Warp Jon Balke

• 1 Heliolatry 03:19
• 2 This Is the Movie 05:18
• 3 Bucolic 04:05
• 4 On and On 04:56
• 5 Bolide 04:51
• 6 Amarinthine 03:03
• 7 Shibboleth 02:47
• 8 Mute 01:15
• 9 Slow Spin 04:22
• 10 Boodle 02:25
• 11 Dragoman 03:41
• 12 Kantor 04:04
• 13 Geminate 00:52
• 14 Telesthesia 01:28
• 15 Geminate, Var. 01:58
• 16 Heliolatry, Var. 03:50
• Total Runtime 52:14

Info for Warp

„Warp“ situates the solo piano of Norway's Jon Balke within a subtle architecture of composed soundscapes, in fluctuating dimensions of space.

'As always,' says Balke, 'the more you explore and discover, the further you want to go, and things are not so simple anymore. It's a very interesting process.' And what begins as gently exploratory solo piano gradually acquires an almost hallucinatory aspect.

Balke's solo piano was recorded at Oslo's Rainbow Studio, and the sound images were recorded and processed by Balke and Audun Kleive. Additional field recordings by Balke were integrated in the mix of the album at RSI Studio Lugano in September 2015. 'Warp' was produced by Jon Balke and Manfred Eicher. It is the pianist's second solo album for ECM, following the 2007 release 'Book of Velocities', a sequence of aphoristic pieces with affinities to Kurtág and Ligeti, described by Jazzwise as 'a fascinating statement that is as beckoning as it is beguiling'.

Jon Balke has an association with ECM dating back to his teens, when he joined Arild Andersen's group to record 'Clouds In My Head'. Later he was a co-founder of the Masqualero group, with Andersen and Jon Christensen. He has been featured as leader, composer, arranger and keyboardist of Oslo 13, Magnetic North Orchestra and Siwan, and his involvement with percussion was foregrounded in the group Batagraf, which he co-founded with Helge Andreas Norbakken. His most recent ECM album was 'Outland' as a member of the Norwegian trio, Jøkleba.

Jon Blake, piano, sound images
Mattie Myrland, vocals
Wenche Losnegaard, vocals
Eleanor Myskja Balke, reading

Jon Balke
Norwegian pianist Jon Balke first appeared on ECM in 1974. From a background in jazz and ‘world music’, he has gone on to compose for theatre and dance performances as well as major works for chamber groups and sinfoniettas. He leads the Magnetic North Orchestra, whose albums include “Further”, “Kyanos” and “Diverted Travels”, was the initiator of the Batagraf project, has recorded solo for ECM (“Book of Velocities”) and also produced African drummer Miki N’Doye for the label.

Amina Alaoui is a virtuoso singer, born in Fez and originally schooled in the Moroccan Gharnati tradition, who continues to research connections between Fado, Flamenco and the music of Al-Andalus. In Siwan much of the music was originally composed to Spanish translations of the poetry. Alaoui helped to reshape the material around original Arabic versions, which she sings with great authority.

Memphis-born trumpeter Jon Hassell’s path from studies with Stockhausen to Indian vocal master Pandit Pran Nath to the sphere of New York minimalism led him to shape what he called ‘fourth world’ - a music without borders between classical and popular, sacred and sensual, which has filtered into nearly all areas of contemporary music. His landmark ECM album “Power Spot” was an early highpoint. His recent album, “Last Night The Moon Came...” reminded many of how influential his liquid trumpet sound has become.

Kheir Eddine M’Kachiche is a virtuoso violinist from Algeria. Based in the tradition of Arab-Andalusian music he has developed his own voice in collaborations with Amina Alaoui, Barrio Chino, and lately also with Cheb Khaled and Jon Hassell.

Bjarte Eike is a young veteran of early music. After studies in Bergen and London, he quickly established himself as a leading violinist on Copenhagen’s early music scene. A member of Balke’s Magnetic North, he formed his Barokksolistene in 2005.

Pedram Khavar Zamini, from Tehran, combines traditional tombak (zarb) drumming with his own modern patterns and is considered one of the most exceptional exponents of Persian classical music.

Norwegian percussionist Helge Norbakken has played in the groups of Mari Boine, Maria Joao, and numerous other international artists. His percussion draws influences from diverse world traditions and jazz – as can be heard in his work with Magnetic North, Batagraf and Siwan.

German lutenist Andreas Arend studied with Nigel North and is well-known as a flexible virituoso player, performing in a range of leading groups in baroque and renaissance music.

Bjarte Eike’s Barokksolistene (Baroque soloists) is a highly-regarded constellation of top players in the European early music scene. Members Tom Pitt and Peter Spissky – who with Eike have performed as Baroque Fever- have already recorded for ECM with Magnetic North, and Miloš Valent has appeared on ECM New Series with John Potter’s Dowland Project (“Romaria”) and Iva Bittová (“Mater”).

Booklet for Warp