The lady with the hawk eyes....

...has recieved all my tax papers for 2013 today. It's such a relief to hand it over. She knows my business since many years now.

This releases all energy to focus on Myst rehearsing  upcoming days. Tomorrow I'll meet the band, plus composer Roger Johansson. Number four out of four workshops we do together in our own incubator for new music. It's all about co-creation and stepping outside ones comfort zone.
Bring out the forces!

Wall in Switzerland.

Yes please, give me clear sight.

For to celebrate myself in this moment when the tide turn (...and the sea calls out once more) I bought myself a pair of leather boots at the Noa Noa shop. Irmelin has a Noa Noa fling since many years, we often chooses to have that danish design outfits when we perform. Now I can walk on with really nice new boots.

Myst making music

We play together.
We talk.
We share.
We feel pretty sure about this even if it's changing all the time.
Still we feel confident.

Today we talked a lot about tuning of instruments. How they did before the tempered scale and how that affects the whole thing.

We did some new songs and explored ideas in opposite directions. The naive and simple. Or the groovy complex. One thing is not excluding the other.
There is space and freedom.

Including.

Root notes.

What do you hear, and what do I hear? Is your root note another compared to mine?

It works.

We talked about where in the music the micro tones appear. In the voice and in the instrument there are micro tones in certain places where it creates emotions when they happen. "Only a digital mind can have micro tones on every place in the scale", as Ahmad described it.

Sharing

Sharing as a starting point.

Most of the time a new musical collaboration starts with a sparkle and a recognition. We want to explore music in the same regions! We are driven by the same passion for a certain kind of music. Then along the road, maybe in the tour bus, there will be the deeper discussions and sharing of the history that lead a person to the place he/she is today.

This time we agreed to start early with the sharing. A full day together just sharing, Ahmad, Martin, Roger and me. It was Martin coming up with this idea/method to share deeply about what motivates us, what major turning points we've had in our music development. Sometimes a single concert, or even a passage in a certain piece of music, was so mind blowing that it started a whole new era in our musical lives. When music starts to talk to us. Things like that.
Each one got time to draw some lines of our musical history and play some examples of music to the others. After the presentation the others gave feed back and asked questions.

Listening to the others was very special. Suddenly there's a total recognition that this particular point is deeply engaging for me as well, I've been there too. Some other times it was obvious that the four of us come with four truly unique life stories and "schools" of music. When we get together, form our ensemble, our differencies will be our strength.

Sharing - give space.

When I work with Irmelin I know that the three of us has similar music background, interest in folk song, vocal traditions, we have the same education and we've had the same teachers. When I work with Ahmad, Martin and Roger we don't have that common ground to start out from. Wich is also wonderful. That's the reason, we want to make music we haven't done before. Roger take part in his profession as composer, and hearing his views on our music and views is really a good mirror. He makes me see things from quite a new angle.

Next meeting will contain four musical ideas. Each person bring an idea or a sketch of music, a principle or method to work with.

Space...

Music with space

Painting with sound and music. A day for creativity.

Today it's time to meet musicians Ahmad Al Khatib and Martin Holmlund, and composer Roger Johansson. We will embark now on a journey together to discover the creative roots to our musical handcraft. What it means with "space" in our music. To give space, to open up, to find a common path in doing this together.

It may sound a bit airy. I hope it is:-)
At the same time we are at this point very structured and have a plan on how to proceed for the whole year with three more workshops to go, concerts in the summer, documentation in autumn. When the frames are set it is totally clear how we can work very open on our artistic creative process.

Each one of us will have a personal presentation today, drawing the picture of our history with music, what was important, what has been our biggest influences, including giving the others some musical examples of this. When did we last have the chance to really get to know people we work with in this particular way?
We will also work on a few musical ideas together, to dig into the work of forming our sound.

And when did I have the chance to do this kind of work and sit with a composer in the room? What a great luxury to give and take and have Roger Johansson as a member of this process.

www.minioperas.org Here you can listen to a mini-opera composed by Roger, and with this he won the competition!

Kulturbryggan has given us financial support to do this. We are so happy to have this chance of really put in time and go deep in the process.

Tonight I had a strange dream I was playing the timpani. Maybe this is the picture of me stepping outside my old circles in music, wich I hope I will do today. Maybe not by the playing of timpani, but in my creativity as a singer.

Lets go out in a lovely day!

Eva

Wim Wenders desert dreamlike images

How come deserts plus good music makes such a good combo?

Until the end of the world


Paris Texas. Desert scene again. Beautiful music by Ry Cooder.




I'm working on some really interesting music now, modal music for voice, oud and upright base. This beginning of a new year has really come with some new energy. At the end of last year I felt deeply tired after releasing a book and recording a cd, plus many tours, travels and concerts. It's good to know then that the energy can come back, even if it takes time. I'm taking it a bit more slowly now, knowing better now how stress can sneak up on you.

Oh, I'm lucky to have so good role models among my collegues, people who teach me how to take time to reflect and reduce schedule in order to be able to deliver something and be happy. You know who you are :-)

Eva

Jadayel, CD with Ahmad al Khatib, Youssef Hbeisch and stringquartet Bela

This is the cd that will be the soundtrack of my midwinter.

You had me at first hello.

Jadayel is an instrumental cd with musicians Ahmad Al Khatib, oud, Youssef Hbeisch, percussion, and the Bela Quartet (France). Frédéric Aurier, violin, Julien Dieudegard, violin, Julian Boutin, viola, Luc Dedreuil, cello. Compositions on the cd are made by Ahmad Al Khatib and Frédéric Aurier.

Photo by Nicolas Damuni

Jadayel is about blending together modal music with contemporary and harmonic music. It's experimental and very melodic, sometimes vivid and fast, sometimes airy.




When I started listening the very first tone hit me. Track number one, "La colombe bleue", starts with a ringing beautiful sound of the oud, struck just once. The first open chord lasts just as long as the sound is fading away and then followed buy unfolding of the beautiful piece written by Ahmad Al Khatib to his wife.

Youssef creates a world of rythm and sound from his drums. Lamento, track number 5, a piece written by Frédéric Aurier, starts with solo percussion that immediately takes me away to a place deep inside the music. Youssef has a wide range of different instruments and use them very precicely to give each piece it's soundscape of rythm.

Quartet Bela creates emotions in their music, it's story telling on high level. Their artistry to blend with the oriental melodies and scales is made with great skill. I love the way Ahmad Al Khatib's compositions add harmonies to the microtonality, and the way Quartet Bela performs this. The string quartet concept is truly an amazing art form. Cello and viola are two of my favourie instruments. The highest notes in the violin is here adding air and space to the whole creation.

One of the pieces, Quodlibet, has a atmosphere of old style renaissance music to it. I've always felt drawn to renaissance music and the way it's explored here really makes me happy. This piece starts with solo cello and then follows the whole ensemble, adding more contemporary parts. It is written by Frédéric Aurier.

I learn that Quartet Bela is reaching out far in different directions. They also explore free form improvisations and sounds to the limit of what the ear can take. But in order to break the rules you have to know the rules. It's also very encouraging to hear that musicians of this high level of skills and talent are daring to create way out and beyond the pleasing type of music we are over flooded with.


Jadayel was recorded 2012 and released by Ta'mour.


Have you seen the little animated pearl of a film, "The fourth king" by Ted Sieger? (Den fjärde kungen, Folkets Bio) The soundtrack to this film is also strings working together with oriental instruments. Maybe I got into this blend of music by seeing the film every year around christmas.

Eva

Oud is honey for the soul

Preparing for tomorrows rehersal with Martin Holmlund, upright base, and Ahmad Al Khatib, oud. Listening to this fabulous song that is found at the cd Madar, by Jan Garbarek, Anouar Brahem and Shaukat Hussain. This cd was launched in 1994 and I bought it probably the same year. I remember how I was compleetely filled with the music for a week when I was ill with the flu. I read a book, a biography of american painter Georgia O'Keeffe and listens to the cd over and over again. It made me almost hypnotised. I guess it's one of my strongest musical impressions, wich later lead me to form the enseble Alruna years later.
In the youtube clip it's fascinating to see all the images of desert, wich was so much the life and home of Georgia O'Keeffe in New Mexico. Georgia O'Keeffe herself, what a role model as artist, so pure, strong minded and consequent in her believes and life.

Sull lull:



And one more of my top favourites from the same album, Qaws:



Eva

Blue Moon Friday

Blue Moon, that's when there's a full moon for the second time in a month. Like today! The last day of beautiful August.

So, it's been a full week! So much achieved, and yet sometimes I think time fly really fast and what did I do?
This Tuesday I started a choir! So great to see all the people that signed up and came. Great to get going! It started really well, so good singers! I'm fortunate with this. Also fortunate with the nice location, at the gardens of Lärjeån.
And today I had a wonderful rehersal. Creating music together with Ahmad Al Khatib, oud, and Martin Holmlund, upright bass. Imagine how happy I am to sing with theese guys!



This week has been full of environmental activism as well. Here in Sweden it's a huge protest againt the destruction of real old pine forest wich are the home for many endangered spieces of wild life. A private owned company want to dig a big whole in this area. Digging for lime stone. Activists are hiding in the forest, some climb up in the trees. If you just want to sign a petition you can show your support here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_limestone_quarry_to_secure_fresh_water_reserve_and_natural_habitat_for_a_number_of_endangered_species/?carOEcb

And in the US I follow the Lakota Sioux Nation who wants to buy back the sacred land of Pe' Sla. Buy back! It's stolen land from them anyway.

Sign Avaaz: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Help_Lakota_Sioux_Save_Buy_Pe_Sla_Sacred_Black_Hills_Land/?ckccsdb




As a teenager I read the book Black Elk Speaks. I took big interest in that book. Lot's of the history written about there is taken place at Black Hills. Pe' Sla is a sacred site in the Black Hills.

The more I read this interesting articles, I get amazed and proud to hear all the voices of people who stand up for the earth and our future generations. Go go go!

Eva

Colours in music, words like music, and Skottvång jul

This afternoon and evening I've been surrounded by poetry and music. First it was our last and final meeting in the course for Henric Holmberg, on poetry. Oh, I will miss this good work we've been doing there, and all the nice people who participated. Thank you Henric for all your knowledge and artistry with poems.

In the evening I've been in a first meeting with master percussionist Youssef Hbeisch from Paris, and also in this meeting were Roger Johansson, composer, and Ahmad Al Khatib, fine master of arabic lute, oud. We've been playing-singing for eachother and with eachother, and I've been listening to Youssef and Ahmad when they play together. It's beyond words the way they create music. The scales, the colours, the turns in the musical moods, it's just amazing to sit so close and be swept away in another kind of poetry without words. Air and earth, and water....



Yesterday Irmelin did a christmas concert at Skottvång Mines together with Emma Reid on fiddle, and Daniel Reid on saxophones. A very nice encounter, indeed. Good King Wenceslas, what a hit-song! We did that one and a couple of swedish "staffans-songs" and other related to the time of the year. Lovely audience we had, I'm so thankful that we can go to such wonderful places like Skottvång and enjoy the very best in terms of good atmosphere and caretaking for musicians, good sound system + enginer, good food, bless you for this home made high level christmas food there! You have to visit this restaurant at some point!

If it wasn't for lots of preparation work before going to New York, I would have been dancing lindy tonight...but New York is kind of a good excuse....
I wish you a very good evening!
Eva