The Squid's Ear Magazine


Balanya, Josep-Maria / Ramon Lopez: Furious Yellow (Creative Sources)

Two Spanish improvisers of distinction meet at DADA Studio, in Brussels, Belgium to record ten diverse and extraordinary dialogs, from percussionist Ramon Lopez and pianist Josep-Maria Balanya, balancing radical jazz with experimental approaches to free and contemporary improvisation, a tour-de-force of expression and innovation.
 

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Josep-Maria Balanya-piano, chanting

Ramon Lopez-drums, tabla

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Label: Creative Sources
Catalog ID: cs627
Squidco Product Code: 28543

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded live at DADA Studio, in Brussels, Belgium, on July 19th, 2018.
Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Artist Biographies

"Born in Barcelona, Josep-Maria Balanyà is a pianist, improviser, composer, conductor and sound artist recognized internationally. He studied in Barcelona and Switzerland (Swiss Jazz School and Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Bern). He specializes in improvisation and the new contemporary and experimental music. Among his 140 works are multimedia projects for piano, voice, electronics, video, Butoh dance, sculpture and sound installations. He has played in festivals and radio programs in many countries in Europe and America. Among his twenty records can be highlighted Un peu à gauche, svp (2007), Elements Of Development (1995), 77 TrierWest (2012) and Don't Mind (2015), acclaimed by the European press. He has worked with top musicians like Borah Bergman, Claudio Pontiggia, Hans Koch, Joachim Kühn, Michiel Borstlap, Walter Quintus, Ksenija Lukic, Das Neue Ensemble Hannover, Americo Rodrigues, Franz Hautzinger and Carlos Zingaro. He has received several grants in Germany and Switzerland. He is currently based in Brussels and Barcelona."

-Josep-Maria Balanya Website (http://www.balanya.net/index.php?node_id=4&lang_id=4)
3/11/2026

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

"Ramon Lopez was born on August 6th 1961 in Alicante, Spain. Drummer, Percussionist and Composer. He began as a self-taught drummer in the mid-1970's. Witnessing a Max Roach solo concert in 1980 was a turning point that fundamentally changed his understanding of music. He was part of local groups until he decided to move to Paris in January 1985 and became increasingly involved in the experimental scene in France. At the same time, he developed an interest in Indian music, and took tabla lessons with Krishna Govinda K.C. He is currently a student of Pandit Subhankar Banerjee, while teaching Indian music himself with Patrick Moutal at the Paris Conservatory (1994-2001) His first recording as a leader, an album of solo drums, was released in 1997 on the British Leo label linked to free jazz music and improvisation. Besides Jazz and Indian music, he is attracted especially to flamenco music. He has worked with some of the great flamenco artists, among them Carmen Linares, Esperanza Fernández, Inés Bacán, Gerardo Núñez, Rafael de Utrera, Chano Domínguez, etc... His musical endeavours have always been challenging; his interpretation of songs from the Spanish civil war (2001) spring to mind, or his duos dedicated to Roland Kirk (2002). From 1997 to 2000 he was drummer in the renowned French Orchestre National de Jazz under Didier Levallet, who continues to expand the traditional vocabulary of the orchestra with new elements. Among many others, Lopez has worked at concerts and festivals and in the recording studio with the following musicians of the jazz avant-garde: Beñat Achiary, Rashied Ali, Majid Bekkas, Anthony Coleman, Andrew Cyrille, Sophia Domancich, Agustí Fernández, Glenn Ferris, Sonny Fortune, Barry Guy, Charles Gayle, Teppo Hauta-Aho, Howard Johnson, Hans Koch, Joachim Kuhn, Daunik Lazro, Jeanne Lee, Thierry Madiot, Roscoe Mitchell, Joe Morris, Ivo Perelman, Enrico Rava, Paul Rogers, Louis Sclavis, Alain Silva, Archie Shepp, John Surman, Claude Tchamitchian, Mal Waldron, Christine Wodrascka... Ramon Lopez is an un-typical percussionist. He is a musician who has mastered a number of different musical traditions. He loves to work with artists from other disciplines, with actors, choreographers or visual artists. He is currently one of the most respected European musicians in the area of contemporary jazz or improvised music. The French government named him "Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters" in 2008."-Jorge García, Institut Valencia de la Musica.

-Ramon Lopez Website (http://www.ramonlopez.net/bio.html)
3/11/2026

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


Track Listing:
Related Categories of Interest:


Creative Sources
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Piano & Keyboards
Percussion & Drums
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