Last monday there was a double bill featuring the young Australian bass-player Mike Majkowski. His playing is stunning and subtle. In both the solo performance and in the group with Laura Altman (clarinet), Yolando Uriz (piccolo) and Angel Faraldo (computer) he focusses on textures, mostly playing with the bow, though he is capable of producing a full bodied bass sound too. Also the group improvisations are focussed on creating refined textures of bass, clarinet and flutes, with the computersounds sometimes dominating a bit (though in the last piece we got a very nice low bass from the laptop which fitted perfectly). Concentrating, deep listening, textures. They announced that they finally had come up with a name for their group, but I’m afraid I forgot what it is (I do remember it was a combination of their initials). Good concert. I don’t know many bassplayers with such a command of extended and alternative techniques.
Zonnetje. Klein middagrondje tussen het werk.
Marcusstraat – Diemerpark – Muiden – Bloemendalerpolder – spoorbrug – Driemond – Stammerdijk – Bijlmer – Weespertrekvaart – Marcusstraat
Laat zondagochtendrondje. Eerst nog droog en bewolkt, later miezer. Somber decemberweer, wel lekker gereden. Flinke zuidwestenwind. 11.00 – 12.30
Marcusstraat – Amstel – Kalfjeslaan – Amsterdamse Bos Noord – Jac. Takkade – Bovenkerk – De Poel – Amstelveen – Ouderkerkerlaan – Ouderkerk – Amstel – Marcusstraat
Somber decemberweer, droog (na regen), waterkoude wind. Moe. Veel (of te veel) te doen.
Marcusstraat – Ringdijk – kanaal – Driemond – Gein – Abcoude – Ouderkerk – Amstel – Marcusstraat
I missed a few DNK-concerts in the past weeks. I had either a job to finish on a monday night, or I was ill, or both. But yesterday I was there to witness a performance of The Pitch. As I know Koen Nutters personally, I was well aware of the existence of this group. They’ve been rehearsing for a while now, whenever all of them could be in Berlin. These weeks they’re on a tour through Europe, and arrived at what to me feels as ‘homebase’. In The Pitch Morten Olsen plays vibraphone, Koen Nutters double bass, Michael Thieke clarinet and finally there’s Boris Baltschun who plays a small 1950s pump organ. (Is it a pump organ? They list it as such).
On a French site I read the term ‘deep acoustic’ to describe their music, and I find that quite fitting. The Pitch play structured improvisations that lead to music which is simply beautiful. The music only changes slowly, it is a layering of pitches. A note from the organ, a bowed note from the bass, a bowed note and a soft repeated single note from the vibraphone (or maybe one motif), and a note from the clarinet: it weaves a ‘tapestry’ which indeed is sometimes remininiscent of Feldman (the one influence they mention). I liked it, especially the one real drone piece, in which the sounds really seemed to take off. (Well, that’s what happens during a good drone). In that piece it almost became impossible to distinghuish exactly from which instruments which sounds were coming, and the spatial aspect of the sound (sound creating the space) was foregrounded even more. There is not a lot of tension in this music – or no tension at all even (though it never is boring). It is simple, and simply beautiful. The intention seems to be to create a soundspace in which one (player and listener) can simple ‘be’ for a certain amount of time. Also as a listener I am quite into exploring such an area.
After the applause for the last piece, the musicians retired backstage. Half a minute of silence followed and almost nobody got up to get drinks. Three people began to applaud again, the rest of the audience followed. In the concentrated and restrained atmosphere of DNK, The Pitch played an encore.
Slecht weer (harde wind en regen), maar vooral te veel andere dingen te doen. Blij dat ik er op zondag nog net een uurtje tussenuit kon (2 weken rust van de fiets is aan mij niet besteed – dat is omdat ik niet train maar gewoon voor mn lol rij).
Marcusstraat – Amstel – Ouderkerk – Ouderkerkplas – snelweg – Amstel – Marcusstraat
Zondagmiddagrondje. Harde wind, ik dacht westzuidwest, het bleek eerder pal zuid te zijn. Bij Lijnden bedacht ik me, niet verder westelijk, liever toch Ronde Venen en Ronde Hoep. Onverwacht veel zon en nog steeds warm, 14 graden.
Marcusstraat – Beatrixpark – IJsbaanpad – Oeverlanden – Lijnden – Amsterdamse Bos – Bovenkerk – Nesserlaan – Uithoorn – Amstelhoek – ri. Mijdrecht – 3e zijweg – Tienboerenweg – Nessersluis – Ouderkerk – Amstel – Marcusstraat
Hoe warm was het vandaag dan? 16 graden? Zon. Warm. Ik maakte er een tochtje in wandeltempo van. Geen zin om hard te rijden. Jammer genoeg te druk om een langere tocht te maken.
Marcusstraat – Schellingwouderbrug – Durgerdam – Uitdam – Gouwzee – Zuiderwoude – Broek in Waterland – Nopeind – Zwarte Gouw – Schellingwouderbrug – Felvopark – Marcusstraat
11.00 – 12.20. Herfstzon in de ochtend en warm, 15 graden. (Dat is ongeveer gelijk aan de gemiddelde temperatuur tijdens m’n zomervakantie in Ierland). Zuidwestenwind. Soms rij ik ‘t liefst twee dagen achter elkaar precies hetzelfde rondje. (Let op de rijrichting: ideaal, tenminste als je niet wilt trainen).
Marcusstraat – Amstel – Kalfjeslaan – Amsterdamse Bos – Bovenkerk – Nesserlaan – Amstel – Marcusstraat
Kimberley Spreeuwenberg (designer of Gonzo Circus, MA student at the University of Amsterdam) wrote an entry for Arie Altena on Wikipedia, and wrote a blogpost analyzing that process: http://kspreeuwenberg.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/a-wiki-noob/.
Ah, I’m here: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arie_Altena.