Danish and German artists at work!
Almut Kühne: Voice
Francesco Bigoni: Motion controlled processing and reeds
Mark Solborg: Guitar and electronics
The trio - occupied with the relationship between sound and movement - works with an intense contemporary chamber-musical expression infused with Almut Kuhne's exceptional voice and surgical precision, Francesco Bigoni's motion controlled processing, reeds and Mark Solborg's prepared acoustic guitars.
HANDS hold both composed and choreographed sequences as well as structured improvisational concepts, motives and textures. An investigation of releations between sound and movement is at hand.
Danish philosopher K.E. Løgstrup writes : “The Individual is never engaged with another human being without holding a part of it's life in his hand".
The hands are (still) man's primary physical interface with the world. It is with them we act, creates and has physical contact with each other: Caresses, beats, kills, signals, give, receive, conduct and much more. Through different sequences you experience how the musicians hands, sometimes without touching an instrument, accentuates the experienced sound. In a world where many interacts without ever being in physical contact, HANDS wishes to focus on the deeper and more nuanced communication that takes places when we move, see, touch and hear each other in the same room.
A new audio-visual album is in the pipeline for 2025 to be released on ILK. HANDS wishes to document this unique expression with a contrapuntal work. An original intense aesthetic experience with both humor and bite, to be experienced by both laymen, students and specialists.
During the Danish/German friendship year of 2020 guitarist and composer Mark Solborg and Goethe Institut Dänemark invited the virtuoso german singer to join him and Italian reedman Bigoni at the Willumsen Museum for interpretations of the works of Willumsen and German painter Kirchner. Since then the collaboration has continued across the Danish/German border. Supported by research grants from Goethe Institut Dänemark and support from The Danish Arts Foundation, JazzDanmark, the Neustart exchange platform (neustartmusik.org) a.o. the three has presented their work at Copenhagen Jazzfestival, Cologne Jazzweek, at the Nordische Botschaften Berlin a.o.
Almut Kühne is an extremely versatile and genre-breaking vocalist. With amazing technical skills and register she works with both contemporary jazz, improvisation, new music and inspirations from the renaissance. Kuhne is educated at Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory in Berlin and grew up in a family of visual painters that introduced her to the „Blaue Reiter“ and „Brücke“ painters.
Inspired by the arts she often incorporates visual components in her projects and concerts. Recently NOVOFLOT (at Copenhagen Opera Festival a.o). She has also interpreted vocal works by Graewe, John Cage, Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann, On- drey Adamek and Michael Edward Edgerton. Kühne holds a degree from Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ Berlin and has received both prizes and nominations; Deutscher Jazzpreis, a.o.
http://www.almutkuehne.de/
Mark Solborg has through 27 albums with original music and an impressive amount of concerts worldwide made clear imprints on the Danish and International scene for contemporary jazz, improvisation and new music. Partners in crime include Axel Dörner, Herb Robertson, Susana Santos Silva, Lotte Anker, Paul Lovens, Thomas Lehn, Evan Parker o.a. Solborg is educated at The Rhythmic Conservatory, Copenhagen and New School University, New York. His work has been nominated and awarded by The Danish Arts Foundation a.o and has received extensive International praise for it’s vision and integrity.
https://solborg.dk/
Francesco Bigoni is based in Copenhagen and has during many collaborations in award-wining projects like Maria Faust, Håkon Berre o.a., established himself on the Danish scene as a strong and visionary instrumentalist and composer. Bigoni is in many ways occupied with sound: Besides his education from the soloist class at The Rhythmic Conservatory. Copenhagen he also holds a degree as electro engineer and is active within electro acoustics and interaction.
https://francesco.bigoni.dk/