EXPLORE. DISCOVER. A 3-DAY MUSICAL ADVENTURE.

11 – 13 May 2007 The Sage Gateshead

Music Lovers' Field Companion is produced by The Sage Gateshead and Arika INTRODUCTION

Music Lovers’ Field Companion is back and we are delighted. The weekend is an intimate yet international festival, celebrating music that refuses to accept the status quo. It’s our chance to present in one weekend a plethora of the most important and inspiring artists from the improvised, experimental and avant-garde music scenes; deliver talks to set the music in context and give you some background (if this makes you feel more comfortable); and generally blow the venue apart, with music that can’t be categorised, by artists who are pushing (or ignoring!) the boundaries or re-defining genres. It is a fascinating, stimulating and challenging weekend, and we hope you’ll join us for one, two or three days: the tickets work like a festival pass, so you buy a day (£16) or a weekend ticket (£39) and can pop in and out of any or all of the talks and performances (capacity permitting). We can’t of course guarantee that you’ll like everything you hear, but the good value pricing means that we hope you’ll give it a go, hear some amazing things, see some extraordinary live performances, hate a few bits (!), get some fascinating knowledge from some of the most clued-up and eloquent writers on and discover whole new worlds of sound you may never have known existed!

On top of the scheduled performances and talks there will be a free stage, with even more performers and speakers (see website for updates), a record stall by Volcanic Tongue, free recordings of concerts, public workshop activity courtesy of ExploreMusic and a range of food and drink available all day and night in our café, restaurant and bars. TIMETABLE

Friday 11th May 7.15pm NRFH Gary Smith 7.15pm Hall Two Junko 8.20pm NRFH Topias Tiheäsalo 8.20pm Hall Two Evil Nigger: by Julius Eastman, performed by Joe Kubera, David Murray, Alan Fearon and Simon Passmore 9.10pm NRFH Peter Evans 9.10pm Hall Two Kan Mikami and JOJO Hiroshige 10.15pm Hall One Diamanda Galás

Saturday 12th May 12.30pm The Barbour Room Diamanda Galás in conversation with Anne Hilde Neset 2pm The Barbour Room Talk by Alan Cummings: A History of the Japanese Underground 3.30pm NRFH Angharad Davies, Tisha Mukarji, Andrea Neumann 4.15pm Hall Two Los Glissandinos (Kai Fagaschinski and Klaus Filip) 5.15pm NRFH Ascension 6.10pm Hall Two Radu Malfatti and Northern Sinfonia: ‘Sage Gateshead 21’ 7.30pm NRFH John Blum and Jackson Krall 8.30pm Hall Two Sanjah (Kan Mikami, Toshiaki Ishizuka, Masayoshi Urabe) 9.30pm NRFH Anoyonodekigoto (Ikuro Takahashi and Yoko Muronoi) 10.30pm Hall Two Polwechsel

Sunday 13th May 12.30pm The Barbour Room Byron Coley chats to Festival Artists 2pm The Barbour Room Talk by David Keenan – Total Music Meeting: How Noise and Improvisation Took Rock Back To The Future 3.30pm Hall Two Jean-Phillipe Gross 4.30pm NRFH Rhodri Davies and 5.30pm Hall Two Aufgehoben 6.30pm NRFH Octante (Ferran Fages, Ruth Barberan, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Margarida Garcia) 7.30pm Hall Two Hisato Higuchi 8.30pm NRFH William Parker 9.30pm Hall Two Junko and Masayoshi Urabe 10.30pm Hall Two , Andrew Barker and

Plus: Free stage programme in The Barbour Room in between acts all day. See website for updates FRIDAY 11TH MAY

Northern Rock Foundation Hall 7.15pm: Gary Smith 8.20pm: Topias Tiheäsalo 9.10pm: Peter Evans MLFC’s programme starts at 7.15pm with Gary Smith: he pushes the guitar to the limits, creating a mesmerising flux of structured improvisation. His solo recordings touch many different spheres of reference: the extended string technique of contemporary classical music, prepared instruments and even ‘glitch’ music’s fascination with texture, but all presented from a live improvised perspective. At 8.20pm, there is the first UK performance by young Finnish improv. guitarist, Topias Tiheäsalo: he expresses austere intensity and widely divergent variations on his instrument. At 9.10pm, Peter Evans brings extraordinary versatility and unpredictability to the piccolo trumpet: his work includes everything from free improv. to Baroque classical music.

Hall Two 7.15pm: Junko 8.20pm: Pianists Joe Kubera, David Murray, Alan Fearon and Simon Passmore perform Julius Eastman’s work, ‘Evil Nigger’ 9.10pm: Kan Mikami and JOJO Hiroshige Simultaneous to the programme in NRFH, in Hall Two we have Junko: Junko is the singer from Hijokaidan which is one of Japan’s leading noise-rock groups. Her feverish performances and screaming – but controlled – vocal style will leave your hair on end. Then we present twentieth century classical music as Julius Eastman’s work, ‘Evil Nigger’ for four pianos is performed by Joe Kubera, David Murray, Alan Fearon and Simon Passmore. Julius Eastman (1940–1990) was a gay African-American composer, pianist, vocalist and dancer. His music was some of the first to combine minimalist processes with elements of pop music, and he often gave his pieces titles of provocative political intent. Next, we have Kan Mikami and JOJO Hiroshige. Kan Mikami’s style has variously been described as ‘Japanese blues’ and ‘surrealist folk’, with a voice that can vault in a heartbeat from an elegantly whispered insinuation to asphyxiated and murderous barks or squalls, and a strenuous, violent and probing electric guitar strum. One of the most coruscating and compelling performers in Japan and a fulcrum to the Japanese noise scene, JOJO Hiroshige – a founding member of Hijokaidan - has been responsible for much of the explosion of free music coming out of Japan in the last thirty years. JOJO’s solo work is more obviously influenced by 70s heavy psych, thudding rock riffery and straight down the line psychedelic pop.

Hall One, 10.15pm: Diamanda Galás Friday night concludes with a Hall One concert by avant-garde performance artist, vocalist, keyboardist and composer Diamanda Galás. Known for her distinctive, operatic voice, and her jazz and blues renditions, ‘Time Out’ said: “whore, saint, demon, lover, madwoman or angel, there is no other voice in rock, jazz or the avant-garde with her violence, consuming passion and pure elemental force.” In this concert, ‘You’re my Thrill’, she tackles – with her operatic falsetto and diabolical growls – love song standards made famous by such artists as Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich. Like a siren, Galás’s song choices will take audiences perilously close to the precipice of love. SATURDAY 12TH MAY

The Barbour Room 12.30pm: Diamanda Galás in conversation with Anne Hilde Neset 2pm: Talk by Alan Cummings: A History of the Japanese Underground Saturday kicks off with a rare opportunity to hear Diamanda Galás in conversation, following her performance of ‘You’re my Thrill’ on Friday night. The volcanic chanteuse, who draws her inspiration from old jazz standards to the outrageous injustices of AIDS or ethnic cleansing, is notoriously outspoken and political. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Galás vent on all manner of topics, in conversation with the Deputy Editor of The Wire magazine. Next up at 2pm is Alan Cummings, who has written widely on contemporary Japanese music (including regular contributions to The Wire) and teaches classical Japanese literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He brilliantly hosted the Keiji Haino in conversation at the last festival, and here presents a talk delving deep into the manifold scenes of the Japanese Underground, including insights into the careers of some of the artists appearing in the festival.

Northern Rock Foundation Hall 3.30pm: Angharad Davies, Tisha Mukarji, Andrea Neumann 5.15pm: Ascension 7.30pm: John Blum and Jackson Krall 9.30pm: Anoyonodekigoto (Ikuro Takahashi and Yoko Muronoi) Performances on the second day start at 3.30pm with Angharad Davies, Tisha Mukarji, Andrea Neumann: Davies is one of the most promising improvisers in the UK at the moment. Her work for prepared violin is stunningly beautiful, a delicate and ethereal evocation of ghost tones that, for all its restraint, is seething with passion. Tisha Mukarji plays square piano frame – that is, the inside of a piano. Making full use of all possible noises from the frame, it’s a catalogue of rapid, high string plucks and the clatter of various objects rolled or otherwise jostled around the frame’s interior. From the acoustic intestines of the piano, to the amplified... Andrea Neumann also plays the piano without the keys, using electronics to manipulate the weird and wonderful sounds from inside the instrument. At 5.15pm, the Hall is filled with the sound of Ascension – Stefan Jawarzyn and Paul Hession: Jawarzyn, an innovator on the London underground scene, reformed his duo Ascension with Hession. Described recently by The Wire as a “gig of the year... a triumphant return... Jawarzyn has lost none of his playing power and unique improvisational skill. Meanwhile, Hession’s more jazz directed approach injects a fresh jolt of adrenalin into the duo’s sound.” John Blum and Jackson Krall take over at 7.30pm: a stalwart of the New York scene, here Blum teams up with percussionist, drum and bell maker, and creator of sound sculptures, Jackson Krall. At 9.30pm, Anoyonodekigoto is Ikuro Takahashi’s new project with Yoko Muronoi. Ikuro Takahashi might be a familiar name to some for his role as drummer/percussionist with many of the most notable Japanese underground acts of the past twenty-five years: for this performance he uses a swarm of personal alarms and solo snare drum.

Hall Two 4.15pm: Los Glissandinos (Kai Fagaschinkski and Klaus Filip) 6.10pm: Radu Malfatti and Northern Sinfonia ‘Sage Gateshead 21’ 8.30pm: Sanjah (Kan Mikami, Toshiaki Ishizuka, Massayoshi Urabe) 10.30pm: Polwechsel The Hall Two programme kicks off with Los Glissandinos: a partnership between clarinettist Kai Fagaschinski and laptop user Klaus Filip. Together they weave a fascinating soundscape of quiet, calm, melodic sections, droning clusters, beauteous harmonic chords and massive vibrating tone walls. Next, Northern Sinfonia’s string section joins forces with Radu Malfatti, one of the leading lights of the European free improv. scene. In a fascinating premiere, the Sinfonia plays a new commission for MLFC called ‘Sage Gateshead 21’. The Hall Two programme moves on into the evening with Sanjah. This Tokyo supergroup features Kan Mikami on vocals and guitar, Masayoshi Urabe on alto sax, harmonica and assorted reeds and Toshiaki Ishizuka on drums. Mikami is a legend on the Japanese underground scene: his voice gives the trio’s music an almost bluesy feel. Polwechsel (Werner Dafeldecker, Michael Moser, Martin Brandlmayr, and Burkhard Beins) rounds the evening off. The group is a core member of Austria’s contemporary classical, improvisational and jazz scenes, incorporating improvised music into composition, and electronics into improvisation.

Plus: Free stage programme in The Barbour Room – between acts all day, see website for updates SUNDAY 13TH MAY

The Barbour Room 12.30pm: Byron Coley chats to Festival Artists 2pm: Talk by David Keenan – Total Music Meeting: How Noise and Improvisation Took Rock Back To The Future Sunday’s programme opens with two talks in The Barbour Room: at 12.30pm esteemed critic and author Byron Coley talks to a few of the key figures at the festival, many of whom he’s known for years. This will be followed at 2pm by ‘Total Music Meeting: How Noise and Improvisation Took Rock Back To The Future’ by David Keenan. Keenan is an author, critic and musician based in Glasgow, Scotland. He is best known for the mountain of reviews, features and think-pieces he has contributed to The Wire over the past decade as well as for his definitive history of the post-Throbbing Gristle UK underground, ‘England's Hidden Reverse’. As a critic he was the first writer to formulate the whole free folk/New Weird America aesthetic and has been championing outside, avant-garde and primitive musical modes since the late-80s.

Hall Two 3.30pm: Jean-Philippe Gross 5.30pm: Aufgehoben 7.30pm: Hisato Higuchi 9.30pm: Junko and Masayoshi Urabe 10.30pm: Daniel Carter, Andrew Barker and Sabir Mateen Today’s performance programme opens with Jean-Philippe Gross who, as well as creating sound sculptures and working in cross-genre collaborations, plays with a mixing board, cheap microphones and speakers. He is followed by Aufgehoben, which improvises sounds and then, over a period of time, mixes and mutates them into a not immediately identifiable form of raw instrumental rock noise, but overlaid with an innate musicality. The programme continues at 7.30pm with Hisato Higuchi: this Tokyo-based guitarist and vocalist has a haunting singing style which has best been described by David Keenan as “beautiful melodic/melancholic space-blues that touch on poles as precious as Mazzacane, Keiji Haino and Patty Waters.” At 9.30pm, Junko is joined by saxophonist Masayoshi Urabe, who is known for exploring the relationship between sound and silence, and those mysterious spaces in-between, and his physical approach to his instrument. Hall Two’s programme is completed by Daniel Carter, Andrew Barker and Sabir Mateen. This is free jazz transcending all the clichés, an adrenalin rush directed by men who know how and why, playing drums (Barker), flute, trumpet, saxophones, voice (Carter) and clarinets, saxophones, voice (Mateen).

Northern Rock Foundation Hall 4.30pm: Rhodri Davies and Terry Day 6.30pm: Octante (Ferran Fages, Ruth Barberan, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Margarida Garcia) 8.30pm: William Parker The Northern Rock Foundation Hall programme kicks off with Rhodri Davies and Terry Day. Rhodri Davies plays a prepared harp, detuning, bowing and e-bowing strings and mic-ing the sound board to produce both clipped notes and otherworldly glistening drones. Terry Day was a founder member of the People Band in the 1960s, and has worked with many leading improvisers: he is an incredibly emotional and compelling improviser on bamboo flutes. They are followed by the ‘heavier’ improvising of Octante (Ferran Fages, Ruth Barberán, Alfredo Costa Monteiro and Margarida Garcia), which produces abrasive noise with its feedback mixing board, accordion, trumpet, electric bass and acoustic turntable. Last but not least in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall programme is William Parker: a vital musician in the New York City experimental jazz scene, this free jazz double bassist is revered for his musicality, his skill as a band leader, and his talent as a composer.

Plus: Free stage programme in The Barbour Room – between acts all day, see website for updates. TERMS & CONDITIONS

We reserve the right to refuse any ticket holder admission to a performance or event or to our building and auditoria. Latecomers may not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance.

Photography and recording are strictly prohibited during performances. The Sage Gateshead reserves the right to make adjustments and alter programmes, special offers and incentive rates at any time as we deem appropriate.

The information in this PDF is correct at the time of creation: we reserve the right to make changes which circumstances may necessitate.

North Music Trust is registered in England as a company limited by guarantee, number 4044936 and as a charity, number 1087445.

The Sage Gateshead St Mary's Square Gateshead Quays Gateshead NE8 2JR

Administration: 0191 443 4666 Ticket Office: 0191 443 4661 www.thesagegateshead.org www.musicloversfieldcompanion.org www.arika.org.uk