Basta! (Joris Vanvinckenroye) - Cycles (2009)

Double bass player and composer Joris Vanvinckenroye studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp and tours under the title of BASta!. He was a founder and composer of Troissoeur. He has played for the tango musicians of Lunfardo, and toured with the orchestra of Björk and Robby Lakatos. Joris creates his solo work through recording himself and layering the sound to reach an organic whole. Joris is also the founder and composer of Aranis, a group from Antwerp that has won several prizes, including the Youth and Music Prize for Chamber Music, the Klara Trophy for the most intriguing concert and the Mano Mundo public award.

Joris is a double bass player who creates and manipulates musical scores both acoustically and electronically. For Antipode he has created a new sound score that drives the movement with percussive acoustics and supports the flow with manipulated soundscapes. Joris performs live on stage where possible, allowing the audience to witness the interaction between the dance and music, the dancers and the musician.



BASta is a one man band by double-bass player and composer Joris Vanvinckenroye.

Joris creates his work through recording himself and layering the sound to create an orchestral ambience in his own cinematic fusion style. Elements of classical music, rock, jazz and folk are combined to reach an organic whole.

Joris is also the founder and composer of Aranis, a group from Antwerp that has won several prizes in the last few years, including the Youth and Music Prize for Chamber Music, the Klara Trophy for the most intriguing concert and the Mano Mundo public award. Aranis has produced 2 CD's and are producing a 3rd in 2009 and have toured throughout Europe, occasionally teaming up with other musicians such as flute-player Toon Fret and 'multi-musician' Jan Marmenout. The popular Belgian newspaper De Tijd described Aranis as: "In-between the finesse of classical music and the excitement of pop".

Joris studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp and as well as his work with BASta and Aranis he has an exceptional range of experiences. He was a founder and composer of Troissoeur during which time he worked and toured with Sandy Dillon, Daniel B and Satoshi Takeishi. He has played for the tango musicians of Lunfardo, and toured with the orchestra of Bjoerk and Robby Lakatos. He has composed for theatrical productions such as Oerd, a production directed and played by An De Donder, and he also often teaches classes in improvisation and musical creativity.

For Antipode, Joris/BASta will create a cutting edge new work that drives the movement with clarity, dynamism and power. (source)


“Bass player Joris Vanvinckenroye is a composer with a vision, who doesn’t let certain musical rules get in his way, and who is guided solely by his instinct.”--- Stage

“The cinematic style of Joris Vanvinckenroye is a constant alternation of explosive bits of music and stilled minimalism. In his head Astor Piazolla lives right next-door to John Cale and Jethro Tull. Mutual visits never seem to sound artificial.” --- De Tijd

Surprisingly lively tuneage for one guy on a stand-up bass. While the engaging melodies retain a classical air, the material explores sprightly territory with a vibrant sense of adventurous daring. Strident bowing is balanced by luxurious sawing, flavoring things from both ends of the mood spectrum. There's plucking, slapping and touches of enhancement; in fact, Vanvinckenroye does just about everything to his instrument except fly it around the room. This extravagant performance style produces a versatile range of expressions, all of which are adroitly put to use to craft tunes of exquisite beauty.

While no actual percussion is present, carefully crafted slaps and artfully plucked strings provide suitable rhythms to the breezy melodies. A refreshing diversity is applied to the compositions, blending traditional airs with modern sensibilities. Yet these pieces flourish with spry animation, coaxing the double bass to sing with jubilation. Pensive characteristics are infused with brisk enthusiasm, transforming this tuneage into material that will delight even those who normally find classical music to be too dry. Highly recommended. --- Matt Howarth - soniccuriosity.com




I have a hard time with albums or live performances that consist of a single solo instrument (with the exception of solo piano). Acoustic bass in particular is tough for me to handle in a solo setting - I believe I saw improviser Reuben Radding do a solo upright bass set some years ago and truly had difficulty staying awake, even though Radding is a massively talented musician.

So when I received a package in the mail some time ago with the new Aranis album Songs From Mirage (yay!), and a recording of Aranis composer Joris Vanvinckenroye’s works for solo bass (under the band name Basta!), it’s not surprising that I spent some time with the full-band record and, embarrassingly, none at all on the solo bass record. I’m only now getting around to the Basta! disc, Cycles, and that’s a shame, because it’s fantastic.

Cycles has Vanvinckenroye’s stamp all over it, of course, not just in the instrumentation but in the compositions. The 12 pieces on the record are chock-full of the tasty melodies, rhythmic grooves and intriguing counterpoints of Vanvinckenroye’s Aranis compositions. But wait, you say: counterpoints? On a solo record? Yes, there are tons of overdubs going on here. This might as well be a full band recording, if the full band were all playing basses; it’d be impossible to pull off live as a solo show, but who cares? A far cry from an improvised set tossed off as an accompaniment to the new Aranis record, Cycles is a fully realized set of engaging compositions that just might be better than Songs From Mirage.

I’ve given it one and a half listens so far and you can bet that it’ll be getting many more. (source)

1 komentarz:

    Serpent.pl