Articles by John Eyles
Antoine Läng: Lâcher Les Chiens Tant Qu'on Y Est
by John Eyles
The album Lâcher Les Chiens Tant Qu'on Y Est ("Let the dogs loose while we're at it") is a recording of single takes of prepared jaw harps, without overdubs or additional effects, by Antoine Läng, an experimental musician and vocalist from Geneva, Switzerland. It was mixed by Läng and mastered by D'Incise of the label. Alongside D'Incise and his fellow Insub stalwart Cyril Bondi, Läng is also a member of Insub Meta Orchestra, the large (sometimes 45-strong) ensemble of improvisers ...
Continue ReadingHanna Paulsberg Concept & Elin Rosseland: Himmel Over Hav
by John Eyles
Hanna Paulsberg was born in Rygge, Norway, in November 1987. When she was aged fifteen, she heard a CD playing saxophonist Stan Getz and decided she wanted to play sax herself. The following year she started the music course at Kirkeparken videregaende skole in Moss. She passed her Examen artium in 2009 which meant she could progress to the jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonsevatorium, from which she graduated in 2011, some nine years after hearing Getz. ...
Continue ReadingBugge Wesseltoft: Am Are
by John Eyles
Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft was born in Porsgrunn, Norway, in February 1964 , the son of Erik, a guitarist. Thankfully, he was soon just known as Bugge and people learned that his first name is pronounced “Boogie" not “Bug" or “Bugga... “ Having flirted with a punk band that he did not enjoy much, Wesseltoft moved towards jazz, in particular to the style identified as “future jazz" or nu jazz.In 1995, Wesseltoft formed his own five-member band, called ...
Continue ReadingJulia Eckhardt: Blanca
by John Eyles
Julia Eckhardt was born in 1985 in Berlin, Germany, but later became Belgium-based. She is a renowned classical and orchestral musician who plays viola and has made a name for herself in the music industry. An organiser in the field of the sonic arts, she is artistic co-director of Q-O2 workspace for experimental music and sound art, as well as of the Oscillation festival in Brussels. She has performed and released internationally, and has been engaged in a number of ...
Continue ReadingJan Bang - Arve Henriksen: After The Wildfire
by John Eyles
Jan Bang is a musician, composer and record producer who was born in August 1968, in Denver, Colorado, but grew up in Kristiansand, Norway. Arve Henriksen is a trumpeter, vocalist and composer who was born in March 1968, in Stranda, Norway. For the 42nd Skopje Jazz Festival in 2023, Bang and Henriksen were commissioned to work together on new music. The result was After the Wildfire. It was first performed at the Festival with Bang on live sampling and electronics, ...
Continue ReadingOne first-timer to Another Timbre, one second timer
by John Eyles
As the Another Timbre label approaches its two hundred and fiftieth release (it could be part of the label's next batch of five releases) it seems a fitting time to assess its place in history. As with most instantly recognisable labels--Blue Note in its heyday, ECM, HatHut...-an Another Timbre release is instantly recognisable from its white front cover surrounding a work of art. Nowadays, the music inside is likely to be as recognisably Another Timbre as its sleeve. Of course, ...
Continue ReadingChristoph Gallio: Stone Is A Rose Is A Stone Is A Stone
by John Eyles
Anyone approaching this album unawares needs to be warned that its playing time of 36' 34" is divided into sixty nine tracks ranging in length from six seconds to a minute and 41 seconds, and that the tracks are labelled as Roman numerals from one to 69 with 10 of the track titles being extended by dedications to unidentified individuals (for example, “XXXIV to Sisa Wandeler"). For anyone keen to know more, the track titles are printed on the rear ...
Continue ReadingGard Nilssen Acoustic Unity: Great Intentions
by John Eyles
Gard Nilssen was born in June 1983 in Skien, Norway, and raised in a musical family consisting of drummers. With a background of marching bands and big bands, it was no surprise that drums became his instruments of choice. He got his musical education on the jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium. Later on, he became a performer, composer, producer and bandleader and moved to Oslo, becoming one of the most sought-after and active drummers on the European scene. ...
Continue ReadingSol Sol: Oscillations
by John Eyles
Sol Sol is the name of a free-jazz quartet from Sweden that was formed in 2018. They recorded their first album, Unaccustomed Soil, at Atlantic Studios, Stockholm, on June 18th 2018, and had it released by Signal And Sounds Records on April 13th 2019. Elin Forkelid, who has played saxophones since she was fourteen, having been born in 1984 in southern Sweden, moved to Stockholm at the age of 20 to pursue saxophone and jazz studies at the Royal College ...
Continue ReadingTwo Great Composers From Decades Apart
by John Eyles
Although the Another Timbre label was originally set up in 2007 to release recordings of improvised music--its very first release was The Contest of Pleasures by John Butcher, Axel Dorner and Xavier Charles--it did not take long for it to be releasing recordings of modern compositions... The label's tenth release, Lost Daylight, was played by John Tilbury on piano and comprised five compositions by Terry Jennings and one by the late John Cage. It was not long until the label ...
Continue Reading
