Winds of Change nt002

Second release from the new nexTTime production output is a collaboration with multi instrumentalist Alexandru Hegyesi.

File sharing over the net, the starting point was a series of short recordings by alex featuring cymbalum, bowed & picked soprano psaltery and dulcimer.

This material was processed and sculpted to produce a range of samples that provide harmonic, textural and rhythmical contents. The compositions were then arranged, and finally, i added field recordings and saxophone improvisations.

 

 

First released by netlabel electronic musik as em124

 

Seven Sounds nt001

The first release from the new nexTTime production output is a collection of electroacoustic compositions.

The music is composed using sounds from the 5 elements (TCM, qi gong), and use resonant frequencies of the recorded natural sounds.

Each element is attributed an energy centre and entrains the body and the corresponding chakras following techniques of sound therapy. Beat frequencies are used throughout and help the mind settle and relax.

 

 

 

WHM live in artsmith gallery

had a smashing time with my trio WHM. with walt shaw on drums, matt harling on tenor sax and home design ‘saxobone’, we had guest lorin halsall on UEB, theramin and electronics. artsmith live gallery space is quite resonant but also a great place to play, with inspirational artwork. you can hear extracts from the two sets here

 

 

WHM live at Artsmith Live gallery, Derby, 27th feb 2016

walt shaw – percussion
hervé perez – saxes, saxobone
matt harling – tenor sax, saxobone
with guest
lorin halsall – ueb, theramin, el.

 

Mirror Image – album release

Hervé Perez & Roger Mills – Mirror Image

Released
14 December 2015
by linear obsessional recordings
“Linear Obsessional is delighted to present this beautifully recorded collection of free improvisations by Nada. Nada is the duo of Roger Mills – trumpet and Hervé Perez – alto sax.
The improvisations that make up “Mirror Image” are revelatory, as both musicians explore a huge range of sonic textures through extended technique and make for a fascinating and engrossing listen as they search out their common ground. Interestingly although both musicians had played together via internet collaborations “Mirror Image” is the result of their first meetings in person. The sound of two musicians communicating so naturally, but also with great control and subtlety, makes this an enormously rewarding listen.”

Available as a free download with accompanying PDF booklet of notes with beautiful images by Arman S. Haghi
from the release page

Mirror Image is the debut album of the duo Nada, featuring UK based saxophonist Hervé Perez and Australian trumpeter Roger Mills. While Perez and Mills live on opposite sides of the world, they met through their mutual work with the telematic improvisation music ensemble Ethernet Orchestra. The duo quickly realised a shared aesthetic and continued developing their sound online.

Hervé and Roger would like to thank Elke Utermöhlen and Martin Slawig (blackhole-factory) for bringing us together, Richard Sanderson for releasing the album,and Arman S. Haghi for the original artwork.

This album is made up of three recordings gathered during a residency in Studio_A | Kunstmühle on December 06 and 07, 2014 and includes a live performance of the duo at Club Instabil

Roger Mills – trumpet
Hervé Perez – alto sax
edit and master by @sndsukinspook
artwork by Arman S. Haghi

French summer festival and more gigs

Following on from the previous post featuring sets of live improvisation in Jazz à Luz, here are another few videos shot during the summer i spent in the south of France.

I was invited to participate during the first edition of Festival La Poutre, near Toulouse. Short but sweet, crammed with brilliant acts and musicians, this very friendly and laidback event was like a bowl of fresh air. Of course, many interesting exchanges ensued. below is a couple of documents of a meeting with trumpet player and artist Rodriguez Walkind.

 

Festival La Poutre – the deck

 

Festival La Poutre – in the trees

 

These videos are made up of whatever footage i had. a lot of it is not sync, to make up for the gaps… still, a cool document of a significant first encounter.

 

The following videos have better footage and were filmed through two sets at the Pizzeria Bellefort in Toulouse where they have a regular programme of improvisation.

Cool wine cellar and free pizza, we had a real blast playing there. Heddy surprised us by inviting the brilliant flautist from Amsterdam Mark Alban Lotz to join mr Boubaker on bass, Guy Bayssac on drums and myself on alto.

i am very pleased to have played with such an amazing bunch. great times…

 

 

the first set was a duo with guy bayssac aka ‘canard’. such a pleasure to meet again.

 

 

as usual, the audio from all the above videos, and much more, is available from my website. see the improv section for various collaborations:

 www.spacers.lowtech.org/herve

 

there is more footage coming this way with guy bayssac and another surprise guest shot in café burgaud. so keep your eyes peeled or head for my vimeo page…

The Bridge – album release

 

Hervé Perez & André Darius – The Bridge

 

Released
06 May 2015

“

building bridges is a tricky business. the rivers we cross are never the same. as we leave the shore behind, we do not know where we will land.

“

 

 

 

it is with great pleasure that i announce the release of the album The Bridge.

this work is a collaboration between bass player extraordinaire André D and Hervé Perez.

 

i have been working with andré for a while and we have collaborated in various projects. we have released an album together with guitarist christophe meulien published by french label Nowaki.

we both participate in an ongoing real-time improvisation online following visual scores and queues generated by a max-msp program designed by jesse ricke and lisa lee

working online and collaborating using file exchange is becoming a strong feature of my work. and andré is a master at this. you can find here a discography of his diverse work.

i am very excited by this collaboration. and working with andré is an honour and a real pleasure. i think we cover a really eclectic range of material and yet our sound remains coherent throughout. i see this as a concept album where we experiment with different composition methods, with a common approach. some of the playing is very abstract, some is rather melodic. there is pure improvisation. there is digital sculpture. there is even rhythm. there is complex arrangements. there is noise. there is groove.

the starting point was a recording of me playing drums. yes, right, drums. and i am no drummer, by all means. i just had an opportunity to spend some time with a kit a while back and played around. just enjoying the movement, enjoying the flow, my inability to keep a rhythm, but my interest in tone and timbre. all right, i will admit at this point having practiced snare rolls in the past. it was at a time i was experimenting with recording techniques on a Fostex 4-tracks, discovering improvisation and making sounds with anything i could get my hands on. i had various hand percussion, and my set included three large metal tubs collected when i worked in a paint factory. i had two toms with microtonal differences and a makeshift snare on which i did the notorious “papa-maman” exercise. and i could march the hell out of a military roll.

so here i am dancing around the drumset while my friend’s out of the house, recording this on my zoom. turned out pretty good for a non-drummer. even better, when later, i discovered some cool effects accidentally processing the recording in ableton live. this unleashed the beast, and i started hacking, chopping, sculpting the heck out of this drum track, using a mixture of plugins and painstaking cut and paste, chop, chop by hand and precise placement.

as we had been talking about doing a duo project, i sent andré the drum sculpture. a long track of a messed up, choppy crazy noise full on drums. of course, andré recorded some amazing improvisation that gave sense to the noise and gave it life. this was the basis for the two longer pieces in the album. i then re-cut and refined the drum part. and gradually, i added my signature mix of field recording sounds, some harmony and sax improvisation. somehow, it just worked.

we decided to record some new tracks with a closer more intimate feel, focusing on timbre and closer to the spirit of improvisation. this time, andré started off with bass and eub and we produced two shorter tracks that are more stripped down and purer.

a while later, we thought we’d need more material and yet another method. andré recorded two very short melodic improvisations which i cut up and processed. i wanted some drums to refer back to the original tracks and decided to use samples from a recording session with peter fairclough. one piece is heavily processed, in keeping with the original pieces, another has a real groove to it. in both cases, i used a range of bass samples, some direct sound, some processed, spread out sparsely across the drum tracks. and finally, recorded some sax improvisations in two different styles.

throughout the project, we have used different methodology, approaching composition in different ways from simple takes to complex arrangements, from dry sound to very processed and cut up samples. with each approach, we produced tracks in pairs. and within each pair, we covered very different styles of playing. and yet, the overall sound remains coherent. it is as if the group had instantly developed a signature sound. and yet, this is very different to whatever we both have done individually.

i must say, i am very excited by this work, and i am delighted that we are now releasing it, hoping to share this with as many people as possible. not just because of the sheer volume of hard work and time put into it. but because i sincerely believe there is something of great value here. we have undoubtedly put our heart and soul in these recordings, and even after many hours of work and listening to the pieces over and over again, i can still feel it. i still enjoy listening to the work. and i really hope you will too.

please help us make more, and support this work by donating generously. but most importantly, sit back, relax and… enjoy…:

andré and hervé are pleased to give you, The Bridge

 

 

Shiki – Mehata Sentimental Legend and Hervé Perez

Shiki

album MPR23 Hervé Perez & Mehata Sentimental Legend – Shiki

 

“

Central to this work is a practice inspired by traditional Japanese music and particularly the shakuhachi: improvisation and mindfulness. The artists’ meditative practice and deep connection with the environment is present throughout their music, both through their communication with the natural world, elements and soundscapes, but also in their use of natural acoustics.

Even though many instruments used are traditional (mostly Japanese flutes and percussion) often, the contents are references to both traditional forms and contemporary music styles.

“

Released by:
Mind Plug Records
Release date:
23 February 2015

 

 

i am very happy to announce the release of the album Shiki by berlin label Mind Plug Records.

 

 

 

Shiki is the product of a collaboration between sound artists and improvisers Mehata Sentimental Legend and Hervé Perez.

The exchange is made possible through modern technology: from recording techniques to modern instruments, samplers and most importantly, communication technology which allows for social network communities such as soundcloud and large file exchanges over the net.

And although this work is very modern, there is something timeless about it. Some of the instruments used are traditional (mostly Japanese flutes and percussion) and often, the contents are references to both traditional forms and contemporary music styles.

Moreover, beyond the practical and tangible aspects, the entire collaboration has a quality that is beyond time and styles. The process of recording, file exchange, development of the work has evolved in a very organic way: slowly, taking time, over long periods, and happened only as and when relevant. There was never a desire or pressure to create a product, and rather, things happened when they felt ‘right’ and at the appropriate time for both of us.

The same frame of mind applies to every aspect of the work. And the understanding between collaborators has always been on a deeply human and natural level – the basis of which was a meeting of spirit. Outside the boundaries of time and space.

Although there is a thread running through the album, connecting each piece, the tracks are unique, and were created in a singular way. One may be able to hear the evolution in approach of these documents of events, performances, over time.

Central to the work is a practice inspired by traditional Japanese music and particularly the shakuhachi: improvisation and mindfulness. A meditative practice and deep connection with the environment is present throughout (communication with the natural world, the elements and soundscape but also the use of natural acoustics – see for ex. Hervé’s project ‘sounding out’ on his website and web pages).

The starting points of many of these tracks are in situ recordings. Mehata’s insightful and very sensitive participation painted a coherent image and gave meaning to the work with the use of colour, completely in tune with the quality of energy. Inspired and inspirational, Mehata’s arrangements made the original improvisations flourish.

To complete the cycle, the tracks traveled back to Hervé for production, mixing and mastering.

The process of making this work has been deeply inspiring, and a true pleasure for both of us. And we sincerely hope you will enjoy our shared attraction to deep listening.

released 23 February 2015

Some Some Unicorn and The Golden Periphery

i am very pleased to be part of a project generated by sean blezzard. the cd has just been released and is available in hard copy and download from the man himself.

these are very exciting compositions involving many musicians from various backgrounds, using a range of instruments both traditional and electronic, as well as spoken word/poetry.
sean first submitted a series of sketches – which we used as a basis for improvisation – and then re-arranged all the participants’ responses into completely new compositions.

please have a listen and order your copy following the links…

What Is Some Some Unicorn?

Some Some Unicorn is an experiment in communal music making.

Working on the border of composition and improvisation this work has drawn together 30 artists from the fields of improv, electronics, jazz, poetry and popular music. Some names you will know, some you don’t yet, but all have given time and talent to become Some Some Unicorn.

The concept originated during my time as a New Voice composer with Sound and Music after many conversations about what a composer is. Are you a composer if you improvise? So I decided to make an album that was composed from a variety of improvisations. I recorded a couple of hours worth of improvisational ‘sketches’ on iPad which were uploaded to the cloud and an open call went out for others to work with the material, playing along or playing with it. This completed part one, twelve tracks of dense work that was put out again for ‘overdubs’.

When I got the second versions back the hard work began of getting an album that was coherent and still featured everyone. It was now called Some Some Unicorn and The Golden Periphery and I’ve slowly mixed and edited it down to an album length. There were around 30 musicians and artists involved in this part of the process all bringing their own talents, but a special note to poet Ann Wilson for the words and artist Ruth Green for the original artwork – they really have pulled the concept together 🙂

Shaun Blezard 2014

Thanks to Sound and Music for the tremendous support during my time as a New Voice composer.
credits
released 13 December 2014

Music: Shaun Blezard with Aardvark, Martin Archer, Jamie Barnes, Alex Botten, David Browne, Adrian Carter, Matt Cowe, Alexander Cutteridge, James Darrington, Pete Dent, Anthony Donovan, Graham Dowdall, Dave Fleet, Simon Fox, Samuel Freeman, Phill Gregg, Stephen Grew, The Kendal Mintcake, David Wright LaGrone, Alexx O’Shea, Herve Perez, Stuart Russell, Ian Simpson, Stephen Shiell, Jim Tetlow, Roger Vaughn, Jonathan Watt, Steve Wharton, Hannah White and the SSU Choir of Hope

Words: Ann Wilson

Original artwork: Ruth Green