KONTRAKLANG: Nist-Nah Pak Yan Lau & Bakunawa

In September, KONTRAKLANG presents two current European ensembles that explicitly refer to gamelan in their music.

The ensemble Nist-Nah was founded in 2020. The nine-piece ensemble is led by Australian drummer and composer Will Guthrie and is based in Nantes, France. All of the musicians in the group are outstanding experts in their own right in the fields of traditional gamelan, contemporary composition, noise, jazz, and everything in between. Nist-Nah performs with drum kits, traditional and junk percussion, and a full set of Javanese gamelan instruments. The music of Nist-Nah clearly distances itself from dry academic discourse or questionable exoticism. Rather, sonic issues are at the forefront: here, at times, rapid arpeggiated figures are driven by manically busy percussion, while melodic lines float in slow motion above. Then influences of Balinese Kecak, Ornette Coleman, Javanese court music and Miles Davis’ Dark Magus become audible in abrupt tempo changes, fragmented unison passages and monumental grooves.

More hands. More possibilities. More drones. More polyrhythms. More fun. This was the starting point and the idea of Bakunawa, which composer Pak Yan Laurealizes with her freshly founded ensemble, consisting of the musicians Vera Cavallin, Giovanni Di Domenico, João Lobo and Theo Lanau. The musicians dive deep into the sound spectrum of out-of-tune toy pianos, worn out gong sticks, prepared harps, metal tubes and ring modulators. Rich harmonic textures from more unconventional instruments form a haunting sonic impression with captivating microtonal detail. The underlying rhythms move in ghostly patterns and are inspired by Filipino mythology, in which the moon-devouring sea dragon Bakunawa is scared away by loud drumming on pots and pans.

With:
Ensemble Nist-Nah: Prune Bécheau, Charles Dubois, Thibault Florent, Will Guthrie, Amélie Grould, Mark Lockett, Sven Michel, Lucas Pizzini, Arno Tukiman – Gamelan, Perkussion

Pak Yan Lau Bakunawa Ensemble: Pak Yan Lau – Komposition, Perkussion, Toy Piano, Elektronik
Vera Cavallin – Perkussion, präparierte Harfe
Giovanni Di Domenico – Perkussion, Toy Piano
João Lobo – Perkussion, Toy Piano
Theo Lanau – Perkussion, Toy Piano

Program:
Ensemble Nist-Nah: Prune Bécheau, Charles Dubois, Thibault Florent, Will Guthrie, Amélie Grould, Mark Lockett, Sven Michel, Lucas Pizzini, Arno Tukiman
Pak Yan Lau Bakunawa Ensemble: Pak Yan Lau, Vera Cavallin, Giovanni Di Domenico, João Lobo, Theo Lanau

*accompanying this concert we offer audio description to make it accessible for blind and visually impaired audience members

Tickets: 15 / reduced 12 €
Online via: eventbrite.com

Organizer: Kontraklang in cooperation with Kultur Büro Elisabeth
The concert is part of the program REMAIIN – Radical European Music and its Intercultural Nature and is supported by Creative Europe. 

REMINDER
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Photo © Alexia Touissaint