The Squid's Ear Magazine


Harnik, Elisabeth / Didi Kern / Jaap Blonk: Steamology (Klanggalerie)

Joyfully assertive and somewhat twisted, the first of three improvisations on this live album at Wels Unlimited 2020 is the duo of Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik and drummer Didi Kern, starting at high speed then shifting to unusual approaches in a quirky dialog, made quirkier with Jaap Blonk adding wonderfully nonsensical vocalizations on the last two pieces.
 

Price: $17.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

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


EU & UK Customers:
Discogs.com can handle your VAT payments
So please order through Discogs

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Elisabeth Harnik-piano

Didi Kern-drums

Jaap Blonk-voice


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




UPC: 5052571097724

Label: Klanggalerie
Catalog ID: GG380
Squidco Product Code: 31720

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: Austria
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded live at Schlachthof, in Wels, Austria, on November 8th, 2020, by Christina Bauer.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"This recording is a registration of a duo performance by Elisabeth Harnik on piano and Didi Kern on drums and percussion. Three pieces: one extended improvisation lasting almost half an hour and two shorter ones. In the last minute of part II and for the whole of part III, the duo is joined by Jaap Blonk. All three have made their mark in the global improvisation world. Harnik and Kern are mainstays in the Viennese (impro) music scene. Kern is also active in rock and electronic music. Jaap Blonk is a voice artist who also uses electronics.

The first five minutes sound like a steam engine trying to get its groove back. And when it does, block chords go up in accelerando until the engine stops. No steam is available, and there's a meditative tension (a contradiction in terminus, of course, but the relative stillness of the piano in full atonal mode is interjected with percussive tings and tangs, spellbinding rushes, shakes with a tambourine and sticks rubbed against the cymbal to create high-pitched tones. This interlude is mesmerizing and a stark contrast with the preceding six minutes. Harnik also attacks the bare strings inside the grand piano throughout the piece for added effect. Both musicians are conscious of what each is doing. At around the twelve-minute mark, the engine gets steamed up again with the help of a steady (well, almost steady) beat by Kern. At the end of the piece, it sounds like Harnik is bowing the strings inside the piano. Part II starts with a long drum roll. The piano adds agitated figures. A start-stop play begins. This agitation is kept throughout the piece. Jaap Blonk adds some more agitation to his voice.Part III starts with Blonk talking to himself and making various noises. Harnik joins with a disjointed bassline and adds vamped chords in the right hand. Blonk adds electronic blips, perhaps using his voice as the source. Later on, the three of them let the music and noise become quiet.

This performance (all 47 minutes) is a great way to get familiar with three musicians who have mastered their instruments and have a good time making music. The music is not totally out there (at least not to these ears) and has a really nice flow. Mind you, this isn't lounge music either."-MDS, Vital Weekly



"Elisabeth Harnik, an Austrian based pianist and composer has created a multi-faceted body of work by blurring genre boundaries through various collaborations in the field of improvised music, interdisciplinary projects and contemporary compositional works. She studied classical piano and later - with Beat Furrer - composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz. As an improviser she works within an electro-acoustic inspired sound-world, using specific preparations and extended techniques while pushing the limitations of the piano. Amongst others she has collaborated with Frank Gratkowski, Dave Rempis and Michael Zerang, Joelle Leandre and Ken Vandermark.

Didi Kern is an Austrian drummer who is best known for his work with Bul But, Fuckhead or Glutamat. He is equally at home in the rock scene and in the free improvisation scene. He has a duo with keyboarder Philip Quehenberger, plays drums with KGB and has performed with jazz greats like Peter Brotzmann, Mats Gustafson, Weasel Walter, Saadet Turkoz or Ken Vandermark.

Jaap Blonk is a Dutch avant-garde composer and performance artist. He is primarily self-taught both as a sound artist and as a visual/stage performer. He studied physics, mathematics, and musicology for a time, but did not complete his studies. One of his early influences was Kurt Schwitters, whose Ursonate he first heard in 1979; he memorized the entire work, and it became one of the cornerstones of his repertory.

For Wels Unlimited 2020, the trio got together for a live stream during one of the Covid lockdowns. This album is a recording of that show."-Klanggalerie


Get additional information at Vital Weekly

Artist Biographies

"Elisabeth Harnik, free-lance composer and pianist, was born 1970 in Graz and lives in Gams (County of Styria/Austria). She studied classical piano and later - with Beat Furrer - composition at what is now the Univer sity of Music and Performing Arts, Graz.

The "repertoire" and it's extensions in composition and improvisation is her central focus. Harnik works within an electro-acoustic inspired sound-world, using unique preparations and extended techniques.

Performances include: Easterfestival Graz 2002, Hörfest Graz 2003/04/05, Styrian Chamber Music Festival 2003, Klangmühle Orth an der Donau 2005, Munich Ope ra Festival 2006, Mozart- Year Vienna 2006, Paul Hofhaimer Musiktage 2006, Composers' Forum Mittersill 2008, Haydn Year 2009, Festival 4020 Linz 2009, Sou ndings Festival London 2010, Opera Graz, Musikprotokoll/Steirischer Herbst 2011, E_MAY Festival Vienna 2011/2012, Klangspuren Schwaz 2012, Transart Festiv al Bozen 2012, Wien Modern 2013, Estonian Harpsichord Society Festival 2014, A udio ArtFestival Pula 2014 a.o.

She has worked with renowned artists and ensembles such as the Ensemble Zeitfluss Graz, the Ensemble 09 Linz, the Ensemble MusikFabri kSüd, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, the Klangforum Vienna, the Ensemb le "die reihe" Vienna, the Ensemble Kontrapunkte Vienna, the ensemble Reconsil Vienna, the Ensemble PHACE Vienna, the Ensemble Platypus Vienna, the Hay dn-Trio-Eisenstadt, the Trio AMOS Vienna, the Trio EIS Vienna, the Thürmchen Ens emble Cologne, the Fidelio Trio London, the Cantus Ensemble Zagreb, the Ensemble mise-en New York and various national and international soloists.

She received a great number of rewards and prizes, most recently she was Artist in Residence at the OMI International Arts Center New York 2010 and Composer in Residence 2013 at the IZZM in Ossiach/Austria. In addition to her work as composer she appears as improvisator at various national and international festivals such as the V:NM-Festival, the Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon, the Nickelsdorfer Konfrontationen, the Artacts Festival St. Johann, the Music Unlimited Festival Wels, the Soundgrube Vienna, the Comprovise Festival Cologne, the Beethoven Fest Bonn, the A L'ARME! Festival Ber lin, the Jazz & More Festival Sibiu, the Alpenglow Festival London, the All Ears Festival Oslo, the Umbrella Music Festival Chicago, the Okka Fest Milwaukee, the Musi cacoustica Beijing, the SoundOut Festival Canberra/AUS a.o."

-Elisabeth Harnik Website (http://elisabeth-harnik.at/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Elisabeth-Harnik_Bio-English.pdf)
4/28/2025

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

"Didi Kern, the human rhythm machine of Bulbul, Broken Heart Collector, Fuckhead, Wipeout, Die Mäuse, Wenzl Dnatek (among others), feels at home in almost any genre: noise, rock, techno, free jazz - you name it."



Didi Kern musician in rock, improvised- and electronic music, playing the drums since childhood, starting in rural marching bands. Since the 90s he is best known for his contributions in bands like Bulbul or Fuckhead.

-Elevate Website (https://elevate.at/websites/2013/art/artist/didi_kern_philipp_quehen/)
4/28/2025

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

"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)
4/28/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. Steamology I 29:13

2. Steamology II 8:16

3. Steamology III 9:48

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Unusual Vocal Forms
Blonk, Jaap
Duo Recordings
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
Last Copy of Items that will not be restocked...

Search for other titles on the label:
Klanggalerie.


Recommended & Related Releases:
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.
Centazzo, Andrea
Ictus@45 - Out Off Nights [4 CD BOX SET]
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Celebrating 50 years of Andrea Centazzo's career and 45 years of ICTUS Records, this 4-CD set documents concerts over four nights at Milan's Teatro Out Off, vibrant sets of improvisation uniting global luminaries like Elliott Sharp, Ellen Burr, and Steve Swell in a boundary-pushing exploration of ICTUS's legacy and Centazzo's innovative artistry.
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.
Tungu
Successful Utilization of Elements
(Public Eyesore)
A series of 19 wide-ranging duets between Sergey Senchuk, aka Tungu, who performs on voice, acoustic bass, field recording & sampling, and an impressive set of international improvisers, including Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Jaap Blonk (voice), Gunda Gottschalk (violin), Susan Alcorn (pedal steel guitar), Sainkho Namtchylak (voice), Xavier Charles (clarinet & processing), &c.
Salter Ensemble (Belorukov / Harnik / Kocher / Grom / Beiner / Klammer / Kutin / Lang / Tomazin / Badrutt)
Tri Dela
(Bruit Editions / Zavod Sploh)
Operating on the border between free improvisation and composition, the international electro-acoustic ensemble Šalter Ensemble present three incredible works composed by members of the ensemble -- Tomaž Grom; Jonas Kocher & Gaudenz Badrutt; and Elisabeth Harnik -- developed with the full ensemble, incorporating jazz, free improvisation, electronics & sound art.
Buck, Tony / Elisabeth Harnik / John Edwards / Harri Sjostrom
Flight Mode: Live In Berlin 2023
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Finnish saxophonist and improviser Harri Sjöström assembles this quartet with some of the most innovative and in-demand players in Europe, the UK & Australia--Tony Buck from The Necks on drums & percussion, John Edwards on double bass, and Elisabeth Harnik on piano--captured live at Panda Platforma in Berlin in 2023 for a stellar concert of collective improvisation.
Leandre, Joelle / Elisabeth Harnik / Zlatko Kaucic
Live At St. Johann
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Bringing together as a trio two improvisers who have both worked previously with bassist Joëlle Léandre in various configurations--drummer Zlatko Kaučič, and pianist Elisabeth Harnik--for a magnificent concert of innovative expression through intent conversation of impressive and unusual technique, captured live at the 2023 ARTACTS Festival in Tirol, Austria.
Swell, Steve
Dances with Questions [3-CD SET]
(Not Two)
Recorded during the 2019 Kraków Jazz Autumn Festival, NY trombonist Steve Swell leads a series of small groups and a large ensemble, recording at Radio Kraków and at Alchemia with some of Europe's most active improvisers: Gebhard Ullmannm, Elisabeth Harnik, Niklas Barno, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jon Rune Strom, Carlos Zingaro, Mikolaj Trzaska, Signe Emmeluth, Hanne de Backer, Elisabeth Coudoux, & Per Ake Holmlander.
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.
Rempis / Harnik / Lonberg-Holm / Daisy
Earscratcher
(Aerophonic)
Formed in 2019, the quartet of Dave Rempis on alto sax, Elisabeth Harnik on piano, Fred Lonberg Holm on cello and Tim Daisy on drums celebrate Elisabeth Harnik's 50th birthday in 2020, originally planned as part of a European tour that year but prevented by pandemic, instead recording this well-balanced and often unbridled 2022 concert at Alte Gerberei, St. Johan in Tirol, Austria.
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)
New Start [2 CDs]
(Kontrans)
The first working band for Dutch vocal improviser Jaap Blonk in 20 years, as he passes 65 years and is clearly NOT ready for retirement, assembling Miguel Petruccelli (Native Aliens Ensemble) on guitar, Jasper Stadhouders (Cactus Truck) on bass, and Chicago ex-pat Frank Rosaly on drums for a double CD of new work, collective improvisation and reworked Blonk classics.
Rosaly, Frank (w/ Blonk / Boye / Farha / Pfiffner / Bishop / Broste / McBride / Diaz / Fernandez / Guerra / Rodriguez)
Todos de Pie!
(Kontrans)
Examining the music of Puerto Rico through a very personal relationship, drummer Frank Rosaly assembled a group of percussionists along with trombonists Jeb Bishop & Nick Broste, bassist Nate McBride, pianist Ben Boye wind player Cameron Pfiffner, and Dutch avant-free vocalist Jaap Blonk, all using electronics and voice as they push the boundary of genre and concept.
Williams, Mars presents
An Ayler Xmas Volume 2
(ESP)
After releasing "An Ayler Xmas: The Music of Albert Ayler & Songs of Christmas" on Chicago saxophonist Mars Williams' Soul What? Label, ESP approached him for a 2nd volume, resulting in this joyful and quirky holiday record with contributions from Josh Berman, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Jeb Bishop, Christof Kurzmann, Didi Kern, Thomas Berghammer, Steve Hunt, Jim Baker and Hermann Stangassinger.
Schindler, Udo
Botenstoffe
(Confront)
A series of duo recordings between saxophonist, clarinetist and cornet player Udo Schindler and pianists, all recorded at Schindler's Salon for Sound and Art at Krailing, Germany between 2013 and 2016, with Claudia Ulla Binder, Masako Ohta, Elisabeth Harnik, Katharnia Weber, and Lisa Ullen; song titles taken from SONDAGEN (Soundings) in memory of poet Thomas Kling.
Blonk, Jaap / Damon Smith
Hugo Ball: Sechs Laut- Und Klanggedichte 1916 (Six Sound Poems, 1916) [CASSETTE]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Three free improvisations for voice & double bass + improvisations on Hugo Ball's Six Sound Poems from the duo of free improvising vocalist Jaap Blonk and double bassist Damon Smith.
Blonk, Jaap / Cor Fuhler
Pre-Zoic Cellways
(Kontrans)
Blonk, Jaap / Makagami Koichi / Paul Dutton / Phil Minton / David Moss
Five Men Singing
(Les Disques Victo)
Various Artists
Kraakgeluiden: Document 1
(Unsounds)
A series of improvised performances with the central idea of acoustic and electronic artists experimenting with the electronic medium in a live setting with musicians with whom they have never played with before.
Other Recommended Releases:
Harnik, Elisabeth / Steve Swell
Welcome to the Troposphere
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
An explorative album of collective free improvisation from the transatlantic duo of German pianist Elisabeth Harnik and New York trombonist Steve Swell, following up on their 2020 album Tonotopic Organisation, this 2022 live concert at Offene Ohren, in Munich brings listeners current to both improvisers immense creative drive, masterful skill, and their mutual, exuberant rapport.
Harnik, Elisabeth / Zlatko Kaucic
One Foot in the Air
(Not Two)
An exciting and often unorthodox concert of free improvisation between Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik and Slovenian drummer/percussionist Zlatko Kaucic, captured live in 2022 at the Kulturhalle in Eggersdorf, Austria for a diverse 5-movement freely improvised and very open-minded work, with both performing inside and outside of their instruments, and literally, underneath the piano.
Kravanja, Ana / Elisabeth Harnik
Vrtinci Minljivosti = Vortices Of Impermanence
(Creative Sources)
The working duo of Slovenian violinist Ana Kravanja and Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik present nine dialogs of freely improvised playing that draws on contemporary composition, using their primary instruments along with preparations, objects, frame drums, voice and ringing stones, a mood of tense mystery and wonder pervading their excellent and unusual discourse.
Dry Thrust (Georg Graewe / Martin Siewert / Dieter Kern)
The Less You Sleep
(Trost Records)
The trio of German pianist/composer Georg Graewe, guitarist Martin Siewert (Radian, Trapist, Also), and drummer Dieter Kern (DEK Trio, Bulbul, Fuckhead) bring together diverse attitudes in free improv from avant jazz to ea-/experimental approaches and bristling rock forms, sharing a unique collective voice with an oddly implied sense of humor and disconcertingly ingenious skill.
Rempis / Harnik / Zerang
Astragaloi
(Aerophonic)
The 3rd release for the trio of Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis, German pianist Elisabeth Harnik and Chicago percussionist Michael Zerang, performing live at the 2020 ArtActs Festival in St Johan Austria for five outstanding improvisations fueled by their previous trio & duo work and flavored with inside piano preparations, hand percussion and superb soloing from all three.
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.
Schindler, Udo / Jaap Blonk
Lakefront Discussions
(FMR)
Extremely well paired in their unusual approaches to their instruments both acoustic and electronic, this live recording between Udo Schindler on reed & brass instruments and Jaap Blonk improvising with his voice and using computer electronics, results in eight diverting and inspired recording of extreme creative approaches and impressive technical skill.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC