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Monday, June 15, 2009
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Current mood:  melancholy
Brainwashed.com by Henry Smith
Not the most obvious instrumental choice for the modern age, the
lute is far more often associated with Renaissance fairs and Dungeons &
Dragons then contemporary minimalist composition. Yet that is exactly the
approach that Jozef Van Wissem takes with this disc, combining seven
compositions whose conceptual prowess ultimately proves tangential to Wissem's
relaxed and stark approach to his instrument.
The conceptual basis of these works seems to, at least on the
surface, be a major restriction on Wissem's compositional potential. While some
of the works here consist of reworkings of 17th-century pieces and others are
entirely Wissem's own, each work undergoes the same process by which it is
played forward and then reversed. This palindromic approach essentially makes
for twice the material out of half the composition, but Wissem's works are bare
enough that even a reversal doesn't feel like a rehashing of stale ideas.
Ultimately, it would seem that the approach is intended to infuse the pieces
with a circular narrative whose form is removed from the very classical forms most
often associated with Wissem's instrument.
As aforementioned, these ideas, however, are largely lost due to
Wissem's compositional style: a fact that ultimately lends credibility to the
lutenist's compositional talents. The disc opens with the gentle and spacious
"Darkness Falls Upon The Face Of The Deep," a soft and sad
progression that achieves the folky feel of a skeletal Fahey work. Each note is
treated with respect, each chord used to further the emotive resonance of the
piece.
Elsewhere, Wissem does busy his playing a bit more, as on the
title track, whose finger-picked elegance has a descending bass line that lends
a depth of emotion far more complex than the seemingly happy-go-lucky high-end.
"In You Dwells The Light Which Never Sets" manages to sound almost
banjo-esque as Wissem works and reworks the deceptively simple sounding melodic
line, first with a pointillist approach and then with a sparer, more obtuse
treatment of the material. The reversal is clearest when given stylistic
markers such as these.
Either way, it is ultimately Wissem's compositions that shine
through most strongly here. He is both a fantastic player and writer, and his
reverence for his instrument's history—and thus its future—is commendable.
Rarely is such an archaic sounding instrument used with such open and organic
respect.
The closing "Sola Fide," a work
commissioned by London's National Gallery, is meant as an aural depiction to
"The Ambassador," a painting by Hans Holbein from 1533. The lively
delicacy of the work breathes new life into a painting that is otherwise
largely irrelevant to today's lifestyle, and it is this that Wissem does
throughout with his own instrument. His work is vibrant and beautiful, but more
importantly it meshes the old with the new, poising Wissem as, ironically, an
ambassador for the future of a far underused musical tool.
Dusted Magazine by Bill Meyer
After years of collaborating with guitarists and electronicists, exploring his instrument’s historical repertoire, and experimenting with settings, lutenist Jozef Van Wissem sharpened his compositional focus and artistic intent to fine points on his last album A Priori. By working with palindrome structures, he both referenced the instrument’s past and constructed pieces that stymied the march of time that had rendered his instrument into a Renaissance Faire prop. But this rigorous conceptual bent came with a cost; compare the record to the variety within his catalogue or even within one of his live performances, and you’ll see that the severity of approach is reflected in the music. Although It Is All That Is Made burrows even deeper into that method, it is paradoxically more user friendly.The first track, “Darkness Falls Upon The Face Of The Deep,” picks up where the last record left off. Van Wissem is still tracing and retracing his steps in each track, and even recycling material from tune to tune; his music remains quite self-contained. But the judicious use of overdubbing to overlay multiple patterns and ornament the melodies creates a more rich and inviting sound. Bright harmonics ring out above the gamboling plucking on “The Stars Fall From The Sky And The Heavens Are Rolled Up Like A Scroll” like a planet blinking bright against a backdrop of stars, and doubled bass notes exert a magnetic force that pulls you close in.Once there, you’ll hear how simple the beseeching air really is and how well Van Wissem has absorbed the core lesson of minimalism. If you’re going to work with reduced means, your core material has to be strong. Van Wissem is working with iron.
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Saturday, January 12, 2008
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Current mood:  luminous
Jozef Van Wissem
by Brad Rose
I only recently discovered Jozef Van Wissem's exquisite music and it's too bad that it took me so long because he is easily one of the most unique and talented artists performing today. Many artists focus solely on a single instrument, but very few (i.e. next to none) choose the lute as their instrument. However, Van Wissem has just done that and all music fans are the better for it. His solo lute records are true works of art and with each subsequent release, Van Wissem finds something new to offer. If that wasn't enough, he also has done a number of equally impressive collaborations with some truly great artists like Maurizio Bianchi and Tetuzi Akiyama. I'm glad that I've finally familiarized myself with Jozef Van Wissem's music. Now, I can't get enough.
First off, when did you first start playing music? And what was it that inspired you to pick up your first instrument and give it a go?
I started playing classical guitar at age 11; my dad bought a handmade guitar for me in Barcelona and I went to local music school to study. I guess I was inspired a lot by Segovia and Robert Johnson and the lute pieces that were erroneously transposed to guitar fingering in a book called "Music From Shakespeare's Time". It included pieces like "Sick" and "Packington's Pound" which ended up on "A Rose By Any Other Name". Guitar and lute are not related as instrumental families; lute technique has more to do with harpsichord technique than with guitar technique.
Perhaps more importantly, when did you first start playing the Lute?
I picked it up in 1993 after I gave up playing guitar.
What was it that drew you to the instrument? Why the lute?
I am interested in history, particularly the history of where I am from. I believe it's important to emulate one's own history and not to just imitate foreign culture. Also it's a challenge to compose idiomatic lute material; the compositional techniques are quite interesting. I am not about fetishizing fast scales or so. On my first lute record "Retrograde" I played classical pieces backwards. To me it's more about liberating the lute and placing it in a different context, dusting it off so to speak and making it a sexy instrument once again. It disappeared for 250 years you know.
How have you learned to play the Lute? Are you self-taught or have you had lessons?
I moved to New York in 1994 and studied lute with Pat O'Brien. A lot I learned also from finding and listening to vinyl lute records and CDs, locating tablature (lute sheet music) in libraries and playing the pieces. Very D.I.Y. you know.
My first introduction to your work is the excellent "A Rose by Any Other Name" album. How did you go about picking the solos for that album?
I decided to do only anonymous pieces because I liked the fact that people did not want to be regarded as composers in those days - it was a bad thing to be a musician/composer and looked down upon by the establishment.
The pieces themselves I selected by seeing if I could make them sound like contemporary music or I could give them a 'rock feel' if you like. And those pieces are a real hit during solo live concerts I do in a context where people have never seen or even heard a lute and come up to me after the show with a bunch of questions about the instrument and the repertoire. It's all about communication.
Are there any in particular that are especially meaningful to you?
The anonymous Scottish pieces like "Maggae Hamfor" I really like and it was a thrill to play them for a Glaswegian audience a couple of weeks ago. Also I like to play "Lamento di Tristano" and in concert add field recordings made in airport lounges or railway stations to it. John Renbourn played that on "The Lady And The Unicorn", but my version is more stripped down and bare. To me it's the dirge that makes it rock.
Why did you give up playing guitar anyway?
Well, when I started lute-playing I did six hours a day, doing just that. The right hand position is a lot different on the lute so it would be hard to switch from that to right hand guitar-playing technically speaking. Also I felt I had explored the territory of the guitar too much.
I think it's absolutely fantastic that you're making at an effort and 'bringing the Lute' back, if you will, as I have a real affinity for obscure and forgotten instruments. What do you have planned next with your solo work?
I am just finishing my new solo record and it will be just baroque and renaissance lute this time, no field recordings or electronics added at all, just some slide. There are seven long minimal palindrome pieces. It's called "De Anima, Seven Stages of the Pious Soul" and the vinyl version has seven drawings by Wouter van Haelemeesch of Audiomer as well, so it's a layered work. It's kind of a follow up to "Stations of the Cross".
You also mentioned how you want to place the lute in a different context. I think this is extremely apparent (and done so very well) on your album with Maurizio Bianchi. How did you all first meet and decide to work on an album together?
Well Maurizio asked me by mail to send some of my work which I did, he sent some of his.
After he asked for more I sent him my classical record with a little note saying "feel free to manipulate the material", jokingly. But he did and send back the CD which became "Das Platinzeitalter", a very haunting work. I released it on my Incunabulum label.
What was the process like for that album? Did you all do any of the work on it live?
He called the collaborative process "archaic waves, ancient loops and primitive electronics". I like the result a lot; it's like his early work. It was done by snail mail. And I liked the fact that he appropriated my classical pieces like that - they were not my compositions.
The other collaboration of yours that I'm most familiar with is "Hymn for a Fallen Angel" with Tetuzi Akiyama (one of my absolute favorite guitarists). Anyway, it's a stunning album. How did it come about? And are there any future plans to do more work with Akiyama?
What happened with "Hymn" is that I recorded Tetuzi at Locksley Hall in Garageband.
I synchronized his improvisations with Baroque Lute by recording it to a separate track in that program. I could literally "see" his notes coming so I could play at exactly the same time, which gave the music a lot of space.
We are doing an extensive American tour in February and there's another recording we did that I am quite fond off but is not released yet. It's called "Mystery of the Missing Eight Minutes". I found that newspaper headline title touring the UK in October; of course it's about Lady Di(e).
The last collaboration I have to ask about, even though I haven't heard a lot of yet, is the "Brethren of the Free Spirit" album with one of my favorites, James Blackshaw. How did you meet James? I have to say that your lute playing and his guitar playing seem like the perfect match.
James asked me to be on a compilation of four solo string players including him and Helena Espvall coming out on Important records in January called "The Garden of Forking Paths". I saw him play in Amsterdam at a festival and we became friends. I invited him to do a recording and the "Brethren of the Free Spirit" CD/LP is coming out now as well. Collaborating on those compositions with him was quite rewarding; there's an element of spooky sportive endurance in those pieces at work which I elaborated on by including some Wimbledon tennis audio edits. We are debuting "Brethren of the Free Spirit" live in New York late January and doing European tours in 2008.
You've got a number of live shows coming up in 2008 and have played out extensively. What's your favorite aspect of performing live?
I guess my favorite aspect of playing live is the communication with the audience. And by that I don't mean talking. Also I like the romantic repetitive aspect of being on the road; it clears my head but it's also quite displacing.
What are you most looking forward to in 2008?
I am most looking forward to be playing over 60 concerts in 2008.
And what is the best record you heard in 2007?
It's a lute composition by Vieux Gaultier (around 1650) played by lutenist Hopkinson Smith called "La Cascade".
Any closing comments?
Go with god.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
Jan 9 2008 Merleyn Nijmegen Holland Nijmegen
Jan 18 2008 GALERIA ZE DOS BOIS LISBON LISBON
Jan 19 2008 Pottery Museum, Barcelos Barcelos
Jan 25 2008 BRETHREN OF THE FREE SPIRIT RELEASE PARTY NEW YORK, USA
Jan 26 2008 RED ROOM BALTIMORE
Jan 27 2008 THE BIG TOP NEW ORLEANS USA
Jan 30 2008 BYZANTINE FRESCO CHAPEL MUSEUM, HOUSTON,TEXAS
Jan 31 2008 ORCHARD GALLERY BRETHREN OF THE FREE SPIRIT RECORD RELEASE PARTY NEW YORK
Feb 1 2008 INTERNATIONAL HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA, USA
Feb 2 2008 SILENT MUSIC FESTIVAL ISSUE PROJECT ROOM NEW YORK CITY, USA
Feb 5 2008 611 Florida WASHINGTON DC
Feb 6 2008 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, MIDDLETOWN,CT,USA
Feb 8 2008 SEATTLE IMPROVIZED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Feb 9 2008 SEATTLE IMPROVIZED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Feb 11 2008 MILLS COLLEGE OAKLAND, CA
Feb 13 2008 Time Tested Books, SACRAMENTO, CA
Feb 14 2008 NO IDEA FESTIVAL, AUSTIN TEXAS
Feb 17 2008 TBA, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Feb 23 2008 LA MAISON PEINTE TOULOUSE FRANCE
-- Brad Rose (19 December, 2007)
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