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newsletter #23 |
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The Ex News : October 2009
The Ex 4-piece : update
In November we'll play in Germany and once again at the Unlimited Festival in Wels, Austria which is curated this year by Ikue More who first played with us in 1980 when she was in the legendary New York no wave band DNA. In December we play a weekend in France, including Ground Zero in Lyon. We're currently overloaded with future plans and possibilities :too many offers! - Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Ireland, Japan, China, Ethiopia, Congo, Ghana, the Balkans, all Eastern European countries including Romania and of course the Western European countries, Scandinavia, US and Canada. And... we're slowly making plans for a brand new CD! The Ex + Getatchew Mekuria : update
The band keeps developing and growing as Getatchew brings in new songs and with the addition of Addis Abeba based dancer Melaku Belay we'll definitely play more next year. Ethiopia Project part 3 : "Saxophones"In the last week of December we organise the third "The Ex Presents In Ethiopia" project. The first, in January 2008 was with Amsterdam's electro-pop duo Zea, doing concerts, workshops, recordings and a videoclip. Last April we returned to Ethiopia with Silent Block from France - experimental electronica with three tables full of selfmade instruments, objects, contact-microphones and more. They made an amazing impact - people there had never seen anything like it! We also travelled south to Jimma and ended with a concert in the Hager Fekir Theatre in Addis Abeba with legendary singer Ayalew Mesfin joining in! 
December's project will be "Saxophones" with Chicago tenorist Ken Vandermark, Dutch reed man Ab Baars (ICP) and Friso Heidinga from Amsterdam Winds saxophone repair shop. Ken and Ab will teach at the Yared Music School and there will be concerts together with The Ex, Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and local Ethiopian musicians. Friso will spend his time in Addis repairing instruments for free and teaching people how to repair their own instruments.
Related inks... The Ex + Brass Unbound : UK Tour January / February 2010
The tour is produced by Qu Junktions, a Bristol based agency with a great ear and diversity of taste, with support from Sound and Music. Support band on all dates will be Zun Zun Egui. Tour dates | Promo video | Poster New Video Clips OnlineTwo remarkable films have recently appeared online. One, on Youtube, is very old footage, a song from our second concert ever on 22nd September 1979. We have no idea who put this clip up! The other is from The Ex + Getatchew Mekuria concert in La Roche-sur-Yon on 7th August 2009, which was broadcast on the 8 o'clock news on TF1, the main French TV channel. 8 million viewers! WOW!!! For lots more Ex video material, check out our new Youtube channel and our gallery page. Lean Left Tour : November / DecemberLean Left - Andy + Terrie with Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) + Ken Vandermark (sax), will tour Europe in the last week of November. See the concerts page for the full list of tour dates. New Website : Work In ProgressKeep an eye on the site. We're working on a new design and we promise we'll update it more often! There will be some free downloads of choice live moments and an easier way of dealing with our mail order section. We will also set up a mailing list soon that you can subscribe to on our site, to receive updates of gigs and releases. Latest releases (all available from Ralbör)The Ex - "30" (Ex Records, Ex119/120)A special compilation of 30 years of The Ex's recorded history. A double LP and double CD of some of our favourite tracks, all remastered from the original recordings. The Ex + Tom Cora - "Scrabbling At The Lock." (Ex Records, Ex051)Vinyl-only re-issue of The Ex + Tom Cora's first release from 1991, remastered from the original recordings. Soon to be released in USA on Mississippi Records. The Ex + Getatchew Mekuria - "Moa Anbessa" (Terp, As-011)Vinyl-only release of recordings first released on CD in 2006, with full colour 28-page magazine. Soon to be released in USA on Mississippi Records. "The Convoy Tour" (Ex Records)The adventures of 35 of our favourite, very different musicians in a bus on tour in France. It was the first time Getatchew Mekuria was in Europe, there is Zu from Italy, Silent Block from France, Hisako Horikawa, a dancer from Japan, John Butcher (GB), The Mohammed Jimmy Mohammed trio (Ethiopia) with Han Bennink, Zea, Anne-James Chaton (F), The Evens (Ian MacKaye's new band), a living Ex jukebox, and much more. A film about far too long drives, amazing combinations and incredible musical adventures. Filmed by Emma Fischer and Jem Cohen and edited by Emma and Andy. Offonoff - "Slap And Tickle" (Smalltownsuperjazz)
Terrie with Massimo Pupillo (bass) + Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) "Ililta" (Terp As-015)
New Ethiopian dance music compilation. Lean Left - "Live At The Bimhuis" (Smalltownsuperjazz)
Double live CD (due out in December) featuring Andy, Terrie, Ken Vandermark (sax) + Paal Nilssen-Love (drums). Colin McLean + Andy Moor - "Everything But The Beginning" (Unsounds 17U)Guitar and electronics, recorded at OT301 Amsterdam, during music and dance improvisation sessions 2006-2008. Andy Moor + Yannis Kyriakides - "Rembetika" (Unsounds)2nd release of this duo with of a series of songs culled from 1930s Greek rembetika music. Due out in December. Andy Moor + Yannis Kyriakides - "Folia" (Unsounds)A guitar and electronics composition. Due out in December. Andy Moor + Mia Clarke - "Guitargument" (Helios Square)Improvised guitar duo with ex-Electrelane guitarist Mia Clarke. Detective Instinct Presents G.W. Sok (Sickroom Records, SRR 058)
G.W. Sok in collaboration with Oli Heffernan. Limited edition 7" EP. Release date 10th November. |
The Ex 4-piece is full on busy again. Since Arnold de Boer joined, the band has taken a major leap forward with a wave of inspiration, new songs and dozens of concerts. In October we toured Germany, France and Belgium, played at Han Bennink's book, "De wereld als trommel", and DVD, "Hazentijd", presentation in de Scheld'apen in Antwerp and at the opening of the new Magasin 4 in Brussels.
The Ex + Getatchew Mekuria + Guests were very busy in the first half of the year, playing many festivals : world music festivals such as the Fiesta in Sete (France), jazz festivals including Saalfelden Jazz (Austria) and rock festivals such as The Big Chill, near Bristol (UK). In September we did an amazing tour in Canada where we played the Guelph Jazz festival, celebrated the Ethiopian new year with two concerts in Toronto and ended with three gigs in one of our favourite venues in the world, the Sala Rossa in Montreal - two shows with The Ex + Getatchew and one improvised night of crazy combinations with all the band members.
In late January, early February we will tour the UK with a new project called The Ex + Brass Unbound. On this one-off tour we plan to cut loose with a rhythmic and propulsive set, enlisting four world-class horn players to make up Brass Unbound: Swedish force of nature