www.aspenedities

Walters wildcard gaat dit keer naar Aspen Edities. Het label/collectief neemt het roer over van Walter en gooit de deuren van de werkplaats open voor een - tja, voorlopig alweer enkel online - publiek.

Niels Van Heertum is als euphoniumspeler vooral actief in de improvisatiescène. De jongste jaren werkte hij niet alleen graag voor en met Alain Platel, maar ook met bands zoals Ifa y Xango, Linus, Book of Air: vvolk en Chantal Acda. Begin 2017 produceerde hij zijn eerste solo-cd JK’s kamer +50.92509° +03.84800°. In oktober 2017 verscheen een tweede cd onder zijn hoede: evergreen van Veder. In 2018 werd hij Artist in Residence in de Warande in Turnhout. In dat jaar ontving hij de Sabam Jazz Award voor opkomend talent. In 2019 verscheen een nieuw solo-album in de vorm van een split-album met de Pakistaans-Amerikaanse muzikant en componist Shahzad Ali Ismaily.

Xavier Charles (FR) - clarinet
Christian Wallumrød (NO) - piano
Ivar Grydeland (NO) - guitar
Ingar Zach (NO) - percussion

Dans Les Arbres is an improvising ensemble comprising French clarinettist Xavier Charles and the three Norwegians pianist Christian Wallumrød, guitarist Ivar Grydeland, and percussionist Ingar Zach. For this occasion, Dans Les Arbres had to rethink their way to be a part of the Aspen label night. Here's how:

One of our first corona-inspired projects took place right after all of our planned conventional performances were cancelled in spring 2020, and before we sank too deep into the corona-hiatus. That project was an experimental recording session, where we threw away what we cherish and cling to the most: exchanging and sharing sounds in the same room. For that project, we decided to record individually for a set duration, without listening to each other. We recorded where we were: Madrid (Ingar), Pont de Barret (Xavier), Oslo (Christian) and Nesodden (Ivar), only pretending we were playing together. Without any kind of editing, we put these four tracks on top of each other. To our big surprise, we discovered that a great deal of what was going on in the music, in these four individual recordings, actually sounded much like we do when we are playing together for real. It felt both natural and unnatural at the same time. That generated a lot of interesting questions for us, some of them even a bit scary.

However, when yet another concert we thought would happen for real got cancelled in spring 2021, our planned performance at Walter, we decided to experiment with another surreal playing situation. Still, all four of us could not meet and play together, and we could not travel to Belgium, so the concert would have to be broadcasted online. This time we were only spread in two different countries. We decided that Xavier would play for a set duration, imagining he played with the rest of us. Later Christian, Ingar and I played with Xavier’s recording, without listening to it first, imagining all four of us playing in the same room. What struck me the most in this experience, was how easy it was to imagine Xavier sitting next to us in the same room. It was as if he listened and responded, played with us. He was there, almost like a ghost. This too felt both natural and unnatural.

Perhaps corona-fatigue, social isolation, and one year of not playing together play a role in this. The playing situation for this pre-recorded online concert at Walter was a bit closer to what we are most used to. Playing together like this is still too unnatural, we are still too distanced to be together. But my corona fatigue makes me accept it as “normal” for a few more weeks.

Ivar

Ruben Machtelinckx - banjo and woodblocks
Frederik Leroux - banjo and woodblocks

The combination of prepared banjo and woodblocks expresses a surging condition in which silence and sound are equivalent. From improvisations, elements are magnified, isolated or developed further until rippling compositions arise in which subtle and hardly audible sounds come to the surface. The project resulted in 'let's drink the sea and dance', a bundle of nine compositions.