PUNKT For Brum Remix Bonanza
Mike Flynn
Friday, February 14, 2020
PUNKT, the renowned Norwegian remix festival, will visit the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC) from 18 to 20 March 2020 for a series of collaborations and performances with several UK musicians.
Having celebrated its 15th anniversary last year, PUNKT's founders Jan Bang and Erik Honoré will both perform alongside regular collaborators, guitar-FX guru Eivind Aarset and top-tier trumpeter/vocalist Arve Henriksen.
The programme begins with an opening seminar on the art of remixing – which in PUNKT-ian terms entails employing samples from one concert as the basis for a completely improvised set by a different band. Bang and Honoré will be joined by longtime PUNKT supporter/broadcaster Fiona Talkington, jazz promoter/programmer Tony Dudley-Evans and Ideas of Noise co-director Sarah Farmer (4pm, 18 Mar).
Taking to the festival's stage for some deft sampling subversion will be saxophonist Trish Clowes in duo with cellist Louise McMonagle, remixed by Honoré, Henriksen and Aarset, with an additional concert by stilleflet, featuring trumpeter Percy Pursglove, bassist/electronics man Chris Mapp and guitarist Thomas Seminar Ford, plus Bang as special guest, to undergo remix by RBC music students (19 Mar).
The second day features a performance of The Height Of The Reeds, the acclaimed Humber Bridge sound installation commissioned by Opera North in dedication to the city of Hull as part of its cultural capital status in 2017. At PUNKT it will be performed by its composers, Bang, Henriksen, Arset and Jez riley French, with Honoré guesting, followed by a remix from Mapp and electroacoustic composer/sound artist Annie Mahtani. The festival's finale will find RBC’s highly regarded contemporary Thallein Ensemble performing music by leading Norwegian composer Maja S.K. Ratkje, with a reworking by the Fizzle All-Stars, led by pianist Andrew Woodhead and a stellar cast of Birmingham-based jazz talents.
For more info visit www.punktbirmingham.uk
Watch out for an exclusive podcast featuring Jan Bang, appearing soon on this website