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Jazz Articles about Jon Balke
Piano Plus: Two Enhanced Solo Piano Sets
by Dan McClenaghan
Is the piano enough? Keith Jarrett, notably, made a big name for himself with his improvised solo piano outings. Jessica Williams composed, in real time, making magic alone at the keyboard. Fred Hersch has crafted masterpieces in the solo piano mode. The ever-versatile Brad Mehldau has produced many shining moments sitting down alone at the piano. But the Norwegian artist Jon Balke and Italian pianist Alessandro Sgobbio are compelled to augment the things they create on the acoustic ...
Continue ReadingSigurd Hole ensemble: Extinction Sounds
by David Bruggink
Sigurd Hole has proven himself a composer to watch with a string of releases blurring the lines between chamber jazz, modern classical composition and experimentation, often feeling more like organic transmissions than conventional songs. His solo double album Lys / Mørke (Self Produced, 2020) was recorded on the isolated Norwegian island of Fleinvær, and brings the intonations of its birds and biting winds into conversation with the similarly textural manipulations of his bowed and plucked bass. On the striking ensemble recording Roraima ...
Continue ReadingJon Balke: Siwan: Hafla
by David Bruggink
A large appeal of ECM Records has always been its encouragement of cross-cultural collaboration. Across countries and genres, listeners and critics alike have reveled in records from Codona (1979) to Le Pas du Chat Noir (2001), Chants, Hymns and Dances (2004) and Arco Iris (2011). There is joy in seeing musicians from diverse backgrounds come together to have their compositions treated with ECM's trademark recording quality. Norwegian composer, keyboardist, and percussionist Jon Balke's Siwan project, now in its third incarnation, has seen multiple arrangements ...
Continue ReadingJon Balke - Siwan: Nahnou Houm
by Mark Sullivan
When Norwegian keyboardist/composer Jon Balke began the Siwan project in 2007 it grew out of a fascination with Andalusian culture, and an imaginary musical history. What would have happened in European and world musical development if the Inquisition had never happened? Siwan (ECM, 2009) brought together Gharnati music (represented by vocalist Amina Alaoui and violinist Kheir Eddine M Kachiche), Baroque and improvised contemporary music. This album seeks to establish the concept as a working unit. Only Balke, Helge ...
Continue ReadingChamoisic Festival VIII Edition
by Antonio Baiano
Held in the village of Chamois, located in Valle d'Aosta (Italy), the Chamoisic Festival was founded by composer/trumpeter Giorgio Li Calzi. Since its inception, the festival has presented a wide range of music, from classical to jazz, folk and electronica, on stages surrounded by the majestic Alps. The 8th annual edition featured the Selene Framarin Trio, the Iain MacFarlane Trio, the Pugile Trio and saxophonist Diego Borotti. Jon Balke closed the festival on Sunday with his orchestra featuring ...
Continue ReadingJon Balke: Warp
by Neri Pollastri
Progetto in solitudine del pianista norvegese, quasi un decennio dopo il suo Book of Velocity, ma qui il pianoforte-- registrato al Rainbow Studio -è accompagnato da suoni registrati e campionati, da rumori d'ambiente e da voci, il tutto processato dall'autore assieme ad Audun Kleive, già partner di Jon Balke in altri lavori, e poi missato alla registrazione. L'obiettivo dichiarato di questa operazione era inserire il suono del piano all'interno di una più ampia architettura sonora, che in particolare ...
Continue ReadingJon Balke: Warp
by Karl Ackermann
Best known for his Magnetic North Orchestra, pianist and composer Jon Balke has a background that is rich with global influences and diverse musical stylings. Trained as a classical pianist in his youth, Balke was playing with Masqualero on Bande à Part (ECM, 1985) by the time he was eighteen. That recording, in the company of Arild Andersen, Nils Petter Molvær, Tore Brunborg and Jon Christensen, set some enduring musical relationships in motion, with all but Andersen going on to ...
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