Manafonistas

on life, music etc beyond mainstream

 


Yesterday: One night, years and years ago, some of us journalists joined Jon Hassell, and in that Norwegian pub that had nothing exotic or fourth world-like in its ambience, I introduced Jon to the great-great daughter of Gustav Mahler who was a cellist in a Symphony Orchestra. And that was special. Punkt has always been about the closing of circles.  (m.e.) 

 

Tomorrow: Renowned Norwegian artists celebrate the music of the influential trumpet player and composer Jon Hassell. The influential American trumpeter and composer Jon Hassell passed away on June 26, 2021. This year Hassell would have turned 85, and we wish to honor him with a memorial concert at Victoria on his birthday on March 22. This evening you will hear an all-star team of Norwegian musicians who have all either collaborated with Jon Hassell or have a relationship to his music.

On stage are three generations of inspired trumpeters, in addition to former members of Hassell’s band, who played with him both live and in studio. Several of them collaborated with him on Jon Balke’s „Siwan“ project and played with him at the Punkt Festival in Kristiansand. The music this eveningwill be composed by, or inspired by, Jon Hassell. The memorial concert is produced in collaboration with Punkt, which Hassell visited several times, and is organized in consultation with Hassell’s family. We hope you will join us on Tuesday. See you there!

LINE UP: Nils Petter Molvær – trumpet, Arve Henriksen – trumpet, Kristina Fransson – trumpet, Harpreet Bansal – violin, Eivind Aarset – guitar, Jon Balke – keys, Helge Norbakken – percussion, Jan Bang – live sampling, Erik Honoré – live sampling, keys, Arnaud Mercier – sound


The concert has been streamed live on youtube.
You missed it? Here we go

 

This entry was posted on Montag, 21. März 2022 and is filed under "Blog". You can follow any responses to this entry with RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

14 Comments

  1. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Like my old buddy Christoph Giese, we know these guys so well, a lot of them. I will never forget that little thing, walking through the streets of Kristiansand with Nils Petter Molvaer under a sky that never looked like bible black at 3.00 after midnight. The northern nights in late summer. 2005 or 2006.

    And, in my memory, we didn‘t go to the sea looking at the grey, grey skies, no, we stranded at McDonald‘s or another cheap pub with even cheaper wine. All Night Open!

    Could be the chapter of an awesome graphic novel based on investigative journalism: „What Do Norwegian Sound Artists Do When They Don‘t Make Mysterious Music?“

  2. Michael Engelbrecht:

    An old radio portrait about and with Jon Hassell:

    https://www.manafonistas.de/2021/07/10/husserliana/

  3. Susanne L.:

    Micha, Bernd und ich sitzen hier, rauchen etwas, und hören zu. Wunderbar!!!

  4. Uli Koch:

    Beeindruckend! Da können wir nur hoffen, dass alles aufgezeichnet und irgendwann noch einmal veröffentlicht wird. Das könnte ich immer wieder hören…

  5. Andreas R.:

    Dem kann ich nur voll und ganz zustimmen. Ein sehr besonderer Abend.
    Danke!

  6. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Memorial concerts are not per se revelations, this one was one. And even following it on youtube you could at least recoginze the quality of the sound. The sound man is Arnaud Mercier who was quote close to Jon Hassell and, in parts, responsible for the great remaster of Jon Hassell‘s early album „Vernal Equinox“.

    Thus, what an evening! Goose skin guarantees, so to speak. Channeling Jon Hassell as a matter of the heart, and the performance abilities of everybody on stage.

    At one point Jan Bang played a short sample of a very, very old jazz record (with a trumpet player?), that made Nills Petter smile. Would like to know from which ancient vinyl that one was taken from. (Jan, if you read this, solve the riddle!!)

    Let‘s wait for the Punktfestival program of September 2022.

    Postscriptum: After beeing quite blown away by the new album of TOECHTER, I will send Jan a streaming link of that album. Maybe it won‘t happen then in the „material world“, buf everybody who is into the sound worlds of PUNKT, will surrender to the magic of TOECHTER‘S ZEPHYR. ONE OF OUR ALBUMS OF APRIL. Drei Manafonisten sind bereits Teil ihres Fanclubs:):)

  7. Michael Engelbrecht:

    And here the good news:

    You can still listen to it on YouTube:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccREbTWbhXw

  8. David M.:

    Such events really often lose their impact when bathing in nostalgia. This didn‘t happen here at all, Michael, and it will be a joy to listen to it once more this week.

    If All Stars, then this way!!!!

  9. Martina Weber:

    Danke für den Hinweis auf dieses ganz besondere Event, Michael. Ich war live dabei, saß zwischen meinen Abacus-Lautsprecherboxen (glücklicherweise funktionieren beide Boxen wieder!), die ganze Zeit konzentriert. Ich hätte nicht einmal ein Glas Wasser zwischendurch holen können, es hätte das Ineinanderfließen der Klänge zerstört. Eine wunderbare Zusammenarbeit. Ich habe das Konzert als sehr respektvoll und ruhig erlebt. Habe Elemente aus Hassels „City Works of Fiction“ erkannt, gleich in den ersten Minuten. Bestimmt wurde noch mehr Material von Hassell hineingesampelt. Ein Memorial.

  10. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Natürlich werden vielen eim Hören Lust bekommen, alte Jon Hassell Platten hervortuholen, GLITTER:BEAT hat das ja schon einige tolle reissues auf den Markt gebracht in den letzten Jahren.

    Aber was bei dem gestrigen Konzert auch so fesselnd war: beim Hören immer wieder zwischen all den Vorder- und Hintergründen zu changieren….all diese Verwirbelungen unterwchiedlicher Kraftfelder…. Und so bekam ich Lust, mal wieder eine Breitseite AGHARTA von Miles Davis zu hören….

  11. Jan Bang:

    Dear Michael,

    The only sample of trumpets that appeared in the concert outside of the three trumpet players was of Jon Hassell.

    Btw, just arrived in London. Spring is here.

    Best wishes,

    Jan

  12. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Hello, Jan!

    Such a concert opens spaces for the strangest deja vues and hallucinations. (I will find that „old jazz vibe“ again…

    Spring in London. Good. Think of my last strolling through Hyde Park in spring. Must have been a long, long time ago…

    If you have free time (you‘ll surely have), go to one one the best Indian restaurants I‘ve ever been in:

    Dishoom Covent Garden

    12 Upper St Martin’s Ln, London WC2H 9FB

    A swish Bombay brasserie in the style of the old post-colonial ‚Irani cafés‘ of Bombay, Dishoom is filled with retro design features: whirring ceiling fans, low-level lighting and walls adorned with vintage Indian magazine advertising.

    The look of Dishoom is certainly distinctive, but the effect can be so slick when compared to the real thing that the venue can feel rather soulless and corporate. This doesn’t stop the design-conscious and Indophile thronging here through the day, from breakfast (for sausage nan rolls with chilli jam) to dinner (for the stir-fries and tandoori grills).

    The main attraction though is the menu, loosely styled on Irani café food with birianis, bhel (crunchy puffed rice with tangy tamarind chutney) and even pau bhaji (toasted white bread rolls with a spicy vegetable stew as a filling). Our black dal was exemplary, and the lamb biriani suitably moist. One of the best Indian restaurants I’ve ever been in!

    AND:

    I will send you, too, the streaming options for TOECHTER‘s album ZEPHYR. In my ears, I can see them perform at Kristiansand. Might be another illusion, nevermind 😉

  13. Jan Bang:

    Thanks Michael,

    looking forward to hearing it. Meanwhile, enjoying the area around Knightsbridge. Had a lovely dinner with Nina at a beautiful Italian restaurant nearby. Black truffle season..

    Best,

    Jan

  14. Michael Engelbrecht:

    I got fantastically marinated spare ribs today at the Restaurant Robert in Düsseldorf, unbelievable😅

    Black Truffle Season could be a great name for a record:)


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