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Jan Bang: ….and poppies from Kandahar
by Nenad Georgievski
Imagination knows no boundaries and, as Einstein has said, more important than knowledge is the imagination that embraces the whole world and all there will be to know and understand. Clearly, a man whose imagination knows no boundaries and embraces opportunities, live sampler Jan Bang's debut is an album of pioneering intensity and diverse expression. A notable producer and collaborator, Bang's ....and poppies from Kandahar is his sprawling introduction to the world at large. The title--as well ...
Continue ReadingJan Bang: Head, Shoulders, Hips, Knees and Toes
by John Kelman
When it comes to organically integrating modern technology into music, few countries are innovating to the degree of Norway, and at the epicenter of that country's forward-thinking approach to melding improvisation with jazz and Norwegian traditionalism--not to mention contemporary classicism, pop, ambient and more; truly any and all musical markers--is producer/remixer/sampler Jan Bang, who has just released his first album as a leader, ....and poppies from Kandahar (SamadhiSound, 2010). Bang, from his home base in ...
Continue ReadingJan Bang: ….and poppies from Kandahar
by John Kelman
It's rare for an album to quietly shake the foundation of what music is...and can be. Fifteen years after Jan Bang first innovated the concept of live sampling--turning an Akai MPC 3000 sampler into a true improvising instrument by sampling other musicians in real time and feeding processed musical ideas back; pushing and pulling the music just as any “conventional" musician does in a live context--he's finally released his first album under his own name, and it's a stunner. Filled ...
Continue ReadingPunkt 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 ...
Continue ReadingPunkt 07 - Kristiansand, Norway - Day Four, September 1, 2007
by John Kelman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4Despite its relatively small size, Punkt is a festival that always thinks big. The best sound and lighting people in the country are enlisted--resulting in always superb sound and set/lighting designs that, rather than being created for the venue and remaining constant, change, often significantly, from performance to performance. Every year there's something new, like the Punkt Magasin, which is more than just a program: it's a large-sized ...
Continue ReadingPunkt 07 - Kristiansand, Norway - Day Three, August 31, 2007
by John Kelman
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 While other festivals feature a diversity of artists across a longer period of time, there's simply no festival other than Punkt that manages to pack so much into three days of programming—and create the kind of environment where unexpected collaborations catalyze real magic, and expected encounters do the same by being given the free reign to try absolutely anything. Over its three-day run there are thirteen acts ...
Continue ReadingLars Danielsson: Melange Bleu
by John Kelman
Music--improvised or scored--is inextricably linked with how it's arranged or orchestrated, a point made crystal clear by Lars Danielsson's Mélange Bleu. The bonus track on the Swedish bassist/cellist/ pianist's Libera Me (ACT, 2004) hinted at the direction Danielsson would take on Mélange Blue--a blending of acoustic instruments, concert orchestra and technology to create a lush new mix (or Mélange) that retains Danielsson's innate lyricism, but places it in the sonic realm of Nu Jazz. With some of ...
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