They're booked for Big Ears in March!!! That will be such an awesome opportunity for them.
They're booked for Big Ears in March!!! That will be such an awesome opportunity for them.
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
Yeah...at the DC show I actually caught Nik for a few moments and told him they would be a GREAT fit for Big Ears. He mentioned something about trying to figure out how to book it, and that he was aware...I guess they figured it out
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
Their show earlier this year was the best show of the year for me. Hands down.
Recommended.
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
So, I finally managed to catch Nik Bärtsch's Ronin live, at Southampton on Friday. (The venue, called Turner Sims, is in the midst of a remarkable run of weekly jazz gigs - Tord Gustavsen, Laura Judd's Dinosaur, Rymden (the new collaboration between Bugge Wesseltoft & Dan Berglund & Magnus Östrum) as well as Ronin.)
The first news was disappointing - bassist Thomy Jordi had been unable to travel from the continent, due to illness. I was slightly apprehensive, given how much of the Ronin (ritual) groove is bass driven...
...After an excellent 15 minute opener (one of the more "well-known" Moduls), & an introduction by Nik, the band proceeded to perform a continuous series of Moduls for the next hour. Possibly as a consequence of being reduced to an acoustic 3 piece, the emphasis for the better part of half of this series was on experimental sonic explorations rather than the more driving grooves for which Ronin are perhaps better known. In some ways, I think that my preference - certainly if asked in advance - would have been for this latter sort of music...but I must confess that these exploratory works became more & more entrancing.
At times, it seemed as if the band were exploring the very material conditions of the instruments from which they produce their music - there would be sections were Bärtsch was rhythmically sounding various interior structures of his piano, Rast was playing patterns of rim shots, whilst Shå experimented with patterns of pure breath through his bass clarinet.
Then, the final 10-15 minutes erupted into an extended groove, which felt like an exhilarating release.
Throughout, Shå was extraordinary. On record, I think I have tended to underestimate his playing. Here, though, it felt like he often carried the band, taking on extra responsibilities to cover for the absent bass, whilst still playing lead lines. At one point towards the climax, whilst driving the music forward with repeated bass lines, he added a series of mouthed/voiced rhythmical embellishments, which sounded something like a cross between Arve Henricksen & Robert Wyatt's sung trumpet!
Although the auditorium was maybe only half full, the performance was rapturously received - to the evident delight of the band!
(It would be hard to imagine a greater contrast between this gig & King Crimson, whom I saw, also for the first time, 10 days previously - & yet each, in their distinctive ways, represented musical experiences which have rarely, if ever, been surpassed for me.)
Reviving this thread in case anyone doesn't know that Nik Bartsch and Ronin are playing in New York and Toronto next week - I assume as warmups for Big Ears.
Not surprised about the NY show but I am surprised and very happy to be able to see them in Toronto at the Drake Underground which is a fairly cosy venue.
Looking forward to it.
My EP on Bandcamp
https://taliesin2.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-stays
They play Boston the day after Big Ears but I reckon I'll be wiped.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Thanks so much for posting about these extra dates. They're far too far away for me to attend, but I thought I'd check around an see if any other dates are on the tour. I found a site with a Vancouver date, so I decided to keep looking. And...whaddaya know? On Bartsch's site I found that on Sunday March 24, he's playing an hour and a half gig in a church in Ohio City (Cleveland.) I will be there! So thanks again for bringing this to my attention.
DC on 3/26 in a beautiful but tiny hall. Sold out.
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
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