Articles by kelman
Punkt Festival 2013
by John Kelman
Punkt FestivalKick Kristiansand, Norway September 6-8, 2013 Punkt is back. Three simple words with greater significance. While the annual festival, which has made its name on the strength of two additional words--Live Remix--had an eighth edition in 2012 that, on paper, should have been nothing short of spectacular, it was ultimately not just disappointing but, for longtime attendees, something that actually engendered real anger. The reasons were two-fold: first, invited festival curator Brian Eno--a ...
read morePunkt 2012: Kristiansand, Norway, September 6-8, 2012
by John Kelman
Punkt Festival Kilden Performing Arts Centre Kristiansand, Norway September 6-8, 2012Another year, another Punkt. If that sounds flippant or dismissive, that's not the intention; instead, it's a reflection that a year simply isn't complete without visiting Kristiansand, Norway, for the Live Remix festival that continues to expand its network and garner attention from people around the world.And it's not just fans of co-Artistic Directors Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, and the vision they had when ...
read morePunkt 2011: Kristiansand, Norway, September 1-3, 2011
by John Kelman
Punkt Festival 2011 The Agder Theatre Kristiansand, Norway September 1-3, 2011It was almost not meant to be. Plagued by a combination of airline snafus and the residual effects of Hurricane Irene--which had hit the northeast coast of the United States a few days earlier, creating (amidst other much more serious results) a backlog of people looking to cross the Atlantic that took days to sort out--what was originally planned as four days in Kristiansand, Norway was ...
read morePunkt Festival 2010
by John Kelman
The trials and tribulations of international travel—flight delays, missing or damaged baggage, and increasing limitations on said baggage—can be enough to frustrate even the most patient and seasoned world traveler. But despite an almost incredible confluence of problems flying to Kristiansand, Norway, for Punkt 2010, once there all such problems were forgotten. Punkt is simply too important an event each year to be tarnished by extraneous (and, ultimately, irrelevant) distractions. Still, delays and the result of baggage issues effectively resulted ...
read morePunkt in Mannheim: Enjoy Jazz Festival: Days 11-12, October 30-31, 2009
by John Kelman
Days 1-2 | Day 3-6 | Days 7-10 | Days 11-12Since its inception in 2005, the Norwegian Punkt festival has been gaining an international reputation for innovation and creativity. With a founding premise of Live Remix--where individual concerts, crossing the breadth of jazz but also beyond, are remixed immediately following the performance with other musicians interacting with the remixers- -Punkt is more than a music festival, it's a movable feast. All that's required is a venue that has ...
read morePunkt Festival 2009: Day 4, Kristiansand, Norway, September 5, 2009
by John Kelman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 For its fifth year, Punkt Festival's evening programming was, more than any other, organized around clearer thematic lines, although that still meant a considerably broader purview than most other festivals--and, of course, there was the occasional exception. The first day spotlighted up-and-coming talent; the second, largely more experimental improvisation; and the third, singer/songwriters. For Punkt 2009's final day, the emphasis was more decidedly on jazz, in conventional ...
read morePunkt Festival 2009: Day 3, Kristiansand, Norway, September 4, 2009
by John Kelman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 With the musical laboratory that's Punkt Live Remix, it's sometimes possible for a remix to actually surpass its source performance. With (for the most part) Punkt Co-Artistic Directors Jan Bang and Erik Honoré listening to each performance while it's in progress from their vantage point in the Alpha Room, they get to hear and select the individual tracks that they think would be ripe for ...
read morePunkt Festival 2009: Day 2, Kristiansand, Norway, September 3, 2009
by John Kelman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 One of Punkt's many definers is its fearless avoidance of stylistic boundaries. Some festivals are expanding their stylistic purview out of necessity; Punkt has always been style-blind by definition. So it's not uncommon to find a program where some of today's greatest experimentalists not only share the same bill as a soulful, pop-ready singer/songwriter, but share the same audience as well. Because Punkt audiences--at least the many ...
read morePunkt Festival 2009: Day 1, Kristiansand, Norway, September 2, 2009
by John Kelman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
---> Every festival has its raison d'être, but the Kristiansand festival, in Norway, has many. It's primary definer is its “Live Remix" concept--where performances in Agder Theatre's main hall are immediately followed by live remixes of the performance just passed, with additional musicians interacting, in real-time, with the remixer's vision.
But there's more to Punkt than its moveable feast--one that's already been brought to London, England ...
read morePunkt Festival 2008: Day 3-3
by John Kelman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
Day three of Punkt 08 ranked as one of the strongest of the past three years. What's remarkable about the programming in the Agder Theatre is the attention to details beyond the music--though that would be enough. With lights and set design by Tord Knutsen, video by Jan Martin Vagen, and a team of Norway's best sound engineers including Geir Ostenjo, Frederik Rodberg, Kjell Morten Bruun, Elise Onseng, Phillip Moe ... read more
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