Jan Bang

Producer / Composer / Musician / Co-founder Punkt

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Nils Christian Moe-Repstad (1972-2022)

I met Nils Christian somewhere around the turn of the century. He was confined to a wheelchair due to a horrible diving accident. During his hospitalization, he started to show interest in reading which then led him to his own writing. 

Nils Christian was a bold writer who in periods would have a working/sleeping pattern of 15 minutes sleep within the hour, not unlike the great Italian master. We worked together on several projects including Going Nine Ways From Wednesday with singer Anne Marie Almedal and my friend Erik Honoré. Later, when Sylvian was engaged in the Punkt festival in 2011 - Nils Christian wrote the poem "I Swallowed Earth For This" that became the final piece on the album release.

Later, another album project came to life entitled"Teori om det eneste" (Theory of the singular") based on a live recording with Nils Christian, Eivind Aarset, Erik Honoré and Nils Petter Molvær.

In 2017 when the city of Hull became the UK city of culture that year - we once again worked together. This time on a big installation at Humber Bridge. Nils´ poems became the manuscript for the two British actors Maureen Lipman and Barrie Rutter readings that could be heard together with the composed music of Arve Henriksen/Eivind Aarset/me wonderfully arranged by Alexander Waaktaar on headset walking across the bridge. 

Nils Christian invited Nina, my wife and I to his 50th birthday that took place at the Kunsthallen in our hometown of Kristiansand. He was surrounded by friends and colleagues and family. At this point his health had weakened.

Nils Christian was very much part of the Punkt family. He was a unique one of a kind human being and a wonderfully talented poet - one of the best of our generation. My thoughts goes to his family Åla, Torleif, lille-Åla and Agnes. 

interview with Nils Christian (in Norwegian)

The Bow Maker review in Nettavisen

Punkt musikalsk personifisert

På debutskiva til det nye selskapet Punkt Editions viser lydskulptørene Dai Fujikura og Jan Bang oss et strålende eksempel på hvor unik Punkt-filosofien og musikken er.

Jeg bryter sammen og innrømmer min kunnskapsmangel: den japanske, men England-bosatte synthisten Dai Fujikura er et nytt bekjentskap for meg. Det burde han åpenbart ikke vært og heldigvis har Punkt-ideologene Jan Bang og Erik Honoré vært mer enn oppmerksom på han - sikkert over lang tid.

Her møtes altså Fujikura med sine synther og Bang med sine samples, sine programmmeringsevner, sin stemme, sin diktafon og litt ekstra synth og skaper et univers ulikt alt annet som har vederfaret eders sinn. Altså et univers på alle vis i den unike Punkt-ånda.

Musikken er, vil jeg tro, stort sett av det fri og spontant unnfanga slaget - den har blitt til i møtet mellom disse to usedvanlige sinnene og totalt kompromissløse kunstnerne.

Når de så har invitert med seg en kremgjeng av «gjester» bestående av Arve Henriksen på trompet og stemme, Eivind Aarset på gitar og elektronikk, Kari Raitinen på cello, Tamami Tono på sho - et japansk munnorgel og Nils Petter Molvær på trompet - vi snakker musikalske fargeleggere av aller ypperste format - så har stemingsreisa «The Bow Maker» blitt noe helt for seg sjøl.

Dette er musikk det er totalt umulig å stille seg likegyldig til. Jovisst må man gi noe for å komme under huden på den, men du verden så mye det er å få igjen hvis du gjør det.

Herrene Jan Bang og Erik Honoré har skapt en musikalsk filosofi som verden i stadig større grad får ørene opp for. Det kommer også «The Bow Maker» til å bidra til.

Nettavisen article
https://sylvianvista.com/2022/09/09/playing-the-schoolhouse/

 

Review of The Bow Maker in Norwegian, Salt Peanuts online magazine:

 

DAI FUJIKURA | JAN BANG 

«The bow maker» 
PUNKT EDITION, 377 945 2 

Under årets Punkt-festival i Kristiansand, lanserte festivalen sitt eget plateselskap for Punkt-musikken og Punkt-«familien». Selskapet jobber i samarbeid med Jazzland Recordings, og skal i følge selskapet selv være «et utsalgssted for Punkt-relatert musikk, kunstverk og skriving. Som et arkiv med to tiår med sonisk eksperimentering, samt et fremtidsfokusert plateselskap og arthouse, hvor Punkt Editions skal utgi live- og studioopptak fra arkivene, i tillegg til splitter nye innspillinger. Det blir også audiovisuelle installasjoner, visuell design og bokutgivelser». 

Og første «par» ut er med den japanske komponisten og samtidsmusikkutøveren Dai Fujikura og Punkt-gründer, leve re-mixer og elektronicautøveren Jan Bang. 

Dai Fujikura (藤倉 大 Fujikura Dai) ble født i Osaka i 1977, Japan. Han flyttet til London da han var 15 år for å studere ved Dover College som musikkstipendiat for å fullføre sin utdanning. Hans opprinnelige ambisjon var å komponere musikk for film og kinolerretet. Dai ble en aspirerende samtidskomponist med omfattende kunnskap om kinokunsten som ga musikken hans en frisk, individuell stemme. Å forestille seg lyder som bilder ga musikken med betydelig dramatisk struktur og styrke. Ved slutten av sitt andre år i London hadde han allerede vunnet Serocki International Composers Competition. Før han ble uteksaminert hadde Dais musikk blitt spilt på mange europeiske radiostasjoner, han hadde vunnet flere andre priser, og hadde blitt fremført av en rekke berømte ensembler og solister som Orkest de Volharding, London Sinfonietta, Colin Currie og Harry Sparnaay. Og etter studiene har han vært en original kunstner, som Jan Bang endelig har fått jobbe med. Og i Punkt-sammenheng, har han gjort innspilling med David Sylvian, en av de tidligere gjestene på Punkt 

I og med at innspillingen av denne musikken gjerne forgår digitalt, og ikke så mye med akustiske instrumenter i et studio, har Fujikura spilt inn sine bidrag hjemme i London, trompeteren Arve Henriksen har spilt inn hjemme i Mölndal utenfor Gøteborg, cellisten Kati Raitinen har vært i studio i Stockholm, og alt er mikset, enten av Fujikura i London eller i Punkt Studio i Kristiansand. 

Og det starter med «Night Poles River» hvor Bang og Fujikura har med Arve Henriksen og gitaristen Eivind Aarset, i en låt som er akkursta slik vi vil ha det når vi snakker om Punkt-«familien». Og herfra og ut, er dette blitt en vakker, lyrisk og fin elektronica-innspilling, hvor Fujikura og Bang sitter sammen i «førersetet» mens de får hjelp av noen av Punkt-«familiens» mest trofaste medlemmer, så som Aarset, Henriksen, trompeteren Nils Petter Molvær og trommeslageren Rune Arnesen, pluss «nykommere» som cellistene Kati Raitinen og Matthew Barley og Tamani Tono på det tibetanske instrumentet sho. 

Og hele veien er dette musikk å dagdrømme til. Om verden går deg altfor mye imot, krigshisserne blir litt for nærgående og du vil bort fra nyhetssendingene om sultkatastrofer, strømpriser og andre ting du ikke vil forholde deg til hele tiden, så skal du sette på denne plata og drømme deg bort i et helt annet univers. 

Samarbeidet mellom Fujikura og Bang er det bærende elementet i innspillingen, og med de andre bidragsyterne, som skifter fra låt til låt, får vi her et innblikk i en nydelig, musikalsk verden, man (nesten) bare får gleden av å høre når Punkt-«familien» treffes. Og de andre musikerne bidrar med det de er aller best til – lyrisk og usigelig vakkert spill. 

En vakker musikalsk reise bort fra hverdagen! 

Jan Granlie 

Dai Fujikura (synth, samples), Jan Bang (samples, prog., dictaphone, synth), Arve Henriksen (v, tp), Nils Petter Molvær (tp), Eivind Aarset (g, elec), Kati Raitinen (c), Matthew Barley (c),  Tamami Tono (sho), Rune Anesen (dr)

JAN BANG | DAI FUJIKURA

BBC Music review of The Bow Maker

4 star review of Dai Fujikura and Jan Bang "The Bow Maker" by Roger Thomas in BBC Music Magazine October issue

Both trumpet and guitar figure on The Bow Maker, a jazz-by-default item that includes Eivind Aarset, Arve Henriksen and Nils Petter Molvær long other guests on a fearless but not unfriendly ambitronica-with-jazz-implications album from Dai Fujikura and Jan Bang who between them handle synthesizers, samples, processors and programming. 

It's a fine example of the genre (yes, it's a genre: please don't argue) in which electronic sounds take on a startlingly organic quality while natural instruments and voices move in their direction in an entirely unforced way.

(Punkt/Jazzland 377 954 2)  - Roger Thomas

 

 

BBC Music Mag

Reviews from Punkt 2022

VIRGIN JAZZ FACE, GERMANY 

https://www.virgin-jazz-face.de/christoph-giese-ii.html

 JAZZRYTMIT, FINLAND

https://www.jazzrytmit.fi/s16-festivaalit/c51-festarit/kokeellista-jazzia-sahkoista-muokkausta/

 POSTIMEES KULTUR, ESTONIA

 https://kultuur.postimees.ee/7602220/muusikaline-reisikiri-norrast-kogu-maailma-maitsekrahvid-uhinege#_ga=2.209234065.2009752244.1662962156-1676125961.1608026531

 GIORNALE DE LA MUSICA, ITALY

https://www.giornaledellamusica.it/recensioni/punkt-celebra-la-propria-storia

JAZZWISE, UK

 https://www.jazzwise.com/review/article/punkt-fest-goes-back-to-its-roots-in-kristiansand

 SALT PEANUTS, NORWAY

 https://salt-peanuts.eu/consert/endelig-er-vi-igjen-punktelige/

 https://salt-peanuts.eu/consert/den-punktlige-andredagen

https://salt-peanuts.eu/consert/punktelig-utfasing/ 

JAZZ I NORGE, NORWAY

 https://jazzinorge.no/anmeldelse/en-sammensatt-og-velfortjent-hyllest-til-sidsel/

 https://jazzinorge.no/anmeldelse/avant-joik-og-unge-europeiske-musikere-hever-kvelden/

 https://jazzinorge.no/anmeldelse/mange-gode-ting-er-tre/

 

Jan Bang & Dai Fujikura - The bow maker

The Bow Maker receives 5 of 6 stars in Aftenposten, Norway

The album "The Bow Maker" is launched as the perfect example of "The Punkt Sound". It has a lot going for it. The album is the first release on "Punkt Editions", a new label curated by Jan Bang and Erik Honoré.

These musicians were behind the establishment of the Punkt festival in 2005, and "The Bow Maker" will be released in connection with this year's session in Kristiansand this weekend. Today, it is correct to say that there is a distinct Punkt sound. It has been developed over years by a group of musicians with Bang and Honoré at its centre.


The atmospheric source
The last time I saw many of these musicians on the same stage was at the memorial concert for Jon Hassell in March. There were Nils Petter Molvær, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Jon Balke, as well as Erik Honoré and Jan Bang.

The American trumpeter Jon Hassell created his own sound back in the 70s, and his music sparked the interest of Brian Eno. In 1980, the album "Fourth World vol. 1 Possible Musics", signed the two. Anyone who wants to find the atmospheric source of the Punkt sound can start here. Or follow the threads back to Karlheinz Stockhausen, Terry Riley and La Monte Young.

In any case, there are no straight lines to follow when hunting for sources of influence.

Self-contained style extenders
Several of the Norwegian musicians who took part in the above-mentioned memorial concert have collaborated and played with Hassell. Today, they themselves are innovators and independent style extenders, each with their own personal expression. These expressions all lean towards the Punkt sound, as presented in 2022.


At "The Bow Maker" we meet Jan Bang on sampling, sound processing and programming and Japanese Dai Fujikura on synthesizers and orchestral samples. Good helpers on the album are Arve Henriksen, Nils Petter Molvær and Eivind Aarset, as well as Kati Raitinen on cello and Tamami Tono on sho, a traditional Japanese wind instrument.


Floats nicely
The music has layers upon layers of sound that open and close, cease and reactivate. Jan Bang sets a nuanced pulse in the pieces and finds the difficult balance between the immediately appealing and the somewhat more demanding.

This is not toothless ambient. No, the music has bite and demands to be listened to.

At the start of the opening track "Night Poles River", it is Arve Henriksen's trumpet and falsetto singing that is surrounded by jungle, desert and church, I imagine. The nighttime image is filled with subtle sound. Then Aarset's guitar fills the ground with power and calm, while synths and samples soar beautifully. You get to places only this music can take you.

The Punkt sound
In the title track, it is the cello that rises in the wave movements and plays in the ugly and beautiful. Then there is Tamami Tono's sho, which punctuates "Nearly Invisible" with organ sound, surrounded by Henriksen's voice, dull sound and unidentifiable sound fragments. It's nice to listen to, and many of the tracks on the album have a beautiful transparency.

The tracks Molvær plays on have a different glow and different shadings than where Henriksen is involved. Both communicate with sensitivity and a strong presence in the abstract sound universe Fujikara and Bang build. Together, they put nerve in a liquid form that in other hands could easily have trickled out into the colorless. The changing light moves through the slightly hilly landscape of "The Bow Maker". At the very end, we get "Satelite Sister", an inviting piece of cheese of an instrumental song.

This is the Punkt sound. It has been with me for many years now, and I can continue to like it as long as it continues to keep moving, expanding the space and opening up new collaborations.

- Arild R. Andersen Aftenposten

Bandcamp

New single release: SATELLITE SISTER

Dai Fujikura | Jan Bang

Satellite Sister is the single from the forthcoming duo album  The Bow Maker by Japanese composer Dai Fujikura and Jan Bang and the first release on the new Punkt Editions label.  The Bow Maker album is due for release on September 1.

"Satellite Sister" is a ruminative piece built around implied repetition and counterpoint of melodic phrasing, featuring the expressive trumpet playing of Arve Henriksen as its leading voice. “Satellite Sister” is taken from the forthcoming album "The Bow Maker", the first album release from Punkt Editions.

 

Satellite Sister
[ Bang / Fujikura / Aarset / Henriksen ] 
Copyright Control [ Tono, PRS ] 

Trumpet – Arve Henriksen 
Guitar and electronics – Eivind Aarset 
Synthesizer – Dai Fujikura 
Samples, programming, additional synthesizer – Jan Bang 

Recorded and mixed at Punkt Studio, Kristiansand, by Jan Bang 
Dai Fujikura recorded at home in London 
Arve Henriksen recorded at home in Gothenburg 
Mastered by Mike Grinser at Manmade Mastering 
Artwork and design by Nina Birkeland 
Supported by Det Norske Komponistfond

 

 

 

Bandcamp

Uncommon Deities

Jan Bang and Erik Honoré

The two writers Paal-Helge Haugen and Nils Chr. Moe-Repstad wrote a series of lyrics dealing with absent gods and their blues. In the first set of the sound installation, Haugen's warm, dark voice mixed with sound webs by Arve Henriksen, Evan Parker, and selected passages from a composition by David Sylvian. It was pleasant to follow the Norwegian storyteller's voice, the sound of which transported me to the brink of sleep. Then later, in the second part, some stories about the unfortunate gods poured out of the speakers, with the dark velvet of Sylvian's speaking voice. Sidsel Endresen stepped up to the microphone and John Tilbury sat at the piano. The Uncommon Deities album is wonderful.

Manafonistas
Dai and Jan London, March 2022 (photo: Nina Birkeland

Dai and Jan London, March 2022 (photo: Nina Birkeland