The Squid's Ear Magazine


Blonk / Smith / Moses: Rune Kitchen (Balance Point Acoustics)

Four unusual studio recordings of voice, electronics, double bass, drums & percussion from the trio of Netherland vocal improviser Jaap Blonk with bassist Damon Smith and drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Moses and Blonk collaborating on the concrete poem that makes up "liner notes" for this wonderfully odd and sophisticated album of avant free improv.
 

Price: $13.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units

Sample The Album:





Product Information:

Personnel:



Jaap Blonk-voice, electronics

Damon Smith-double bass

Bob Moses-(Ra Kalam Bob Moses) drums, percussion

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



Label: Balance Point Acoustics
Catalog ID: bpaltd18018
Squidco Product Code: 33343

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Recorded at Birdcloud Studios, in Collinsvile, Illinois, on November 1st, 2022 by Ryan Wasoba.
Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Artist Biographies

"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)
1/26/2026

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Damon Smith studied double bass with Lisle Ellis and has had lessons with Bertram Turezky, Joëlle Leandré, John Lindberg, Mark Dresser and others. Damon's explorations into the sonic palette of the double bass have resulted in a personal, flexible improvisational language based in the American jazz avant-garde movement and European non-idiomatic free improvisation. Visual art, film and dance heavily influence his music, as evidenced by his CAMH performance of Ben Patterson's Variations for Double Bass, collaborations with director Werner Herzog on soundtracks for Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, and an early performance with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Damon has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including: Cecil Taylor, Marshall Allen (of Sun Ra's Arkestra), Henry Kaiser, Roscoe Mitchell, Michael Pisaro, Wadada Leo Smith, Marco Eneidi, Wolfgang Fuchs, Peter Brötzmann and Peter Kowald. After many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and five great years in Houston, Texas working regularly with Alvin Fielder, Sandy Ewen, David Dove & Chris Cogburn, Damon will move to the Boston area in the fall of 2016. Damon has run Balance Point Acoustics record label since 2001, releasing music focusing on transatlantic collaborations between US and European musicians."

-Balance Point Acoustic Website (https://www.balancepointacoustics.com/damon-smith/)
1/26/2026

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Bob Moses (born January 28, 1948) is an American jazz drummer.

Moses played with Roland Kirk in 1964-65 while he was still a teenager. In 1966 he and Larry Coryell formed The Free Spirits, a jazz fusion ensemble, and from 1967 to 1969 he played in Gary Burton's quartet. He also recorded with Burton in the 1970s, in addition to work with Dave Liebman/Open Sky, Pat Metheny, Mike Gibbs, Hal Galper, Gil Goldstein, Steve Swallow, Steve Kuhn/Sheila Jordan (from 1979 to 1982), George Gruntz, and Emily Remler (from 1983 to 1984). In the early 1970s he was a member of Compost with Harold Vick, Jumma Santos, Jack Gregg (fr) and Jack DeJohnette.

His first session as a leader was in 1968, released as the record Love Animal. His second session as a leader was in 1973 with the release of Bittersuite in the Ozone. his records for Gramavision in the 1980s were critically acclaimed.

He is also the author of the drum method book Drum Wisdom.

Moses currently performs alongside John Lockwood, Don Pate, and John Medeski with noted guitarist Tisziji Muñoz and teaches at New England Conservatory."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Moses_(musician))
1/26/2026

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:
Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Unusual Vocal Forms
Blonk, Jaap
Trio Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Balance Point Acoustics.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Stadhouders, Jasper / Jaap Blonk
JaJaa! - Improvisers
(Kontrans)
A fierce live collision of Jaap Blonk's phonetic vocal and electronic inventions and Jasper Stadhouders' raw guitar improvisation, forging a surreal language of sputtered syllables, scraped strings, and disruptive humor, where meaning dissolves into texture and every gesture feels simultaneously unhinged and meticulously alive.
Blonk, Jaap / Damon Smith / Michael Zerang
Improvisers
(Kontrans)
The first meeting as a trio between Jaap Blonk on voice, Damon Smith on bass, and Michael Zerang on percussion, captured live in Chicago and continuing the Kontrans Improvisors series, bringing together three longstanding collaborators in new formation for an inventive and uncompromising set of free improvisation that highlights their commanding spontaneity and creative rapport.
Blonk, Japp
Kurt Schwitters Ursonate
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Dutch vocal artist Jaap Blonk performs Kurt Schwitters' iconic Dada sound poem Ursonate with deeply internalized precision and theatrical nuance, drawing on decades of experience to present a vivid, expressive interpretation of the four-movement work, including both an improvised and written Kadenz, in this definitive 2024 studio recording.
Schindler, Udo / Sandy Ewen / Damon Smith
Munich Sound Studies Vols. 4, 5 & 6 [3 CDs]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
An expansive 3-CD document recorded live across three Munich venues in May 2023, featuring Udo Schindler (clarinets, saxophones, brass), Sandy Ewen (electric guitar), and Damon Smith (double bass), each session enhanced by collaborators Karina Erhard, Jaap Blonk, and Sebastiano Tramontana, in an inventive series of improvisations of dynamic interplay and innovative sonic experiments.
Moses, Ra Kalam Bob / Jerome Bryerton
The Jugglerdrum
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Drawing titles from a Paul Celan poem, legendary drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses collaborates with Jerome Bryerton Ayotte in a subtly magical duo of sublime interaction, performing on a diverse array of percussion including drums, timbale, djembe, Zildjian and Sabian cymbals, Chinese jing cymbals, opera gongs, Paiste gongs, and sound discs to create a richly textured and deeply expressive sonic dialogue.
Lyle, K. Curtis / Jaap Blonk / Alex Cunningham / Damon Smith / Kevin Cheli
A Radio Of The Body 7 Neutrino Broadcasts Searching For 8
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Expanding on the insightful poetry of K. Curtis Lyle, who narrates seven evocative works alongside the freely improvising, chamber-oriented jazz trio of Alex Cunningham (violin), Damon Smith (double bass), and Kevin Cheli (drums, percussion & vibraphone), with free vocalist Jaap Blonk reinforcing and amplifying Lyle's words; a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of sound and verse.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Yoshida, Tatsuya / Martin Escalante
The Sound of Raspberry [VINYL]
(Wash and Wear Records)
A relentless duo of Japanese drummer, vocalist and electronic artist Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei), with Mexican saxophonist Martín Escalante on alto and voice, captured live in Tokyo in fourteen explosive improvisations of blistering energy, searing noise, and sudden precision shifts, balancing chaotic abandon with uncanny control.
Escalante, Martin / Charlie Mumma / Tete Leguia
This Molten Salt
(Wash and Wear Records)
A searing trio of saxophonist Martin Escalante, bassist Tete Leguia, and drummer Charlie Mumma, captured across sessions in Nashville and Grand Rapids, unleashing an uncompromising pedal-free noise assault that fuses the extremity of free jazz with noise music intensity, their ferocious interplay creating dense, volatile structures that channel chaos into a raw, intuitive sonic onslaught.
Butcher, John / Phil Durrant / Mark Wastell
Poznan: Appropriate Density
(Confront)
A trio of iconic UK improvisers — John Butcher on saxophones, Phil Durrant on electric mandolin and electronics, and Mark Wastell on percussion — perform at Poland's Spontaneous Music Festival in a richly textured set of acoustic and electronic interplay, where density, space, and responsiveness converge in a uniquely dynamic and nuanced session of free improvisation.
Bennington, Jimmy / Paul Blaney / Julian Prister
Blue Veils And Bright Stars
(ThatSwan!)
Recorded in 2005 and dedicated to Sun Ra and His Arkestra, this dynamic and lyrically inclined trio session brings together legendary trombonist Julian Priester with Canadian bassist Paul Blaney and drummer Jimmy Bennington, weaving spontaneous improvisations, expressive modern jazz, and a soulful rendering of "Mood Indigo" into a deeply rooted and timeless recording.
MNE (Mikawa / Numata / Escalante)
MNE Is Not NME
(Love Earth Music)
The trio of Toshiji Mikawa on electronics, Jun Numata (Doubtmusic) on guitar & electronics and Martin Escalante on saxophone for a superbly noisy and chaotic attack captured in Tokyo at Bar Isshee in 2023, two all-out assaults of clear electronic mayhem that would sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Borbetomagus and their kind; terrifyingly awesome!
Luppi, Riccardo / Simone Massaron / Daniel Studer
One
(Creative Sources)
Recording in the studio in Milan, the trio of Riccardo Luppi on tenor & soprano saxophones and flutes, Simone Massaron on guitar & electronics, and Daniel Studer on double bass engage in a textural and exploratory dialogue, blending extended techniques, electronic manipulations, and spontaneous interplay across seven distinct ""Takes", each offering a unique approach to collective free improvisation.
Ayler, Albert Trio
Prophecy Live, First Visit
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Recorded live at New York City's Cellar Café in June 1964, this essential document captures Albert Ayler, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Sunny Murray in a pivotal moment of spiritual free jazz, expressing motifs like 'Ghosts' and 'Spirits' into an ecstatic, ever-evolving language, with this remastered edition offering a refined perspective on a landmark session that shaped Ayler's uncompromising vision.
Butcher / Durrant / Wastell
Around the Square, Above the Hill
(Confront)
Two 2024 sessions from the free improvising trio of John Butcher (tenor and soprano saxophones), Phil Durrant (electric mandolin and electronics), and Mark Wastell (drums and percussion): the two-part dialog "Around", recorded live at London's Vortex Jazz Club, and the four-part collective improvisation "Above", captured at The Rose Hill in Brighton, UK.
Ayler, Albert with Don Cherry
1964 Recordings First Visit Completed [2 CDs + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Four sets of recordings from September, 1964 in Copenhagen, Denmark from a week performing live at Club Montmarte, and a recording in Hilversum, The Netherlands for VARA Radio, collecting and remastering these vital recordings from tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's most vital free jazz quartet with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on double bass and Sunny Murray on drums.
Seward, Ryan / Andrew Weathers
Laminar Interiors
(Editions Glomar )
Recording inside of abandoned agricultural silos in the Colorado plains during the summer of 2023, percussionist Ryan Seward and saxophonist Andrew Weathers leverage the resonance of these large metal structures, taking a slow pace employing silence with a pensive attitude as they improvise encased in these "Laminar Interiors: thin layers of interior sound".
Taylor, Cecil Unit (w/ Lyons / Silva / Cooper / Murray)
Live At Fat Tuesday's February 9 - First Visit Archive [CD + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
A superb and extended live performance from 1980 at NYC's Fat Tuesday jazz club, from the outstanding sextet of forward-thinking free improvisers, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Alan Silva on double bass & cello, Jerome Cooper on drums & African Balaphone and Sunny Murray on drums, led by Cecil Taylor on piano in an ecstatic concert never previously released.
Studer, Daniel
Extended II
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Presented in two sonic rendering, one for stereo playback and a binaural mix for headophones, this exceptional 2021 chamber jazz string performance at Kunstraum Walcheturm in Zurich displays spectacular technique and concentration, from the quintet of Daniel Studer (double bass), Harald Kimmig (violin), Frantz Loriot (viola), Alfred Zimmerlin (violoncello) and Philip Zoubek (piano).
Machinefabriek w/ Monika Bugajny
Recytle
(Machinefabriek)
After working with clarinetist Monika Bugajny on his + album, composer & electronic artist Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, joined again with Bugajny for a set of eight reconstructions of classical works from Debussy, Messiaen, Brahms, Stravinsky, &c., each reinterpreted work cleverly composed from Bugajny's recording of the original composition.
Venable, Phil
Bringing The Light [CD EP]
(Soul City Sounds)
A new Free Jazz album inspired by Pharoah Sanders' Karma, from the North Carolina ensemble led by upright bassist, guitarist and Soul City Sounds label-leader Phil Venable with Crowmeat Bob on saxophone, Ken Moshesh on percussion and Tommy Jackson on drums, plus a work for spoken word with NC Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green and a song inspired by BLM with vocalist Jennifer Evans.
bBb (Martin Kuchen / Ola Rubin)
Animal Quotes
(Relative Pitch)
Quirky in a masterful display of instrumental skill from the Swedish duo of soprano saxophonist Martin Küchen and trombonist Ola Rubin (Swedish Fix, Lazy Rude Monk), using every inch of their instruments along with mutes, percussion and percussive emanations, creating a virtual menagerie of animalistic sounds alongside dexterous lines.
Mitchell, Matt
Oblong Aplomb [2 CDs]
(Out Of Your Head Records)
Expanding on pianist/composer Matt Mitchell's 2013 duo album Fiction with Ches Smith is this double-duo release over 2 CDs, one CD with Smith performing on drums, gongs, percussion, vibraphone, glockenspiel, tam-tam & timpani, and one CD with drummer/percussionist Kate Gentile, performing Mitchell's fascinatingly convoluted works that integrate composition with improvisation.
Dunston, Nick
Spider Season
(Out Of Your Head Records)
A new trio from NY bassist & composer Nick Dunston, featuring Kalia Vandever on trombone & effects, and Do Yeon Kim on gayageum (a traditional Korean plucked zither), a uniquely orchestrated band performing Dunston's original (and humorously titled) compositions, on some of which each performer uses effects to create sonic environments; a creatively inventive configuration.
Duplant, Bruno
Paysages Sans Age III
(Sublime Retreat)
Two encompassing and tranquil works of sound from French composer Bruno Duplant, the album title translating to Ageless Landscapes as Duplant envisions two terrains through slow motion tones, piano and synthetics, evocatively described in an accompanying poem that conjures expansive fog, blurred trees, hawks slowly spiraling, a history in a hillside.
Schindler, Udo / Peter Jacquemyn / Georg Karger
Hybride Synergetics [LowToneStudies]
(FMR)
Reedist Udo Schindler continues his exploration into the double bass and low-tone reed instruments, here on bass & contrabass clarinets contrasted only with his soprano saxophone, in a 2022 live recording from MUCCA_Kommandozentrate in Munich of the five-part improvisation "Hybride Synergetic" in a trio with double bassists Peter Jacquemyn and Georg Karger.
MUC_ChamberArtTrio (Schindler / Geisse / Gramms)
Dachao Polyphonic
(FMR)
A remarkable concert as part of reedist Udo Schindler's LowToneStudies, referred to as "acoustronic" for the transformational aspects of each instrumentalist's playing, deceivingly electronic sounding despite being fully acoustic, captured live at Kulturschranne Dachau from the trio of Schindler, Gunnar Geisse on laptop guitar and Sebastian Gramss on double bass.




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC