Icebreaker (band)
| Icebreaker | |
|---|---|
 Icebreaker performing in London in 2010 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Post-minimalism |
| founding | 1989 |
| Website | www.icebreaker.org.uk |
| Current occupation | |
Flutes, pan flute |
James Poke |
Flutes, pan flute |
Rowland Sutherland |
Saxophones, clarinets |
Christian Forshaw |
Saxophones, clarinets |
Bradley Grant |
Keyboards |
Dominic Saunders |
Keyboards |
Andrew Zolinsky |
Keyboards |
Walter Fabeck |
accordion |
Ian Watson |
violin |
Emma Welton |
cello |
Audrey Riley |
Drums |
Dan Gresson |
guitar |
James Woodrow |
Bass guitar |
Pete Wilson |
Production assistant |
Mel |
Sound engineer |
Ernst Zettl |
Icebreaker is a musical ensemble from Great Britain , which was founded by James Poke and John Godfrey. The ensemble is one of the leading interpreters of contemporary music with a focus on a post-minimalist repertoire. The ensemble plays exclusively with reinforcement in a non-classical line-up, their performances are “seriously loud” compared to concerts of classical music. In recent years Icebreaker has expanded its repertoire to include the " Ambient " genre with their arrangement of Brian Eno's album Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks .
history
Foundation and artistic identity
Icebreaker was formed in 1989 and consists of twelve musicians with a line-up of flute , pan flute , saxophone , clarinet , electric violin and cello , guitar , drums , accordion and keyboard , as well as a sound engineer and production management.
Icebreaker's debut in 1989 took place at a Dutch music festival at the University of York with Louis Andriessen's pieces Hoketus , de Staat and de Stijl. With a focus on Dutch, British and American music, an intensive collaboration developed with Bang on a Cans Michael Gordon , David Lang and Julia Wolfe . The specific instrumentation of the ensemble developed in an exemplary manner from the Dutch music group Hoketus (1977–1987), founded by Louis Andriessen, who inspired the incorporation of panpipes.
Icebreaker's repertoire includes compositions by Louis Andriessen, Gavin Bryars , Brian Eno , Philip Glass , Michael Gordon, David Lang, Steve Martland , Michael Nyman , Steve Reich and Terry Riley . The unconventional instrumentation of the ensemble results in a unique musical sound and allows the synergy of contemporary music, rock and alternative music.
Performances
Icebreaker has been performing regularly in Europe and the US for over 20 years . Performances include a festival dedicated to Icebreaker at the Wiener Musikgalerie in Vienna , concerts as part of the Carinthischer Sommer festival in Carinthia , a cooperation with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra , where Stewart Wallace 's The Book of Five was performed, and with the American Composers Orchestra in New York's Carnegie Hall and concerts in Kassel and Hamburg in Germany . Concerts in Great Britain and the USA include a wide range of different stages and festivals from rock ( Camp Bestival ) to New York ( Bang on a Can , Lincoln Center ).
Recordings
Icebreaker's first two albums were recorded by Decca's Argo label with music by Andriessen, Gordon, Lang, Bryars and Damian LeGassick ( Terminal Velocity 1994, Trance 1996). Subsequent albums with various labels such as NewTone (Italy, Rogues Gallery 1997), a portrait of Diderik Wagenaars (2001) with Composers' Voice (Donemus Studio), Extraction with Between the lines (2001) and Philip Glass Music with Changing Parts (2007) at Orange Mountain Music. Icebreaker has been working with New York-based Cantaloupe Music since 2004, who recorded Cranial Pavement (2005) and remastered Terminal Velocity and Trance. In 2012, Icebreaker's most prestigious project, Apollo, was recorded and released.
Dance and multimedia
Icebreaker has been working in cooperation with dance , ballet and multimedia collaborations for many years . Her performances include a dance adaptation by Ashley Page for the Royal Ballet in London ( Cheating, Lying, Stealing 1998), resumed with the Scottish Ballet in Glasgow and Edinburgh (2003, 2009). 2004-5 a collaboration with Wayne McGregor's dance troupe Random Dance, which performed with Ataxia (adaptation for dance of Michael Gordon's Trance ) in London, Amsterdam and New York. Icebreaker's CD recordings are regularly used for dance performances.
From 2003 to 2004 Icebreaker toured together with Orkest De Volharding and singer Christina Zavalloni on the so-called Big Noise Tour, a multimedia collaboration that was performed on the major event stages in Great Britain and the Netherlands. Icebreaker has also recorded the score for the American independent film Book of Love .
Recent work
As part of worldwide events to mark the 40th anniversary of the moon landings, Icebreaker and pedal steel guitar player BJ Cole were invited to perform Brian Eno's album Apollo (Brian Eno, Roger Eno and Daniel Lanois ) live to Al Reinert's film For All Mankind (soundtrack arranged to play IMAX by Woojun Lee 2009) at the Science Museum London . An expanded version of this arrangement has been touring the UK and Europe since May 2010. The album was released in 2012.
Further work
As part of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Icebreaker was invited to perform two concerts on the occasion of Louis Andriessen's 70th birthday. The ensemble played regularly in Glasgow City Hall as part of the Minimal Festival .
Icebreaker works continuously on numerous educational projects at universities and schools across the UK, such as London's Goldsmiths College in the Popular Music branch in association with John Paul Jones . Since 2006 Icebreaker has produced the monthly internet radio show Radio Icebreaker on Brighton's totallyradio.com.
Members (2013)
- James Poke (conductor, flutes , panpipes , synthesizer)
- Rowland Sutherland (flutes, panpipes, voice)
- Christian Forshaw ( saxophones , clarinets )
- Bradley Grant (saxophone, clarinet)
- Dominic Saunders ( keyboards )
- Andrew Zolinsky (keyboards)
- Walter Fabeck (keyboards)
- Ian Watson (accordion, keyboards)
- Emma Welton (electric violin)
- Audrey Riley (electric cello, keyboards)
- Dan Gresson (percussion, drums)
- James Woodrow ( guitar , bass guitar )
- Pete Wilson (bass guitar)
- Mel (production assistant)
- Ernst Zettl (sound engineer)
Discography
Albums
- Official Bootleg (ICC, 1991, live)
- Terminal Velocity ( Argo , 1994, also Cantaloupe Music, 2005)
- Trance (Argo, 1996, also Cantaloupe Music, 2004)
- Rogue's Gallery (New Tone, 1997)
- Diderik Wagenaar (Composers' Voice / Donemus, 2001)
- Extraction ( between the lines , 2001)
- Cranial Pavement (Cantaloupe Music, 2005)
- Music with Changing Parts (Orange Mountain Music, 2007)
- Apollo (Cantaloupe Music, 2012)
Guest appearances on other albums
- Hook, Mesh, Stub, Cud (Argo, 1993)
- Short Cuts - Breaking the Sound Barrier - An Argo Sampler (Argo, 1994)
- Century XXI UK A – M (New Tone, 1996)
- Bang on a Can plays Louis Andriessen (Cantaloupe Records)
swell
- ^ The Independent , London, December 4, 1996
- ↑ Icebreaker Apollo ( Memento of the original from August 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Chronology of the Vienna Music Gallery
- ↑ Overview of the albums produced on discogs.com
- ↑ biography of the band (Engl.)
- ↑ Big Noise in The Guardian, November 25, 2003
- ↑ Archive: November 27, 2003 The Brighton Argus, November 27, 2003
- ↑ 19. louis andriessen 70: andriessen in black and white ( memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from November 25, 2009
