After twenty years playing together, the Sealed Knot trio of Burkhard Beins on amplified percussion, Rhodri Davies on amplified lap harp, and Mark Wastell on dual 32 past tam tams, gongs & nepalese singing bowls, performed live at Cafe OTO to record this beautifully captured, contemplative concert of tone, texture and ringing sound, like a 20-year dream reflected.
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Sample The Album:
Burkhard Beins-amplified percussion
Rhodri Davies-amplified lap harp
Mark Wastell-dual 32 past tam tams, gongs, nepalese singing bowls
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Label: Confront
Catalog ID: core 17
Squidco Product Code: 29578
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2020
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Cafe OTO, in London, UK, on March 2nd, 2020 by Shaun Crook
"Imagination is central to the connection between the audience and these performers. What enthrals me is how the music can be approached in so many different ways. Sometimes I will listen whilst visualising the creation of some vast abstract painting; Mark Wastell's chimes conjuring yellow flashes of light offset by electric colour washes from Rhodri Davies' e-bowed harp, and organic surface textures brought to life through Burkhard Beins' found objects interacting with the surface of a meticulously mic'd drum skin. Or another day, let the imagination run free as the sound embraces you, as if being driven through a new city in a country and culture previously unexplored. Senses heightened, taking in sights and sounds never before encountered, unsure as to what lies around the next corner."-David J. Nibloe, liner notes
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Burkhard Beins "Burkhard Beins, born 1964 in Lower Saxony, lives in Berlin since 1995. As a composer/performer working in the fields of experimental music and sound art he is known for his definitive use of percussion in combination with selected sound objects. Furthermore, he works with live-electronics/analog synthesizers and has conceived several sound installations. Since the late 1980's he is performing at internationally renowned venues and festivals throughout Europe, America, Australia and Asia as diverse as the LMC Festival (London), Int. Ferienkurse (Darmstadt), SKIF (St. Petersburg), Musiktage (Donaueschingen), Musique Action (Nancy), Choppa Festival (Singapore), Cave 12 (Geneva), The Now now (Sydney), ZKM (Karlsruhe), Kaleidophon (Ulrichsberg), Kid Ailack Music Hall (Tokyo), Gaudeamus Festival (Amsterdam), Liquid Architecture (Australia), Meteo (Mulhouse), Taktlos (CH), Berghain (Berlin), Konfrontationen (Nickelsdorf), Serralves (Porto), Wien Modern (Vienna), MoMA (New York), New Music Festival (Hanoi), Irtijal (Beirut), or Maerzmusik (Berlin). Alongside his solo work he is a member of the ensembles Polwechsel, Activity Center, The Sealed Knot, Perlonex, Sawt Out, Trio Sowari, Tree, Junk Orbit, Fracture Mechanics, and Splitter Orchester and also works with composers/musicans such as Sven-Åke Johansson, Andrea Neumann, Keith Rowe, Axel Dörner, Tarek Atoui, John Tilbury, or Charlemagne Palestine. Burkhard Beins gives workshops based on his graphic score system Adapt/Oppose, has published several articles on music theory, and is a co-editor of the book "Echtzeitmusik Berlin - Self-Defining a Scene" as well as the curator of a follow-up 3CD compilation featuring the Berlin Echtzeitmusik scene. Meanwhile he has released more than 50 CDs and LPs on labels like Zarek, Erstwhile, 2:13 Music, Hat Hut, Potlatch, Absinth, alt.vinyl, God Records, Mikroton, or Confront." ^ Hide Bio for Burkhard Beins • Show Bio for Rhodri Davies "Rhodri Davies was born in 1971 in Aberystwyth, Wales and now lives in Gateshead in the northeast of England. He plays harp, electric harp, live-electronics and builds wind, water, ice and fire harp installations. He has released four solo albums: Trem, Over Shadows, Wound Response and An Air Swept Clean of All Distance. His regular groups include: a duo with John Butcher, Common Objects, HEN OGLEDD: Dawson - Davies, a trio with David Toop and Lee Patterson, Cranc, The Sealed Knot and a trio with John Tilbury and Michael Duch. In 2008 he collaborated with the visual artist Gustav Metzger on 'Self-cancellation', a large-scale audio-visual collaboration in London and Glasgow. New pieces for solo harp have been composed for him by: Eliane Radigue, Phill Niblock, Christian Wolff, Ben Patterson, Alison Knowles, Mieko Shiomi and Yasunao Tone. In 2012 he was the recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Grants to Artists Award." ^ Hide Bio for Rhodri Davies • Show Bio for Mark Wastell "Mark Wastell Born 1968; cello. Much of Mark Wastell's relationship with his chosen instrument is concentrated on the tactile, textural and sonic possibilities of both violoncello and bow. He is increasingly interested in working with extreme elements drawn from frequency, timbre and pitch. His early activity was consciously and subconsciously influenced by a variety of improvising musicians including John Stevens, Barry Guy, Phil Durrant and John Russell. Subsequent exposure to contemporary composers lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of the works written for strings by Feldman, Cage, Nono, Lachenmann and Sciarrino. The use of live electronics and music concrete by Tudor, Parmegiani, Xenakis and others was another important early influence. Wastell's current instrumental material primarily focuses on using abstract principles of space and texture - encompassing elements of new London silence, pro-instrument minimalism, new complexity and electro-acoustics. Because of the very nature of his chosen instrument, he tends to favour 'chamber' style ensembles and is a member of a number of regular groups: Mark Wastell has also performed with many other leading musicians including John Zorn, Keith Rowe, Peter Kowald, Hugh Davies, Roger Turner, Veryan Weston, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders, Axel Dorner, Hans Koch, Phil Minton, Max Eastley and Steve Beresford. As a soloist he has played at the Micro-classical Festival (London 1996), LMC Festival (London 2000) and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (2000). He has travelled extensively with various groups, performing on tour and at festivals in the USA, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Greece. Other work includes the launch in 1996 of his own record label, Confront Recordings. Wastell is also joint co-ordinator of the concert venue All Angels, together with Rhodri Davies." ^ Hide Bio for Mark Wastell
9/11/2024
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9/11/2024
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• Derek Bailey's Company - with, for example, Will Gaines, Simon H. Fell and Rhodri Davies
• Evan Parker's String Project, with Peter Cusack, Hugh Davies, Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant, John Edwards, Kaffe Matthews, Marcio Mattos, John Russell
• Assumed possibilities, with Chris Burn, Rhodri Davies and Phil Durrant
• The Sealed Knot, with Burkhard Beins and Rhodri Davies
• Necessaire with Alessandro Bosetti, Ignaz Schick and Burkhard Beins
• IST with Simon Fell and Rhodri Davies
• Quatuor Accorde with Tony Wren, Phil Durrant and Charlotte Hug
• Broken Concort, a duo with Rhodri Davies
9/11/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Twenty 56:16
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Duo Recordings
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
lowercase, reductionist, micro-improv, sound improv, onkyo sound
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Search for other titles on the label:
Confront.
 | Butcher, John / Luigi Marino / Mark Wastell Parallel Streams (Confront) |
| An impressive live performance at Exploratorium Berlin in 2024 as part of the international symposium Musicians' Perspectives on Improvisation, which explores the practices, ideas, visions and theories of improvising musicians, from the trio of John Butcher on saxophones, Luigi Marino on cymbals, zarb, zarb e zurkhaneh & feedback devices, and Mark Wastell on percussion. | |
 | Davies, Rhodri Wyth [8 CD Box Set] (Amgen Records) |
| Collecting eight of avant improvising Irish harpist Rhodri Davie's albums on his Amgen label--Trem, Over Shadows, Wound Response, An Air Swept Clean Of All Distance, Telyn Rawn, For Simon H. Fell, Dwa Dni Telyn Wrachïod--a diverse set of approaches and configurations showing both his interest in the history and in the creative use of his instruments. | |
 | Creiriau y Delyn Rawn (Rhodri Davies / Richard Dawson / Pat Thomas / Spencer Yeh / &c) Relics of the Horsehair Harp (Amgen Records) |
| A companion piece to UK improvising harpist Rhodri Davie's solo album Telyn Rawn , asking some of his favorite musicians to respond to the 18 improvised pieces on that album, instructing them to imagine that the source material was an ancient musical form from the medieval period, and that their responses were to be modern interpretations of those "ancient" forms. | |
 | Davies, Rhodri Telyn Wrachiod (Amgen Records) |
| Continuing his investigations into ancient Welsh Harps, the Telyn Wrachïod (which translates to the Witches Harp) used pegs or brags emerging from the string-holes, in Welsh called gwrachïod, which could be adjusted to press on the strings to create a buzzing percussive sound used for dancing, here in improvisations by Rhodri Davies using a Urquhart bray harp. | |
 | Mayas, Magda Filamental (Mayas / Abdelnour / Caddy / Davies / Davies / Mayaas / Parks / Theriot-Ramos / Thieke) Ritual Mechanics (Relative Pitch) |
| The 2nd release from Magda Mayas' Filamental octet of Mayas, Zeena Parkins, Michel Thieke, Christine Abdelnour, Angharad Davies, Rhodri Davies, Aimée Theriot and Anthea Caddy, is a fascinating studio composition developed from individual recordings provided by each musician, assembled into two detailed and cohesive works of impressive contours and almost ceremonial beauty. | |
 | Tuerlinckx, Anais / Jonas Gerigk / Burkhard Beins Au Crepuscle (Confront) |
| Double bassist Jonas Gerigk invited two Berlin-based musicians--pianist Anaïs Tuerlinckx and percussionist Burkhard Beins--for a week of musical experiments and exploration at the venue Saxstall in Pohrsdorf/Tharandt, Germany, culminating in a well-recieved live performance; these two recordings are the result of their week of sonic investigation and improvisations. | |
 | Polwechsel Embrace [4 LP BOX SET] (NI-VU-NI-CONNU) |
| BACK IN STOCK! The current Polwechsel quartet of Werner Dafeldecker, Michael Moser, Martin Brandlmayr and Burkhard Beins — merging improvisation and contemporary forms for outstandingly paced and conceptualized performance — are joined by luminaries John Butcher, Klaus Lang, Magda Mayas, Andrea Neumann and Peter Ablinger, released in a deluxe 4-LP box set with a 32-page booklet. | |
 | Nicols, Maggie / Matilda Rolfsson / Mark Wastell Semiotic Drift (Confront) |
| Extending the duo of British improvisers, legendary vocalist and leader of London's The Gathering, Maggie Nicols, also performing on taps and percussion, and Confront label-leader, percussionist Mark Wastell performing on cymbals and frame drum, with Swedish percussionist Matilda Rolfsson on bass drum, captured in a captivating concert at All Ears in Oslo in 2023. | |
 | Jones / Lash / Wastel Meditating With The Father, Son, And Holy Ghost (Confront) |
| An interpretation and reimagining of the opening track of Coltrane's Meditations, from the UK trio of Ed Jones on tenor & soprano saxophones, Dominic Lash on double bass and Mark Wastell on tam tam, gongs, cymbal & percussion, performed live at Cafe OTO in London in 2023, transforming the original recording's density into a slowly opening, evolving work of beauty. | |
 | Davies, Rhodri Trem (Amgen Records) |
| Reissuing his 2003 album on the Confront label, Rhodri Davies' first solo album is a captivating set of uniquely voiced free improvisation, using a pedal harp, radio and tape recorders and percussive devices, and recorded in the natural resonance of All Angels, St Michael and All Angels Church in London, creating narrative and drama through Davie's intuitive sense of timing. | |
 | Guionnet, Jean-Luc / Rhodri Davies Dyslexic Harp (Deciphered In The Dark) (Amgen Records) |
| Recording in Brussels, Rhodri Davies performs a composition for pedal harp written for and dedicated to him by composer and saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet, using liberal periods of space that creates hanging anticipation amidst beautiful moments of fragmented string sequence and percussive response using the frame of the harp, leaving the listener in a state of fascinated expectancy. | |
 | Davies, Rhodri / Nikos Velitotis Hotel Art Head [BOOK] (gwasg amgen) |
| A curious book of images from artists including Rhodri Davies, John Butcher, Angharad Davies, Richard Dawson, &c. photographed in a location familiar to a touring musician--a budget hotel room--pictured laying on the bed with each artist's head covered by that room's hotel wall painting, from typically insipid to perplexingly unexpected. | |
 | Davies, Rhodri Dwa Dni (Amgen Records) |
| Two recording sessions yielding 15 recordings of solo harp improvisations in Rhodri Davies' fifth release on his Amgen imprint, beautifully intricate works from exuberant to introspective, with titles borrowed from the works of Lisa Jarnot, Ed Luker, Nathaniel Mackey, Redell Olsen, Sun Ra, Nisha Ramayya, Sarah Riggs and Leslie Scalapino, and cover art by Jean-Luc Guionnet. | |
 | Euphorium_freakestra Grande Casino [3 CDS] (Euphorium) |
| A truly diverse set of improvisations, from solo work to large scale ensemble, as Euphorium_Freakestra are joined by European Free Jazz legends, drummer Baby Sommer and double bassist Barry Guy, in a band with leader & pianist Oliver Schwerdt, plus Bertrand Denzler, Burkard Beins, John Eckhardt, Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Patrick Schanze, Daniel Beilschmidt & Freidrich Kettlitz. | |
 | Mayas', Magda Filamental (w / Davies / Caddy / Theriot / Davies / Parkins / Thieke / Abdelnour) Confluence (Relative Pitch) |
| Composed by pianist Magda Mayas for an octet of superb avant improvisers including Rhodri Davies, Zeena Parkins, Michael Thieke, Angharad Davies, &c. and performed live at the 2019 Music Unlimited 33, in Wels, Austria, this extended work uses a graphic score to interpret 12 photographs taken over an hour observing the merging waters of the Rhone and the Arve rivers. | |
 | IST (Davies / Fell / Wastell) + John Butcher / Phil Durrant A More Attractive Way [5 CD BOX SET + 20 page booklet] (Confront) |
| A comprehensive album of live performances from IST (Rhodri Davies: harp, preparations; Simon H. Fell: double bass, preparations; Mark Wastell: violoncello, preparations) between 1996 and 2000, beginning with their concert at Club Orange in London and including concerts in London, Billericay, Norwich and Cambridge, with a 20 page booklet of photos and text from the band & collaborators. | |
 | Davies, Rhodri Telyn Rawn (Amgen Records) |
| Dating back to the 13th century in Wales, the Telyn Rawn is a nearly forgotten horsehair harp; UK improvising harpist Rhodri Davies researched the instrument and its unique sound, commissioning the construction of a harp on which he performs 18 improvisations of impressive technique and sonority, launching his new Amgen Records label with this album named for the instrument. | |
 | Granberg, Magnus / Skogen Let Pass My Weary Guiltless Ghost (Another Timbre) |
| First performed in November 2019 at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and then at the Splitter Orchester festival in Berlin, this studio recording of Magnus Granberg's delicately complex and exquisitely dream-like composition features his Skogen ensemble, including Granberg, Rhodri Davies, Toshimaru Nakamura, Erik Carlsson, Petter Wastberg, &c. | |
 | Virtual Company (Fell / Wastell / Bailey / Gaines) Virtual Company (Confront) |
| IST, configured as the duo of double bassist Simon H. Fell and cellist/percussionist Mark Wastell, performing a virtual quartet at London's Cafe OTO, using using pre-recorded fragments of solo work from late guitarist Derek Bailey and tap dancer Will Gaines, combined with sections of silence of unforeseeable length, and then combined with the live musicians; amazing. | |
 | Cooper, Mike / Mark Wastell Sound Mirrors (Confront) |
| Lapsteel guitarist and electronic artist Mike Cooper and percussionist Mark Wastell, employing a paiste 32" tam tam and a shruti box, pay homage to the large acoustic sound mirrors used in Britain from 1916 to 1930 as an early form or radar, each of their detailed improvisation referencing one of the locations on the British south and northeast coasts. | |
 | Eastley, Max / Fergus Kelly / Mark Wastell The Map Is Not The Territory (Confront) |
| The 8th release on Confront's Core series of factory-pressed CDs brings together improvisers Max Eastley, Fergus Kelly and Mark Wastell, employing electroacoustic devices, invented instruments, metal percussion, a piano frame and tam tam to create a rich and mysterious sound world, darkly hopeful emanations in a nighttime traversal across unknown lands. | |
 | Andersen, Arild / Clive Bell / Mark Wastell Tales Of Hackney (Confront) |
| World instrumentation of shakuhachi, thai flute, shinobue, thai mouth organ, and shruti box blends with western orchestration of double bass, percussion and electronics as Clive Bell, Arild Andersen, and Mark Wastell come together in the studio after their well-received concert at Cafe Oto in London to develop these beautifully lyrical improvisations. | |
 | Beins, Burkhard / Lucio Capece / Martin Kuchen / Paul Vogel Fracture Mechanics (Mikroton Recordings) |
| "Fracture Mechanics" is the scientific study of cracks in any material, an apt title from these European experimental innovators--Burkhard Beins, Lucio Capece, Martin Kuchen, and Paul Vogel--pulling back the curtain on process and creating an impressive album crossing acoustic and electronic improv, organized sound, and inexplicable interaction; recommended. | |
 | Collusion Duo (Nick Smith / Mark Wastell) Refraction (Confront) |
| Violinist and percussionist Nick Smith, having access to St. Mary's Church at Great Baddow for music performance and rehearsals, made his first use of the space in 1996 in a duo with Mark Wastell on violincello, preparations and percussion, where they used the acoustics of the church to enhance their detailed and absorbing improvisations. | |
 | Baghdassarians, Serge / Boris Baltschun / Burkhard Beins Future Perfect (Mikroton Recordings) |
| Three impressive works of electroacoustic improv from the trio of Serge Baghdassarians (mixer, delays, electric guitar), Boris Baltschun (computer, sampler) and Burkhard Beins (percussion and zither), brooding and concentrative sound that unfolds slowly in detail and color. | |
 | Beuger, Antoine Two . Too (For Erwin-Josef Speckmann) [2 CDs] (Edition Wandelweiser Records) |
| Jurg Frey on clarinet and Irene Kurka on soprano vocals perform Wandelweiser composer Antoine Beuger's extended composition "Two"; then the duo of Rhodri Davies on harp and Ko Ishikawa on sho are layered on the first recording, creating a refreshingly new take on the piece. | |
