SAT 28 SEP Razen (b) + Thomas Bloch (fr) & Pauline Haas (fr) + Brecht Ameel & Kim Delcour & Berlinde Deman trio (b)
SAT 28 SEP Razen (b) + Thomas Bloch (fr) & Pauline Haas (fr) + Brecht Ameel & Kim Delcour & Berlinde Deman trio (b) at LES ATELIERS CLAUS
10 years Razen (b)
From their debut in 2010 on, the Brussels-based Razen aimed at using the unique timbral and drone characteristics of their chosen string and wind instruments in improvised, instinctive music that mixes pre-industrial, spectral and ethnic dreamtones with trance and medieval mysticism.
Originally a duo of Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour, over the past years Razen has grown into a larger ensemble, with the addition of Pieter Lenaerts on 5-string double bass and sarangi, Paul Garriau on hurdy-gurdy, and David Poltrock on ondes-Marthenot. The band has built a strong reputation in Belgium and abroad, both on their recorded output as with their ever-changing live shows.
Razen (b) + Thomas Bloch (fr) & Pauline Haas (fr) + Brecht Ameel & Kim Delcourt & Kim Deman (b)
Razen celebrate their 10 yr anniversary with “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, an album that takes a paragraph from CG Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections as a reference point to set off a journey that goes from light to dark, from day to night, from life to death, and back.As much a reflection of primal imagery and rituals of know-ledge as a way of coming to terms with anxieties about the chaos of the night, the album concerns itself with the questi-on: who - or what - are we in the moments before (re-)birth, before waking up, in the state inbetween darkness and light?On “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, the wind instruments and organ stabs of band leaders Kim Delcour and Brecht Ameel are expanded with Pieter Lenaerts’ five string double bass and sarangi, Jean-Philippe Poncin’s bass clarinet and chalumeau, and Paul Garriau’s hurdy gurdy.The album sees the group explore new straight-to-the-gut emotional territory, while simultaneously showcasing Razen’s intuitive, continuous investigation of the acoustic properties and resonant possibilities of churches and cha-pels in the countryside around Brussels; after “Remote Hologram” (2014) and “ The Xvoto Reels” (2017), this time the St Agatha Church (St.-Agatha-Berchem) functions as the conduit for Razen’s acoustic sound jolts.With the past ten years entirely devoted to the search for ar-chetypical timbres and connotations by improvising on Early Music instruments, it’s no wonder that the world of Razen would one day collide with the world of CG Jung and take his writing as an inspiration.A sonic hex tour de force from this unique ensemble, “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk” is a present-day, nocturnal emitter of the Coleridge quote that opens Jung’s Memories:‘He looked at his own soul with a Telescope. What seemed all irregular he saw and shewed to be beautiful Constella-tions and he added to the Consciousness hidden worlds within worlds
Thomas Bloch (fr) & Pauline Haas (fr): Master of obscure instruments such as the glass harmonica and the strange spawn of the synthesizer and theremin that is the Ondes Martenot, French multi-instrumentalist Thomas Bloch explores olden territories with the approach of a modern composer. His recent collaborations with harpist extraordinaire Pauline Haas have brought forth an eclectic, intimate output that brims with grace and wonder. Together, they construct an ethereal space where the sounds of yesteryear engender magical forms of experimentation that are as grounding as they are infinitely transporting.
THOMAS BLOCH (born 1962 in Colmar, France - www.thomasbloch.net) is a french musician who lives in Paris. He is a worldwide prominent classical solois specializing in the rare instruments (ondes Martenot, glass harmonica, cristal Baschet). His performances range from classical and contemporary music to songs, rock, theatre music, opera, improvisation, film music, world music, ballet music. He is also a composer and a producer.
Receiving a a First Prize for ondes Martenot at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (with Jeanne Loriod) and a Masters Degree in Musicology at the University of Strasbourg, Thomas Bloch has performed over 3000 times in 40 countries and appears on over 150 recordings, as well personal or as an invited performer.
Notable collaborations (concerts or recordings) include : Radiohead, John Cage, Gorillaz / Damon Albarn (Monkey: Journey to the West, after 2007), Tom Waits / Marianne Faithfull / Bob Wilson (The Black Rider / 2004 - 2006), Emilie Simon / Luc Jacquet (The March of Penguins), Milos Forman (Amadeus - long version "the director's cut", 2001), Daft Punk...
He teaches ondes Martenot at the Strasbourg Conservatoire since 1992. He is a musical director for the Evian Music Festival (France) and for the Glass Music International Festival 2005 in Paris Cité de la Musique, he writes articles for various musical books and is responsible for presentations of his instruments at the Paris Musée de la Musique since its opening (1997).
As a soloist of his rare instruments, Thomas Bloch plays the complete classical and modern repertoire (Messiaen, Varese, Honegger, Jolivet, Bussotti, Mozart, Donizetti, Hasse, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, Beethoven, Richard Strauss...). He also plays 10 to 15 premieres each year, from avant garde music (Michel Redolfi, Regis Campo, Etienne Rolin, Bernard Wisson, Jan Erik Mikalsen...) to popular music composers (Jonny Greenwood, Damon Albarn, Tom Waits...) and performs in numerous recording sessions.
PAULINE HAAS est née en 1992 à Strasbourg (France) .Très tôt attirée par les arts de la scène, à l'âge de 8 ans, elle choisit la harpe et entre au Conservatoire de Strasbourg où elle suit un enseignement complet. En 2007, elle est admise 1ère nommée à l'unanimité au Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, en classes de harpe et de musique de chambre. Elle y achève ses études en 2011, obtenant, avec une année d'avance, un Master 2 mention très bien (anciennement Premier Prix du Conservatoire de Paris). En 2012, elle est nommée dans la catégorie Révélation Soliste Instrumental aux Victoires de la Musique Classique.
schedule:
doors 20:30
Brecht Ameel & Kim Delcour & Berlinde Deman : 20u45 (1st floor)
21:30: Thomas Bloch & Pauline Haas
22:30: Razen
a night in collaboration with KRAAK