Newsletter 2
Autumn '97
- Jazz marathon
- 1936, re-release
- Djibril diabate
- St. jeanneThe complete Ex is
finally steaming full speed ahead again this year. And we're back to a
five-piece line-up: Luc (bass), Katrin (drums and vocals), G.W. Sok
(vocals), Terrie and Andy (guitars) can be seen and heard loud and clear
again on stage. Next to that there's Colin, who mixes the sound, and Yoke,
our uncrowned Queen of Sales.
Earlier this year The Ex played a fine series of concerts with
guest-drummer Han Bennink in- and outside Holland. Meanwhile we also
worked on our new practice-room, which was ready in August, and that's
where we've spent a lot of time over the last couple of months, working on
material that should result in our new live-set. Somewhere in that very
same period G.W. Sok held a book-launch for his 112 page lyrics-book
"Ex-rated".
The second half of this year The Ex will be touring Holland and the U.S.
East-coast plus Chicago. In Holland we will be accompanied by the kora-player
Djibril Diabate from Mali. But first we will be playing at the Jazz
Marathon in Groningen, in early October, where we will be joined by a
whole bunch of jazzers from the Instant Composers Pool. Also The Ex, in
co-operation with AK Press publishing, finally re-release their
"1936" package, the 144 page photobook about the Spanish
revolution, which comes with two 3" CDs. Okay, it's true, we've been
announcing this for the last three years or so, but this time it's
definite!
Jazz Marathon
At last ready to rock, we get a jazz-composition commission!
On October 12th we will play at the Groningen Jazz Marathon in the
Oosterpoort. a special project with members of the instant composers ICP.
the Dutch radio and TV corporation NPS commission two artists every year
to make a composition to be performed at the Jazz Marathon. To our
surprise this year we were asked. Amazing! Immediately we thought of the
ICP to join us. The Instant Composers Pool are a group of our favourite
improvisers.
This year they celebrate their 30 years of existence. Formed by Misha
Mengelberg and Han Bennink, they are still adventurously exploring the
boundaries of jazz and improvisation. The musicians for this occasion are
Han Bennink - drums, Ernst Reyseger - cello, Tristan Honsinger - cello, Ab
Baars - clarinet, saxophone, Wolter Wierbos - trombone, Michael Moore -
saxophone, clarinet, and Joe Williamson - double bass.
Co de Kloet, NPS producer writes: "The tradition of 'live music' must
be preserved. The 'musical snackbar culture' can lead to an acoustic 'pig
plague'; that's why I don't eat meat and prefer to listen to the 'sound'
food of The Ex."
1936, the re-release
It was in early 1986 that friends of ours, who were writing a book on
the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, told us about the anarchist trade
union CNT's archives, which during that war had been transported to
England, where they had remained untouched ever since. Only recently the
archives had been moved to the International Institute for Social History
in Amsterdam and there made available to the public. Our friends advised
us to take a look there: "we'd be surprised". And we were! Tens
of thousands of photos, most of them never published before, showing us a
view of the daily life during the revolution: absolutely amazing,
inspiring material! We felt other people should see this too. So we picked
out about 150 photos, put them in a book and added two 7" singles,
each one with a Spanish traditional revolutionary song and an English one
of our own. "1936" was well received, and we sold quite some
copies. But, as it was mostly all Do-It-Yourself stuff (sleeving singles!
glueing books into covers!), and since other projects demanded our
attention too, after a couple of re-prints we thought it was enough. But
as people kept asking for it, in late 1994 we decided to release it again,
but it took us another two years to find the time (and some money) to
actually do it. So yes, finally it's ready, this time with two little CDs
instead of 7"s, and we're very happy with the result. It looks even
better than before. And this time the book can be read in Spanish and
English. Released in the first week of October, it is now available at
both record-shops and bookstores.
Djibril Diabate
For the gigs in October/November, we have invited Djibril Diabate, a
kora player from Bamako, Mali to join us. He will play solo each night
before our set, and hopefully we will also play something together.
Djibril comes from a caste of professional musicians known as griots. His
father, Djelimory Diabate, is a wellknown kora player; his mother, Sanusu
Kouyate, is a singer. And his uncle, his kora-teacher, is the world
renowned kora player Toumani Diabate. The griots are West-African oral
historians, cum minstrels or troubadours. In earlier times their function
was to praise the kings, to give them courage and act as a go-between
patching up quarrels. In the words of Toumani Diabate: "They are the
needle that sows."
Nowadays they are considered to be treasurers of the Malinese culture.
The instrument he plays, the kora, is a cross between a harp and a lute,
with 21-25 strings. It is said to originate from the area know as Guinea
Bissau. In Mali they describe the sound with the word "birimintinga"
or "teremeli", meaning "to bargain". In other words:
to take the notes higher and lower.
Djibril, now 24, began playing when he was five years old, first learning
from his father, who also built him his first kora, He plays traditional
Malinese instrumental music, based on centuries old stories. To this he
adds his own specific style and arrangements, and he writes his own pieces
as well. He plays mostly in Bamako, also with his band. This will be his
first tour abroad.
We met Djibril by a weird coincidence. In 1995 drummer Han Bennink, with
his band Trio Clusone, played in Mali, a.o. with Toumani Diabate. Then,
later in 1997, back home in Loenen, he ran into Djibril (Toumani's pupil)
on the dike along the river Vecht, staying only two boats away from his;
he was over in Holland to give some kora lessons. After hearing him play
he immediately thought: "People should hear this. Same class as
Toumani, but swings like hell!"
Luc meets Slaughterhouse
Jenny
Luc has been invited to play bass in the musical theatre-project
"St. Jeanne des abattoirs". The piece originally has been
written by Bertold Brecht in 1930-1932, this time it will be produced and
performed by the French theatre-group Atelier du Rhin. Next to Luc three
more musicans have been invited: Tom Cora, Michael Vatcher and Zeena
Parkins. Half of the music wil be written by Tom Cora, the other half will
be improvised music. The performances in France will take place in
January/February 1998.
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