Dans Les Arbres (ECM Records) New Zealand Shows Announced

Norwegian / French instrumental improvisers Dans Les Arbres are visiting Aotearoa this month for back-to-back shows at Auckland experimental music hub the Audio Foundation. Comprised of Ivar Grydeland, Ingar Zach, Christian Wallumrød, and Xavier Charles, the acclaimed quartet have played together for almost two decades and have released two records via pioneering Munich label ECM Records, Canopée (2012) and their self-titled debut (2008). They've performed alongside such titans of innovative sound as Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O ́Rourke and Yumiko Tanaka - these will be their very first shows in New Zealand. Here are the details...

Dans Les Arbres
Tuesday 26th June and Wednesday 27th June - Audio Foundation, Auckland
Tickets available HERE via UTR

Experience live footage of Dans Les Arbres playing at Shinjuku Pit Inn in Tokyo, Japan...

Press release:

Audio Foundation is pleased to announce a two-night performance series for the Norweigan/French improvised instrumental quartet Dans Les Arbres (ECM) for the first time in New Zealand.

With a diverse set of musical histories, Dans Les Arbres is collectively made up of musical heavyweights Ivar Grydeland, Ingar Zach, Christian Wallumrød, and Xavier Charles, who have come together for nearly two decades as Dans Les Arbes. During this time the band has toured extensively in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan. Dans Les Arbres have also performed with guest musicians such as Yumiko Tanaka, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O ́Rourke and the Norwegian duo Vilde & Inga.

The group’s ECM debut generated many rave reviews, with England’s The Wire declaring “There’s no end to the delights of this quite magical disc.”

Their music moves gently but steadily ahead on broad planes of sound, the textural scenery changing as DLA harnesses its wealth of unorthodox extended techniques. Including but not limited to: Charles’ extraordinary control of harmonics, the prepared piano of Wallumrød perfectly matched by the prepared banjo of Grydeland and by Zach’s unprecedented use of the gran cassa, the horizontal orchestral bass drum, augmented here by metal percussion and ceramic bells. Small movements precipitate gradual sonic transformations. Sounds are carefully nurtured and encouraged to glow. Responsibilities are very equally shared as textures are blended. All four musicians are skilled improvisers, but no one is claiming or struggling for solo space. There seems, rather, to be a group mind at work, with strong compositional instincts.

Christian Wallumrød (prepared piano, harmonium) has worked as a musician and composer since 1992, and he is considered one of the most prominent and influential musicians of his generation in Norway. Following his debut on ECM Records 'No Birch', he released a string of albums with the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble on the same label, all to critical acclaim. His latest record 'Outstairs’ was rewarded with the Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannsprisen 2013).

Ivar Grydeland plays electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, pedal steel guitar and various electronics in a number of ensembles such as Huntsville (Hubro and Rune Grammofon), Hanne Hukkelberg and country-rock outfit Last Heat. Grydeland’s solo debut “Bathymetric Modes” (Hubro) was released in 2012, and he co-runs the SOFA label with Ingar Zach. Grydeland is currently a research fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, under the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme.

Ingar Zach is one of the leading percussionists/improvisers from Norway. He is known for the wide range of sounds in his drum kit and he uses his percussion in a very dynamic but still energetic way. Now living in Madrid, he concentrates on his solo work and his regular ensembles. He has been dedicated to experimental music and folk music for the last five years and he is now touring and recording with his regular ensembles but in Europe, Canada, USA, South America and Asia. He founded the Norwegian label for improvised music, SOFA, together with guitar player, Ivar Grydeland in May 2000 and the SILLÓN label in 2005.

Xavier Charles is a clarinetist whose work ranges from noise to electro-acoustic via sound poetry and has a strong background as a collaborator, notably with Jacques Di Donato and Frederic Le Junter as well as touring with legendary Ethiopian sax god Getatchew Merkuria, and Dutch punk band The Ex. Currently his musical research ranges from performance on the clarinet to sound installations featuring vibrating speakers, at the edge of improvised music, noisy rock and electro-acoustic sound.