Norwegian pianist Jon Balke’s first-ever solo disc is a remarkable ‘book’ of 19 short pieces, grouped into four chapters and an epilogue, of music composed and improvised, exploring a whole vocabulary of ideas, techniques, rhythms, textures and sound-colours. Resembling no other disc in the solo piano genre, this is another strikingly original release from the instigator of the Magnetic North Orchestra and Batagraf.
Book of Velocities
Jon Balke
- Chapter I
-
- 2Scintilla00:56
- 3Spread04:26
- 4Castello03:48
- 5Resilience03:34
- Chapter II
- 6Single Line02:34
- 7Nyl02:34
- 8Double Line03:09
- Chapter III
- 9Obsidian03:26
- 10Sunday Shapes03:19
- 11Gum Bounce02:00
- 12Finger Bass03:23
- 13Contrivance02:45
- Chapter IV
- 14Drape Hanger03:15
- 15Septima Llegada02:03
- 16Reel Set01:25
- 17Scrim Stand03:17
- Epilogue
- 18Sonance04:46
- 19Nefriit02:58
As in photography, so in music on Balke’s first solo piano recording, a remarkable ‘book’ of 19 short pieces, grouped into four chapters and an epilogue. Music composed and developed, invented and improvised: exploring a whole vocabulary of ideas, techniques, rhythms, textures and sound-colours.
The approach: the pianist sketches an idea at the piano, quite spontaneously, waits a few seconds and develops the idea through a series of takes – and then moves on to a new ‘chapter’. Balke calls it “a process of understanding by doing and not by pre-conceived ideas. The outcome is also a result of the room, hour of the day, the piano, the light and so on.”
Speed is part of the process: “Piano playing is in fact mainly about velocity. There is no more information going through the mechanics when a note is struck, than the sheer force of your finger hitting the ebony and ivory. Velocity produces the sound, then come the chords, melodies, and context.” He asks, rhetorically, “If the keys were hit with a stick instead of your finger, but with the same velocity, would it sound different?“
No overdubs are used on “Book of Velocities” and there is no electronic processing of the sound. The disc is a rigorous investigation of the sound potential of the acoustic piano – in the course of which melodies and themes are allowed to emerge: “The tunes are either based on an abstract graphic idea – a single or double line - or faint traces of compositions from other musical environments.”
If in jazz there are few precedents for these at times aphoristic pieces – the shortest of which is only fifty-six seconds long – they indicate some fresh directions in improvisation, and can be related, tangentially, to developments in contemporary music and piano works of composers from Cage to Kurtág.
“Book of Velocities” was recorded in September 2006 at Radio Studio DRS in Zurich with Manfred Eicher producing, and ECM New Series Tonmeister Markus Heiland as engineer.
YEAR | DATE | VENUE | LOCATION | |
2025 | May 31 | Tarquinia festival | Tarquinia, Italy | |
2025 | September 04 | PUNKT festival | Kristiansand, Norway | |
2025 | September 05 | National Radio House-Store Studio | Oslo, Norway |
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou need to load content from Turnstile to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from Facebook. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from Instagram. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationYou are currently viewing a placeholder content from X. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information