The Squid's Ear Magazine


Spaces Unfolding (Metcalfe / Wachsmann / Karlsen): The Way We Speak (Bead)

All three having met in the London Improvisers Orchestra, Neil Metcalfe on flute and violinist Philipp Wachsmann each worked with drummer Emil Karlsen in separate projects including Tern, and then at Karlsen's suggestion creating this new Spaces Unfolding trio, heard in their first album, recording in the natural resonance of St. Mary's Old Church in Stoke Newington.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Neil Metcalfe-flute

Philipp Wachsmann-violin

Emil Karlsen-drums


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UPC: 5904224871475

Label: Bead
Catalog ID: Bead 43
Squidco Product Code: 32648

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: UK
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at St. Mary's Old Church, in Stoke Newington, London, UK, on June 28th, 2021, by Alex Bonney.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"The first meeting of 'Spaces Unfolding', a trio compromising of UK stalwarts Neil Metcalfe (flute), Philipp Wachsmann (violin) and Norwegian drummer Emil Karlsen. The group was initiated to explore the timbral and textural interrelationship of the flute, violin, and percussion constellation. Recorded on the 28th June 2021, their debut 'The Way We Speak' demonstrates an acoustic awareness and explorative mindset. Ranging from quiet whispers to explosive bursts, the trio interacts seamlessly within the acoustical boundaries of St. Mary's Old Church, the last surviving Elizabethan church in London."-Bead Records

liner notes:

"I first met Phil and Neil back in 2019 as part of the London Improvisers Orchestra. Since then, I've had the joy of performing alongside them in various contexts although separately, notably with Phil in the electro-acoustic trio Tern and with Neil in various ad-hoc situations on the London improvised music scene. It's a great honour sharing stage with, what in my opinion is, two of the UK's most distinct improvising musicians whose influence on the scene is evident. When approaching Neil with the project he, to my surprise, explained that him and Phil had never played together apart from in the London Improvisers Orchestra and in various Evan Parker large ensembles. Two minds who share a commonality in their improvisational approach, and two obvious collaborators whose paths rarely crossed ultimately outlined an intriguing framework for the group to emerge from. Luckily, my idea was enthusiastically received, and thus Spaces Unfolding was created

We later spent an afternoon in St. Mary's Old Church in Stoke Newington recording the album without any prior discussions of ideas to explore. The result is an honest representation of what happened in the space. The first encounter of an improvising trio exploring the group constellation within its surroundings. I'm proud to present this group and its music - Spaces Unfolding."-Emil Karlsen July 2022


Artist Biographies

Neil Metcalfe is a UK flutist who has been a member of groups Evan Parker Octet, Garage, London Improvisers Orchestra, Paul Rogers Freedom Orchestra, The Dedication Orchestra, The Intuitive Art Ensemble, The Runcible Quintet, Transatlantic Art Ensemble, Trio F O, and Unlaunched Orchestra.

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/316930-Neil-Metcalfe)
3/25/2024

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

"Philipp Wachsmann. Born Uganda, 1944; violin, viola and electronics.

In the CD booklet to Gushwachs, John Corbett notes that Phillip Wachsmann came to free improvisation from a predominantly classical background, particularly via the contemporary experiments of "indeterminacy, graphic and prose-based scores, conceptualism and electroacoustics, listening to Webern, Partch, Ives, Berio and Varèse, reading 'Die Reihe' and interrogating the rhythmic, harmonic and melodic preoccupations of Western art music. Starting in 1969, Wachsmann was a member of Yggdrasil, an ensemble performing works by Cage, Cardew, Feldman, Ashley and others and in this group he used contact mikes on the violin and made his own electronic instruments, ring modulators and routing devices. Ironically, his studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris (1969-1970) pushed him hard in the direction of free music. He recalls: 'Despite her neoclassical orientation, her insistence that composition is about the imagination of performance and its realisation, the live moment, and her stunning ability to make this happen was a powerful influence on me, steering towards 'performance' and therefore 'improvisation'.'"

Wachsmann moved from Yggdrasil to Chamberpot - recorded on Bead 2 - and shortly thereafter appeared on Tony Oxley's influential February papers, forward looking in the virtual 'industrial' orientation of some of the tracks, years before this became an accepted genre; the two musicians have continued to work together, in various groupings but notably in the percussionist's Celebration Orchestra. Philipp Wachsmann has also performed and/or recorded with: Derek Bailey's Company, e.g. on the recording Epiphanies; Georg Graewe; Barry Guy; Iskra 1903; King Übü Orchestrü; London Jazz Composers' Orchestra; Evan Parker, particularly as part of the Evan Parker Electronic Project; Quintet Moderne; Fred Van Hove's ML DD 4; Rüdiger Carl's COWWS (now CPWWS) Quintet; and Lines, with Martin Blume, Jim Denley, Axel Dörner and Marcio Mattos. He also plays as a solo musician.

Phillip Wachsmann also administers Bead Records."

-EFI: European Free Improv (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mwachs.html)
3/25/2024

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

"Emil Karlsen is a Norwegian improvising drummer currently based in the UK. Described as a "significant addition to the UK free jazz scene" and an "exceptional improv drummer", he's establishing himself on the improvised music circuit working the span from free improvisation to free jazz. Occupied with the exploring timbral possibilities of the drum kit, he performs with Philipp Wachsmann, Matthew Bourne, Phil Durrant, Maggie Nicols, Ed Jones, and the London Improvisers Orchestra to mention some."

-Emil Karlsen Website (https://emilkarlsen.com/)
3/25/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. The Way We Speak Pt. 1 8:50

2. Unfolding Spaces Pt. 1 8:58

3. Unfolding Spaces Pt. 2 14:30

4. Unfolding Spaces Pt. 3 7:34

5. The Way We Speak Pt. 2 11:32

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
Recordings Utilizing the Natural Resonance of a Space
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

Search for other titles on the label:
Bead.


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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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