The Squid's Ear Magazine


Wassermann, Ute / Jaap Blonk / Michael Vorfeld : Improvisors (Kontrans)

Blending two of the most unconventional voices on the planet--Ute Wasswerman and Jaap Blonk--with percussionist Michael Vorfeld, also on string instrument, light bulbs and electronic devices, Wasserman adding voice, whistles, kutu wapa, frog buzzer, and mirliton, and Blonk adding electronics; wonderfully eccentric while impressively informed and masterfully executed.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Ute Wassermann-voice, bird whistles, palate whistle, (aztec)wind whistle, jaguar whistle, kutu wapa, frog buzzer, mirliton

Jaap Blonk-voice, electronics

Michael Vorfeld-percussion, string instrument, light bulbs, electronic devices


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 8713897904420

Label: Kontrans
Catalog ID: Kontrans 965
Squidco Product Code: 27320

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded by Rainer Robben at AudioCue Tonlabor, BerlinRecording dates March 12 and 13, 2018

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"You hear nothing from mister Jaap Blonk for some time and then twice in a week. Last week I discussed his solo cassette on Eh? Records, now it is time for a trio improvisation, which features Blonk on voice and electronics, Michael Vorfeld on percussion, string instrument, light bulbs and electronic devices and Ute Wassermann on voice, bird whistles, palate whistle, (Aztec) wind whistle/jaguar whistle, kutu wapa, frog buzzer, and mirliton. All three players move around in circles of improvisation, with, for me at least, Wassermann, the least known (only from his duo disc with Birgit Uhler, Vital Weekly 1009). Exactly one year ago, almost to the day I write these words, March 12 and 13, 2018, they recorded in Berlin, and Blonk took on the job of mixing and producing these into the product we now have in our hands. Blonk edited the material down in thirteen individual pieces of music, each with a title, but more important: each piece has its own character. Now, of course, much of this is pretty hard-core free improvisation with lots of hectic playing, and everyone fighting for a spotlight (so it seems), but there is also some great dialogue going between all players. What sets this a bit apart, I think, is their use of electronics. It has an odd appearance here, with drones, clicks and cracks, but it is incorporated in the music in a very natural way. The duo vocal approach is also something that works quite well. I liked the shorter approach to the pieces, not the few longer ones. The shorter pieces give the whole thing extra energy, vibrancy and a sense of urgency, which I somehow seem to miss in the longer pieces. Throughout, however, this was a great release, especially powerful in the shorter time frames."-Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Get additional information at Vital Weekly

Artist Biographies

"Ute Wassermann studied fine arts focusing on sound installations and performance at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. Among her teachers were Henning Christiansen and Allan Kaprow. She continued her studies in fine arts, music and singing at the University of California, San Diego. She was a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude in 1993-94 and at Civitella Ranieri in Italy in 2015.

Ute Wassermann has developed her own unique vocal techniques. She explores them in different forms such as voice performances, compositions, improvisations and installations. The human voice is extended in many different ways in her work and often plays with all kinds of other sound connotations. This also results in an extensive use of bird whistles, different kinds of resonating objects and prepared loudspeakers.

She is one of the founding members of the artists collective Les Femmes Savantes Other members of this Composer-Performer-Ensemble are Sabine Ercklentz, Andrea Neumann and Ana Maria Rodriguez. She also performs with Richard Scott and Emilio Gordoa in parak.eets and with her quartet speak easy (with Phil Minton, Thomas Lehn and Martin Blume)She also often plays as an Improvisationsduo with, for example, Aleksander Kolkowski, Rhodrie Davies, Joke Lanz, Birgit Ulher, Els Vandeweyer, Charlotte Hug, Richard Barrett und John Russel.

Ute Wassermann also performs compositions by others. She has interpreted works by Chaya Czernowin, Henning Christiansen, Hans Joachim Hespos, Salvatore Sciarrino, Luciano Berio, Simon Steen-Andersen, Matthias Kaul, Cathy van Eck, und Richard Barrett."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_Wassermann)
3/13/2024

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"Jaap Blonk (born 1953 in Woerden, Holland) is a self-taught composer, performer and poet.He went to university for mathematics and musicology but did not finish those studies.In the late 1970s he took up saxophone and started to compose music.A few years later he discovered his potential as a vocal performer, at first in reciting poetry and later on in improvisations and his own compositions. For almost two decades the voice was his main means for the discovery and development of new sounds.From around the year 2000 on Blonk started work with electronics, at first using samples of his own voice, then extending the field to include pure sound synthesis as well.He took a year off of performing in 2006. As a result, his renewed interest in mathematics made him start a research of the possibilities of algorithmic composition for the creation of music, visual work and poetry.

As a vocalist, Jaap Blonk is unique for his powerful stage presence and almost childlike freedom in improvisation, combined with a keen grasp of structure. He has performed around the world, on all continents. With the use of live electronics the scope and range of his concerts has acquired a considerable extension.

Besides working as a soloist, he collaborated with many musicians and ensembles in the field of contemporary and improvised music, like Maja Ratkje, Mats Gustafsson, Joan La Barbara, The Ex, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and the Ebony Band. He premiered several compositions by the German composer Carola Bauckholt, including a piece for voice and orchestra. A solo voice piece was commissioned by the Donaueschinger Musiktage. On several occasions he collaborated with visual computer artist Golan Levin, for the Ars Electronica Festival.

Blonk's work for radio and television includes several commissioned radio plays.He also makes larger-scale drawings of his scores, as well as visual poetry, which is being exhibited.

He has his own record label, Kontrans, featuring a total of 25 releases so far. Other Blonk recordings appeared on various labels, such as Staalplaat, Basta, VICTO, Ecstatic Peace, Monotype Records, Terp and Elegua Records.His book/CD 'Traces of Speech' was published in 2012 by Hybriden-Verlag, Berlin. Forthcoming is a sequel with the title "Traces of Cookery".A comprehensive collection of his sound poetry came out as a book with 2 CDs in 2013, entitled "KLINKT"."

-Jaap Blonk Website (http://www.jaapblonk.com/Pages/biography.html)
3/13/2024

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"Michael Vorfeld, born 1956, works as musician and visual artist based in Berlin. He plays percussion and self designed stringed instruments. The combination of these instruments with various and unusual playing techniques, allows him to create an exceptional variety of sounds. Michael Vorfeld works as an improvisor, composer and sound artist and is often involved in site specific art projects. His visual works are focusing on the use of light in relation to architecture. Besides solo activities he is a member of various ensembles and collaborates with artists of different art forms.

His list of activities includes performances among others at the "documenta 8", Kassel 1987 (with the artists group "Heinrich Mucken"), "Moltkerei Werkstatt", Cologne, "Het Apollohuis", Eindhoven, "Logos Foundation", Ghent, "Künstlerhaus am Deich", Bremen, "Palais des Beaux Arts", Brussel, "Melkweg", Amsterdam, "Expo - German Pavillon", Hannover, "Goethe Institut", Hanoi, "Experimental Intermedia", New York, "Podewil", Berlin, "Center of Contemporary Art", Warshow, "Plan B", Tokyo."

-Nurnichtnur, Experimental Sound Productions (http://www.nurnichtnur.com/artists/vorfeld.htm)
3/13/2024

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Track Listing:



1. A Locution 3:31

2. Roboland 1:44

3. On A Dart 3:09

4. Central Bit 7:10

5. Blue Dot 2:41

6. Datacide 1:08

7. Action Cue 1:37

8. Bona Dicta 3:48

9. Radio Clan 7:34

10. Due To Land 5:33

11. Alien Bard 4:25

12. Done A Lot 2:54

13. Tidal Burn 9:47

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Unusual Vocal Forms
Blonk, Jaap
Trio Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Kontrans.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Ball, Hugo (Jaap Blonk / Bart van der Putten / Pieter Meurs / Damon Smith)
Six sound Poems 1989 & 2013 [2 CDs]
(Balance Point Acoustics / kontrans)
Dedicated to Dada legend Hugo Ball, founder of the Cabaret Voltaire, through modern interpretations of six sound poems written by Ball in 1916, performed at BIMHUIS in 1989 by the trio of Jaap Blonk (voice), Bart van der Putten (saxophone) and Pieter Meurs (double bass); and in 2013 at radio station KUHF by the duo of Jaap Blonk and Damon Smith on double bass.
Artaud, Antonin (Jaap Blonk)
To Have Done With the Judgment of God
(Kontrans)
Vocal performer & musician Jaap Blonk presents a rendering of French dramatist, poet and theatre director Antonin Artaud's "Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de Dieu" (To Have Done With the Judgment of God), a work shelved by the French Radio in 1948 without broadcast as 'too scatological, political, anti-religious, random, and cacophonous through xylophonic and percussive sounds'.
Blonk's, Jaap Retirement Overdue (w/ Petruccelli / Stadhouders / Rosaly)
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Todos de Pie!
(Kontrans)
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@ Konfrontationen
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Since 2009 the UK & European ea-improvising quartet Speak Easy with two remarkable vocalists, Phil Minton and Ute Wasserman (also on birdcall whistles), Thomas Lehn on analog synthesizer and Martin Blume on drums & percussion, have startled and amazed listeners, as heard here in this extended performance at the 2016 Festival Konfrontationen in Nickelsdorf.
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Blonk, Jaap
Irrelevant Comments
(Kontrans)
As he delves further into electronics, Netherlands vocal improviser and experimental artists Jaap Blonk finds an ever-increasing array of approaches to modify his voice and set it into alien and astounding environments, here in 16 tracks of musique concrete, sound poetry, pulse based electronics, soundscapes, and inexplicable hybrids of the same.
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Asemic Dialogues
(Kontrans)
Performing together since 2004 between Tokyo and Amsterdam, Dutch vocal improviser, innovator and electronicist Jaap Blonk meets Japanese vocal improviser and fellow electronics artist Tomomi Adachi at Lettretage in Berlin in 2017, recording this, the 5th in Kontrans' Electronic Improvisation, for two extended and energetic dialogs of unique creative interplay.
Parak.eets (Ute Wassermann / Richard Scott / Emilio Gordoa)
Natura Venomous
(Creative Sources)
The trio of Richard Scott on modular synths, Emilio Gordoa on vibraphone & percussion, and Ute Wasserman on voice, in uniquely orchestrated free improvisations that focuses on sound interaction with detail and restraint, while still bringing a sense of wonder and exuberation.
Blonk, Jaap
Songs of Little Sleep
(Kontrans)
Dutch vocalist and electronic artist Jaap Blonk takes on insomnia in 13 short works celebrating sleeplessness, including one piece for Dada sound poet Raoul Hausmann, and other "songs" using effective electronics and bizarre vocal utterances to accompany your own sleepless nights.
Wassermann, Ute / Birgit Ulher
Radio Tweet
(Creative Sources)
The long-standing duo of trumpeter Birgit Uhler, also on radio, speaker & objects, and free improvising vocalist Ute Wasserman, in an album of 8 unbelievable improvisations of a unique and sometimes bizarre character, holding one's attention from its outlandish nature--superb!
Blonk, Jaap
Lifespans
(Kontrans)
Legendary improvising vocalist Jaap Blonk in a solo work, a mesmerizing and hallucinating piece of electronic music presenting myriads of voices and melodies that never repeat themselves.
Kolkowski, Aleks & Ute Wassermann
Squall Line
(psi)
A quirky and fascinating duo of unusual instrumentation from Ute Wasserman's voice & whistles, and Aleks Kokowski on stroh instrumements (viola, violin), noseflute, bird calls, musical saw, &c..
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Backchats
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Formed in 2008 Speak Easy brings free vocal improvisers Ute Wassermann and Phil Minton together with drummer Martin Blume and synth player Thomas Lehn for 5 tracks recorded in concert.
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Hubsch, Carl Ludwig / Claus Van Bebber / Jaap Blonk
Improvisors
(Kontrans)
Improv meeting with Dutch master vocalist Jaap Blonk, turntablist Claus van Bebber and Carl Ludwig Hubsch on tuba.



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