanca Regina & Pierre Bouvier patron - 7m
Set 2.
- John Edwards- solo 15m
- Jaap Blonk & Steve Beresford - duo 15m
- Jaap, John and Beibei - trio 25m
“Vibrant Islands”, an acoustic voice performance by Jaap Blonk -
Vibrant Islands" is a cycle of 9 pieces for acoustic vocal performance, made in 2015. Each movement consists of a number of "islands" containing phonetic signs, many of which were invented by himself. For many years he has been working on a personal extension of the International Phonetic Alphabet: BLIPAX (BLonks IPA eXtended). In the performance the islands can be visited in any order, and repeatedly as well. In every score of the cycle the coastal lines have a different form, for instance angular, crenelated, straight or rounded, according to the prevalent sound character of the movement.
‘herethere’ film by Blanca Regina and Pierre Bouvier Patron live Soundtrack by Jack Goldstein
And in the second half a different combination of performances by Jaap, Bei Bei, John and Steve.
Jaap Blonk (born 1953 in Woerden, Netherlands) is a self-taught composer and poet. His unfinished studies in mathematics and musicology mainly created a penchant for activities in a Dada vein, as did several unsuccessful jobs in offices and other well-organized systems.
In the early 1980s he discovered the power and flexibility of his voice, and set out on a long-term research of phonetics and the possibilities of the human voice. At present, he has developed into a specialist in the creation and performance of sound poetry, supported by a powerful stage presence. He performs and gives workshops worldwide on a regular basis. With the use of live electronics the scope and range of his work has acquired a considerable extension. From his sound poetry scores he developed an independent body of visual work, which has been published and exhibited.
Steve Beresford has been a central figure in the British and international spontaneous music scenes for over fifty years, freely improvising on piano, objects, electronics and other things with people like Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Han Bennink and John Zorn. Long-standing groups have included Alterations (with David Toop, Terry Day and Peter Cusack), The Melody Four (with Lol Coxhill and Tony Coe, both RIP) and London Improvisers Orchestra.
He has written songs, composed for large and small ensembles, and scored short films, feature films, TV shows and commercials. He was part of the editorial teams of ‘Musics’ and ‘Collusion’ magazines, writes about music in various contexts, and was a senior lecturer in music at the University of Westminster.
Steve has worked with Christian Marclay on various Marclay mixed media pieces. He has also worked with The Slits, Najma Akhtar, Stewart Lee, Ivor Cutler, Prince Far-I, Alan Hacker, Tania Chen, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Faradena Afifi, Blanca Regina, Ray Davies, Mandhira De Saram, The Flying Lizards, Zeena Parkins, The Portsmouth Sinfonia, Ilan Volkov, Rachel Musson, Vic Reeves, Lore Lixenberg, Valentina Magaletti and many others.
Beresford has an extensive discography - around 500 releases - as performer, arranger, free-improviser, composer, conductor and producer. He was awarded a Paul Hamlyn award for composers in 2012.
In 2021, Bloomsbury published a book by Andy Hamilton: ‘Pianos, Toys, Music and Noise: Conversations with Steve Beresford’.
In 2022, Siglio published the book ‘Call and Response’, which partnered photographs by Christian Marclay with notated improvisations by Beresford.
John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, Peter Brötzmann, Mulatu Astatke and many others.
"I think John Edwards is absolutely remarkable: there’s never been anything like him before, anywhere in jazz." - Richard Williams, The Blue Moment
Beibei Wang is a uniquely vibrant percussion talent. With a background in both Classical and traditional Chinese percussion, she brings characteristic flair and dynamism to her performances, presenting repertoire as diverse as contemporary classical to free improvisation with equal elegance.
Beibei has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as BBC Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra dell’ Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and lead the BBC Concert Orchestra on their 2018 China tour. She has appeared as soloist on some of the world’s most prestigious stages including the Barbican Centre, Elbphilharmonie, Grafenegg Festival, and Southbank Centre.
http://beibeimusic.com/
Blanca Regina is an interdisciplinary artist, tutor, and independent curator who works with spontaneous composition systems creating multimedia landscapes using voice, objects, electronics, and visuals. She is also looking at book arts, immersive media, and design. She has produced three albums with Beresford, mixed and mastered by Dave Hunt in London, ‘What Blue’ (2020) Duets with Steve Beresford; ‘Duets with Blanca Regina, Spontaneous Music’ featuring duets with Leafcutter John, Jack Goldstein, John Butcher, Benedict Taylor, Matthias Kispert, Aneek Thapar, Steve Beresford, Sharon Gal, and Hyelim Kim; ‘Art of Improvisers’ (2017) a collection album with several artists concentrating in women improvisers. With longtime collaborator and artist Leafcutter John capturing their live performances in 2017 they created ‘Miga’ a limited edition Pendrive and digital release. Other collaborations include performances with Laetitia Sadier & Marie Merlet ( ISIDORA) Matthias Kispert, DFuse, Peter Cusack, Matt Black, Wade Matthews, Terry Day, Adriana Camacho, and David Toop.
Pierre Bouvier Patron is a visual artist based in London. He is currently working with different media, such as digital video and film, exploring the boundaries between them and creating moving image works, performances and installations. He has developed various practices and skills in experimental film, documentary films, music videos, etc.
He is involved in video screenings and video performances, solo or in collaboration. His work has been shown in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, etc.
JACK GOLDSTEIN makes Experimental Lo-fi Power Pop/Emo. His latest record, entitled Sandwiches, is a Brian Wilson-esque song-cycle set in an imagined interzone near the Oxford that Goldstein grew up in.
His previous record, Tonic Of Wilderness, was described as “a quiet triumph; a….collage of sound taking in so many moods, emotions and samples that it’s hard to keep track”.
He is also a musicologist and academic at Goldsmiths University, and was awarded the Bob Gilmore Prize for Outstanding Work in Musicology for his dissertation on the influence of politics and brass bands. He has written on pop, experimental and improvised music.
