Belgian vocal artist (and music reviewer) Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg has developed, as an autodidact, a unique form of vocal improvisation and extended vocal techniques, with almost three octaves, falsettos, harmonics, deep throat singing, yodels, fast articulation, mouth noises, invented languages and bodily expression while exploring free improvised music since 1996. He coined the word phonoetry (phonésie in French), which describes the poésie sonore (sonic poetry) of his vocal artistry. He has worked with innovative improvisers like Lawrence Casserley, Sabu Toyozumi, Paul Dunmall, and fellow vocal artists Ute Wassermann and Phil Minton.
La rambarde des songes, les congruences des soupirs (roughly translated as: The railing of dreams, the congruences of sighs) is Van Schouwburg’s first recorded meeting with Portuguese free improvisers who work frequently with prolific violist Ernesto Rodrigues (the head of the Creative Sources label that released this album) – alto sax player Nuno Torres, double bass player João Madeira, and modular synth player Carlos Santos (who recorded this album, mastered it and did the graphic design). It is a 45-minute free improvisation that was recorded live at Oficina das Artes da Ajuda in Lisbon in December 2024.
This is an almost silent and enigmatic improvisation. Its reductionist, hallucinogenic spirit radiates the poetic title and its constant but futile search for satisfying forms of statis. The five musicians are focused on a careful and patient study of minimalist, pointillistic interactions, articulated with extended bowing and breathing techniques and alien, vintage sounds, as well as how the ethereal, vulnerable timbres resonate and extend each other. But with no purpose to suggest any development or a coherent narrative. Just an illuminating suggestion about the suchness of silence and its elusive sonic expressions.
before the wedding offers a completely different sonic experience. It is the fourth recording of Van Schouwburg with the late British pioneer free improvising acoustic guitarist, following The Mercelis Concert In Brussels 2006 (INaudible, 2006, with Belgian double bass player Jean Demey), Analekta (Emanem, 2007), and Five Room’s No Room for Doubt (Amirani, 2009). Van Schouwburg also contributed liner notes to several albums of Russell.
The album was recorded live at Klub Gromka in Ljubljana in April 2018 and offers a 26-
minute free improvisation. The intimate setting and the deep rapport between these kindred spirits allow them to highlight their idiosyncratic approaches. Russell’s fierce and uncompromising exploration of the acoustic guitar timbres corresponds organically with Van Schouwburg’s eccentric vocal artistry with his free-associative usage of phonoetry.
Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (voice); Nuno Torres (alto saxophone); Ernesto Rodrigues (viola, crackle box); João Madeira (double bass); Carlos Santos (modular synthesizer); John Russell (guitar).
Here Rodrigues, Van Schouwburg, Torres, Madeira & Santos recorded live on December 21st 2024 at Oficina das Artes, Lisboa.
