WHAT RIVER
WHAT RIVER IS THIS
WHAT RIVER ENSEMBLE
What River Is This was originally commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Musicfestival and Wundergrund Festival, Copenhagen in 2010. Premiered by the What River Ensemble formed especially for this occasion. Since then performed at ao Copenhagen Jazzfestival 2011 and recorded in 2012.
What River Is This is dealing with- and inspired by- different states of dreaming/awakeness; the merging in and out of different dreamlike landscapes and realities as well as the overall question of reality itself. The title: What River Is This is referring to a line in the poem Heraclitus by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. The piece also uses text by Danish poet Ursula Andkjær Olsen.
What River Is This is also highly celebrating the individual voices of the musicians in the ensemble. The musicians in What River Ensemble cover a wide musical territory with different backgrounds in new music, experimental rock, jazz/improvised music which -in it’s way- reflects the visions of L. Anker for this project: to find ways of connecting the aesthetics of different musical worlds, to explore the many colours and possibilities that comes with an ensemble like WRE and to give each individual voice space and improvisational freedom within the written context.
Line-up:
Phil Minton: vocal (UK)
Anna Klett: cl/basscl (DK)
Lotte Anker: saxophones/composition (DK)
Garth Knox: via (IRE)
Jesper Egelund: bass (DK)
Fred Frith/Kim Myhr: guitar (UK/US/N)
Ikue Mori: electronics (USA)
Chris Cutler: dr/perc (UK)