Skrifum

Jon Balke

CD18,90 coming soon
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From the very first note, Norway’s Jon Balke proposes a new sonic dimension with Skrifum, continuing a line of inquiry begun with Warp (2016) and Discourses (2020), solo piano albums which also processed the acoustic environment in which the music was heard.  Skrifum (the Icelandic word for “write”) takes things a step further.  With the aid of electronic audio tool the Spektrafon, which he helped develop, Balke is now able to directly manipulate ambient audio sound from the piano while playing – pulling out frequencies and sustaining them as chords of harmonics. This activated reverberation becomes new material for improvised dialogue, often with quite beautiful results.   Jon Balke: “The Spektrafon’s sound feeds back in ways that demand space. I take that opportunity to play mostly monophonically and to focus on every single note  and its position in the soundscape.” Skrifum was recorded in November 2023 at Village Recording in Copenhagen and edited and mastered at Bavaria  Musikstudios in Munich. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher and Jon Balke.
Vom ersten Ton an eröffnet der Norweger Jon Balke mit Skrifum eine neue Klangdimension und setzt damit eine Experimentierreihe fort, die er mit den Solo-Klavieralben Warp (2016) und Discourses (2020) begonnen hat, bei denen er auch die akustische Umgebung verarbeitet, in der die Musik zu hören ist. Skrifum (das isländische Wort für "schreiben") geht noch einen Schritt weiter. Mit Hilfe des von ihm mitentwickelten elektronischen Audiowerkzeugs Spektrafon ist Balke nun in der Lage, den Ausklang des Klaviers während des Spielens direkt zu manipulieren, indem er Frequenzen herauszieht und sie als Akkorde von Obertönen aufrechterhält. Dieser aktivierte Nachhall wird zu neuem Material für improvisierte Dialoge, oft mit sehr schönen Ergebnissen. Jon Balke: "Das Spektrafon wirft Klänge auf eine Weise zurück, die viel Raum bedarf. Ich nutze diese Gelegenheit, um meist monophon zu spielen und mich auf jede einzelne Note und ihre Position im Klangbild zu konzentrieren." Skrifum wurde im November 2023 bei Village Recording in Kopenhagen aufgenommen und in den Bavaria Musikstudios in München weiter bearbeitet und gemastert. Produziert wurde das Album von Manfred Eicher und Jon Balke.
Featured Artists Recorded

November 2023, The Village Recording, Copenhagen

Original Release Date

28.02.2025

  • 1Sparks
    (Jon Balke)
    04:05
  • 2Traces
    (Jon Balke)
    02:41
  • 3Lines
    (Jon Balke)
    02:54
  • 4Streaks
    (Jon Balke)
    04:08
  • 5Lanes
    (Jon Balke)
    04:07
  • 6Strand
    (Jon Balke)
    02:40
  • 7Stripes
    (Jon Balke)
    04:14
  • 8Ductus
    (Jon Balke)
    02:15
  • 9Rifts
    (Jon Balke)
    04:22
  • 10Calligraphic
    (Jon Balke)
    01:21
  • 11Syllables
    (Jon Balke)
    04:34
  • 12Kitabat
    (Jon Balke)
    02:38
  • 13Skrifum
    (Jon Balke)
    02:16
  • 14Tegaki
    (Jon Balke)
    05:11
Norway’s Jon Balke proposes a new sonic dimension with Skrifum, continuing a line of inquiry begun with Warp (2016) and Discourses (2020), solo piano albums which also processed the acoustic environment in which the music was heard. Skrifum, however, takes things a step further, as is apparent from the outset.  Where the piano music of Discourses was threaded with subtly collaged ‘field recordings’, like subliminal messages from the outside world, Skrifum is more self-contained, a deeper journey into the sound-universe of the piano itself.
 
Balke’s newest solo music is made with the aid of electronic audio tool the Spektrafon, live processing software which he helped develop together with technology professor Anders Tveit at the Norwegian Academy of Music.  Using this interface, Balke is now able to directly manipulate ambient audio sound from the piano in real time – pulling out frequencies and sustaining them as chords of harmonics, showers of sparkling overtones, or eerie drones. Activated and energized reverberation thus becomes new material for improvised interaction and dialogue, often with quite beautiful results.
 
 Skrifum means “write” in Icelandic and, for all the technological sophistication employed, there is an almost calligraphic quality to the melodic lines and sounds that Balke carefully shapes along the way: writing, drawing and designing the music in the changing light and lengthening shadows cast by the processed material.
 
“The Spektrafon’s sound feeds back in ways that demand space,” says Jon Balke. “So I take that opportunity to play mostly monophonically and to focus on every single note and its weight and position in the soundscape.”
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Balke, who made his ECM debut with Arild Andersen’s group on Clouds In My Head in 1975, is widely acknowledged as one of Scandinavia’s most resourceful musicians, working across the idioms as pianist, keyboardist, percussionist, composer, arranger and improviser in contexts from solo performance to leader or co-leader of widely-divergent ensembles.  These have included the transcultural Siwan group, inspired by the poetry of Al-Andalus, the percussion unit Batagraf, chamber ensemble Magnetic North, the ‘little big band’ Oslo 13,  and the improvising trio Jøkleba (with Audun Kleive and Per Jørgensen). Balke was a founder member of Masqualero, alongside Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen, Nils Petter Molvӕr and Tore Brunborg, and has also appeared on ECM recordings with singer Sidsel Endresen, trumpeter Mathias Eick and percussionist Miki N’Doye. He has composed numerous works for jazz groups and contemporary music ensembles, and written music for film, theatre, ballet, and collaborations with visual artists. As a sideman he has played with Archie Shepp, Jon Hassell, John Surman, George Russell, Enrico Rava, Airto Moreira and many others.
 
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Skrifum was recorded in November 2023 at Village Recording in Copenhagen, edited at Bavaria  Musikstudios in Munich, and produced by Manfred Eicher and Jon Balke.