Author: dirkserries

MARTINA VERHOEVEN & DIRK SERRIES are playing a rare duo concert tonight at the prolific KLANKHAVEN events in Antwerpen (Belgium). Eccentric dialogue between two wilful free impro musicians that equally dare to delve deep into minimalism and back. If you’re free on boxing day and in the neighborhood, don’t miss out.

HUGO COSTA & PHILIPP ERNSTING – THE ART OF CRASHING by Eyal Hareuveni.

“Portuguese alto sax player Hugo Costa collaborates regularly with German drummer Philipp Ernsting. Both reside in Rotterdam and play together in the trios Anticlan (with guitarist Josué Amador) and Albatre (with bassist Gonçalo Almeida). Their first duo album The Art of Crashing was recorded at Studio SanteBoutique in Rotterdam in 2020, and obviously, refers to the long and dynamic lineage of free jazz sax-drums duos. The thoughtful, resourceful and energetic Costa and Ernsting are well-versed in this seminal lineage but want to suggest their own perspective on such dialogs, based on their own close mutual understanding and immediate and organic dynamics. And both Costa and Ernsting also share a similar conception of rhythm and its many forms – layered, pulse-free, abstract, playful, or a slow-cooking and percolating one, often shape-shifting within the same improvisation, and especially on the three extended improvisations. They keep feeding each other’s with loose melodic ideas and rhythmic patterns, trusting the other’s to develop them further and deeper. This meeting leaves enough space for the individual voices of Costa and Ernsting but also highlights their assertive power as a duo.” Salt Peanuts – Norway

An excellent lengthy review by Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg/Orynx-Improv’AndSounds of JACKSON/SERRIES/VANDERSTRAETEN’s DANDELION album. The album is available through our bandcamp store.

Guitare acoustique (Dirk Serries), clarinette (Tom Jackson) et percussions (Kris Vanderstraeten) au menu de Dandelion, la fleur pissenlit dernier-née du label New Wave of Jazz enregistré au Sunny Side Studio à Anderlecht le 6 octobre 2021. Musique improvisée radicale ancrée dans l’écoute mutuelle et l’invention spontanée en utilisant les ressources sonores des trois instruments. Avec son attirail percussif fait maison, ses mini-tambours, métaux rares, une caisse claire, des tambours chinois, râcloirs, objets, moteurs, globe terrestre, pièces métalliques, ressorts, archets, fagot de baguettes disproportionnées, Kris Vanderstraeten personnifie le puriste de la percussion improvisée de l’ère bric-à-brac des Jamie Muir, Terry Day, Paul Lytton et Roger Turner. Il explore les surfaces et recoins de son improbable installation, une œuvre d’art en soi, arpentant secousses, frémissements et silences. Ses frappes menues et discrètes et toutes ses manipulations bruissante d’objets insolites offrent un champ d’action à ses deux acolytes, son volume sonore réduit et la dynamique de son jeu surréaliste contextualisent le modus opératoire du souffleur, majestueux et elliptique et du six-cordistes frénétique. Il faut bien du tempérament à Dirk Serries pour construire sa toile arachnéenne au travers des frettes, clusters volatiles et zig-zags. Striant les cordes d’un plectre ravageur, il fait éclater les armatures harmoniques comme les électrons, protons et neutrons de métaux rares en désintégration kinesthésique. Tournoyant comme un oiseau de proie fait d’air sifflant dans un mystérieux chalumeau, le clarinettiste Tom Jackson projette les volutes chantantes et lunaires au lyrisme oblique et les diffractions de sonorités en lorgnant le fatras bruitiste de ces deux partenaires affairés avec un regard en coin : contraste improbable qui rend leurs pirouettes désopilantes. L’intérêt réside dans les changements de dynamique et les incidences aléatoires ou prises en vol de la configuration interactive, tuilée ou de leurs actions musicales. Actions musicales comme on parlait d’action painting à propos de Pollock. Après la mise en bouche de 1/ Carnation Pink, les choses décollent sérieusement dans le déchaînement pointilliste de 2/ Dandelion, fleur traduite en français par Pissenlit mais dont le nom provient de Dent de Lion, soit en dents de scie – zig-zags entrecroisés et distordus. 3/ Violet Blue entame une autre perspective quasi visuelle, agitatrice, face au jeu flegmatique du souffleur pépiant comme un oiseau, lui-même, face aux facéties des deux autres garnements jusqu’à s’enrhumer le bocal où son anche douce est littéralement torturée ou son aura floutée. 4/ Dark Green enchaîne encore une autre narration bien distincte des précédentes, démontrant ainsi que la musique « abstraite » acquiert sous leurs doigts et avec leur sensibilité toute une imagerie imaginaire et imaginative qu’on n’a aucune peine à reconnaître et identifier d’une improvisation à l’autre. Une ludique fantaisie. Et le finale 5/ Bright Yellow démontre que l’attention des trois improvisateurs à renouveler la trame de leurs inventions est toujours aussi concentrée. Une session eemarquable et très réussie. Signalons sur le même label le trio de Kris Vanderstraeten avec John Russell et Stefan Keune (On Sunday), le duo de Tom Jackson avec le saxophoniste Colin Webster (the Other Lies) en ajoutant que Tom Jackson et Dirk Serries collaborent étroitement avec le violiste (alto) Benedict Taylor : Hunt at the Brook pour le premier et Puncture Cycle pour le deuxième, créant ainsi un esprit de famille ‘nwoj’. Ces quelques titres figureront en bonne place sous le sapin, rien de plus normal pour une musique pointue à aiguilles.

Belgium’s jazz webzine JAZZHALO just reviewed our latest two releases. Check them out and of course both albums are still available from our bandcamp store. Currently at a discount of 25% till December 31st, code : happyholidays2022

“Altsaxofonist Hugo Costa en drummer Philipp Ernsting hadden in de loop van 2020 afspraak in de Rotterdamse Studio SanteBoutique. Waar ze zich zoal mee bezighielden, is te horen op deze opname. Laat u vooral niet afschrikken door de titel ook al zijn het niet precies de meest broze ideeën die de heren naar voor brengen. Costa mag de eerste stappen zetten. Een korte noodkreet om bijstand lijkt het wel. En daar duikt Ernsting al drummend op. Het startschot voor een gestadig voortschrijden van beiden die duidelijk heel wat gezamenlijk aanknopingsvinden hebben. Staccato ritmen zijn aan de orde van de dag. Pittige steekspelletjes volgens een uiterst fysisch stramien. Ze gunnen elkaar noch de luisteraar enige ademruimte. De opgeroepen associaties blijven voorbij zoeven. Indrukwekkend hoe dit duo het heilige vuur van de improvisatie brandend houdt. We kunnen het elf minutenlange ‘Twine Engined’ aanraden als geschikt instapmoment. Ideale aanzet om nog eens te luisteren naar ‘Live In Willisau’ (Intakt), het duo-concert van James Brandon Lewis en Chad Taylor.” Jazzhalo – Belgium

“Ook al bieden improvisatieconcerten of -opnamen steeds de nodige verrassingen en koerswijzigingen, is het toch dikwijls de introductie die een goed beeld geeft van wat volgt. Dit is in elk geval zo bij ‘Dandelion’ van klarinettist Tom Jackson, gitarist Dirk Serries en drummer-percussionist Kris Vanderstraeten. De drie beroeren hun respectievelijke instrumenten alsof ze een snelcursus volgen over het klankenspectrum dat voorhanden is. Al snel benutten ze dat potentieel tot het uiterste elk langs zijn kant en toch in samenspraak. Soms laten ze invallen opstijgen als te gekke kamifusen, om nadien te vervolgen met meer bloedstollende uitvallen. Deze laatste zijn weliswaar eerder uitzondering dan regel. De drie gaan te werk als laboranten die doorlopend een vluchtig en obsessioneel uitwisselen van akoestische antidota als werkwijze hanteren en zo een heus reservoir van mogelijkheden opbouwen om nieuwe sonore entiteiten te evoceren. Het bijwijlen speelse karakter verlaagt de claustrofobische drempel.” Jazzhalo – Belgium

To light up these darker days and to celebrate our upcoming holidays, here’s a mighty 25% discount on any physical release (while supplies last) or digital album. 

Code : happyholidays2022 Valid thru December 31st, 2022. 

Happy holidays !

newwaveofjazz.bandcamp.com

On November 4th A NEW WAVE OF JAZZ organized a concert by this lovely Portuguese quartet of ERNEST RODRIGUES (viola), GUILHERME RODRIGUES (cello) and NUNO TORRES (alto sax) at the beautiful chapel Oude Klooster in Brecht (Belgium). DIRK SERRIES joined them on guitar.

Here’s a snippet from this excellent performance. The full concert is set to be released on CREATIVE SOURCES.

VITAL WEEKLY reviews our two new releases with familiar ‘wit‘. Both albums are available from our bandcamp store.

HUGO COSTA & PHILIPP ERNSTING – THE ART OF CRASHING (CD by New Wave Of Jazz)
JACKSON & SERRIES & VANDERSTRAETEN – DANDELION (CD by New Wave Of Jazz)

“History does not only repeat itself”, Guy Peters’ opening line for the liner notes for the Hugo Costa and Philipp Ernsting CD. I
have to correct him. History is not a scientific experiment that can be repeated to verify the results. Peters explains that the Dutch improvisation world was in the old days mainly in Amsterdam, and thus, other scenes were easily snowed under and that something similar is the case these days. But New Wave Of Jazz has released music from Rotterdam before, and these two musicians are from the same city. Drummer Philipp Ernsting is part of AIM, a collective of improvisers creating opportunities for experimentation. Hugo Costa, originally from Portugal but now in Rotterdam, plays the alto saxophone. Two years ago, they recorded the six pieces on ‘The Art Of Crashing’, one wild free jazz/improvisation. I know, I keep saying that Vital Weekly is buried with improvisation/free jazz/jazz music and that I don’t think we’re the right platform for this. But, when I was thinking about the noise the other day and said that a noise release a week is quite alright (or even two), I guess I could 
say the same about free jazz. Or, perhaps, about so much music; is there any music I could hear all day? Now there’s an interesting question. So, here I am, Saturday afternoon, still ‘at it’, the review business. In the meantime, I am sitting in my comfy chair, reading today’s paper and listening to the wild free jazz. of Costa and Ernsting. And, oddly enough, I dig it. I think ‘dig’ is a jazz word but is it? Whatever. Unlike Peters, I can’t put this into any historical context, so I have to take his word for it. John Coltrane, Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssem-Love, Evan Parker, Colin Webster & Andrew Lisle are a few names I recognized, sometimes because I wrote about some of them. For me, it was mostly the high energy level that had, oddly enough, a soothing character on me.

The other new release by New Wave Of Jazz is also wild but slightly different. With Costa and Ernsting the wildness reflects in the chaotic and speedy approach to the instruments. In the case of Dirk Serries (acoustic guitar), Kris Vanderstraeten (percussion, drums) and Tom Jackson (clarinet). Here, there is less chaos as such, but the three players use similar freedom to produce whatever music they find necessary. Maybe with a touch more control and with more listening and interaction together. Perhaps that aspect, the conversation, is not as in the other one, but it is certainly here. Maybe that’s the reason why the music is gentler. Maybe softer is a better word, or more minor, with both abstract and melodic sides. The latter is mostly from the clarinet, where Tom Jackson stays on the musical side. His instrument remains to sound like a clarinet. Serries, on the other hand, tortures his instrument no end. You can recognize this as a guitar, but that’s it. He plucks, hits, and twists the strings. Vanderstraeten operates on the middle ground. Sure, you recognize the drums and percussion pieces; he hits them but also plays them with other objects, and there is the occasional bow across the cymbals and toms. A mixture of convention and abstraction. Like the other, this is not easy music to access, certainly if one has little experience or, like me, is not too knowledgeable. It unfolds more when one takes more time.”

Headmaster Gene Bulmer of AMBIENT LANDSCAPE made a new podcast mix featuring a lot of A NEW WAVE OF JAZZ and related releases and described it as ‘this is a magnum opus – a veritable whirlwind of a “New Wave of Jazz”!’. Who are we to claim otherwise ? Enjoy.

elements cornerstone | Avant Garde/Ether Jazz/Jazz/Noise | 80:31
“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
Isaiah 28:16

Experimental excursions into heretofore uncharted, Jazz-ish territory . . .
I’ve been associated (by way of crafting podcasts) with this genre of avant-garde jazz, predominantly of out of Belgium, since 2018 (TONUS Tribute mix).
At first, I sprinkled the TONUS tracks in amongst other, avant-garde & experimental sounding artists. Slowly, however, I began to appreciate more and more the tone, texture & timbre of the work of Dirk Serries & Company’s ‘A New Wave of Jazz’.

At first blush, the listener may hear only discordant, improvised ‘noise’ – but I would encourage you to re-listen to the intricate nuances & balance contained within the scope of their work.
Improvised? Yes, indeed! But, in sync with one another’s sense of musical timing and “erratic harmony”, the flow can be utterly captivating. It goes without saying that I have acquired a distinct taste for this New Wave of Jazz!

This edition is both a retrospective as well as an embracing of some of the group’s newer offerings (tracks 4, 6, 10, 12, 13 & 16). Track 14, courtesy of ECM.

01 Dirk Serries & Asmus Tietchens – Air Concertina (edit)
02 TONUS – Ear Duration 03, Set 1 (edit)
03 Benedict Taylor & Anton Mobin – Slicing Ups
04 Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries – A Palm
05 Dirk Serries & Tom Malmendier – Coded Ideal
06 Asmus Tietchens & Dirk Serries – Höfner Akte 3
07 Goncalo Almeida – Monólogos a Dois III
08 Daniel Thompson & Colin Webster – BOSKAGE 02/II
09 Serries, Vanderstraeten & Verhoeven – Tangent
10 Colin Webster, Emilie Škrijelj, Dirk Serries, Martina Verhoeven & Tom
Malmendier – Oud Klooster (excerpt)
11 Vanderstraeten, Russell & Keune – On Sunday 2 (edit_2)
12 Jackson, Serries & Vanderstraeten – Dandelion
13 Philipp Ernsting & Hugo Costa – Oase
14 Stefano Battaglia & Michele Rabbia – Spirits of Myths
15 Rubicon Quartet – Caught a Flying Ghost
16 Hugo Costa & Philipp Ernsting – Blind Spot

JACKSON SERRIES VANDERSTRAETEN’s DANDELION is getting their first reviews in. Here’s the Dutch MOORS MAGAZINE one. Available through our bandcamp store.

“Drie musici die met elkaar vrij gaan improviseren, dat is altijd weer een spannende aangelegenheid, maar als je drie virtuozen bij elkaar zet die goed naar elkaar kunnen luisteren, en die ook daadwerkelijk muzikaal met elkaar in gesprek gaan kan er ineens iets magisch gebeuren. Gitarist Dirk Serries en klarinettist Tom Jackson zijn bevlogen spelers die met passie het spel in gaan, en dat geldt absoluut ook voor percussionist en drummer Kris Vanderstraeten, maar die laatste voegt er wat mij betreft nog een extra element aan toe dat deze sessie wat mij betreft boven alles uit doet stijgen, en dat is humor. Want de passie is er zonder meer ook, en de bevlogenheid, maar ik schiet ook regelmatig in de lach bij de percussieve toevoegingen van Vanderstraeten, en eerlijk gezegd geniet ik daar enorm van. Een geweldige sessie, waarin alledrie de musici op hun scherpst spelen, en waarin ze elkaar fantastisch weerwerk bieden – beluister het album vooral wat vaker, want in de details zitten nog wat sublieme diamantjes verstopt. Niet voor luie luisteraars, maar als je bereid bent je oren open te zetten valt hier enorm veel te genieten. En te lachen.” Moors Magazine – The Netherlands