A Scream of Smoke

for theater neumarkt, artist jan vorisek presents an evening with musicians interested in the interplay of social space and distorted sound, as well as the manipulative effects of minimalism and repetition. musical forms are challenged and broken in a radical way.

one part of the evening will be played by the duo brötzmann/leigh, who have realized three albums, in addition to several joint performances. consisting of collaborative improvisation, the pieces oscillate between touching gentleness and raw angry playing. vulnerability and the pain of compassionate relationships resonate in her aggressive ballads which are a mesh of droning sounds. thus their music develops the pull of a psychedelic hole: leigh fills the space by sliding the notes on her meta-steel guitar, while brötzmann follows this echo. the result: sincere but subversive music with the acoustic effect of a hypnotic labyrinth.

heather leigh (usa) has been sharpening her profile as an improvisational musician and multi-instrumentalist since the early noughties: in collaborations with the group charalambides, by means of numerous solo releases as well as through collaborations with like-minded musicians such as chris corsano, jandek or thurston moore from sonic youth. her improvisations of vocals and pedal steel guitar are unmistakable. she has developed her own mode of expression that encompasses subtle and folk-inspired tones as well as aggressive noise sounds. her latest album “throne”, released by the label editions mego, mixes sounds of bloody ballads with burning riffs.

peter brötzmann (germany) is an important musician who has had a great influence on european free jazz. his radicalism has always broken with all traditions — not only those of jazz, but of music-making in general. coming from the fluxus movement, he is an experimental saxophonist who also plays clarinet as well as tárogató or bass saxophone. before moving into music, he studied art in wuppertal and assisted nam june paik. his first release, “machine gun” (1968), rocked the free jazz world. since then, his work has steadily expanded with numerous album recordings and the formation of a wide variety of groups. in 2011, he was honored with the lifetime achievement award at the vision festival in new york.

the second part of the evening will feature klein (gb). a fan of gospel music and theater, she first wrote poetry, but soon found expression in music production. ince the release of the projects “only” and “lagata” (both in 2016) on an independent label, she has gained a loyal following. this was followed by the release of “tommy” (2017) on the british label hyperdub. in 2018, she directed and scored “care”, a fantasy musical inspired by disney princesses and the british care system; it premiered at london’s ica in february 2018. in 2019, the album “lifetime” on her own label ijn inc. was published. sonically, the productions oscillate between cacophonous samplings, distorted soundscapes and seductive melodies. a central reference point is the rnb genre, the approach refers to the idea of “bedroom-production”. here, simple demo recordings and fast-moving sketches are transformed into complex compositions — addressing questions of the condition of production as well as those of identity. for “a scream of smoke”, klein will present a newly developed ambient piece.