jazz/improv
7:30 – 9 pm
$10 donation

JAAP BLONK - voice and electronics
JORRIT DIJKSTRA - alto saxophone, lyricon, and electronics

On Monday, November 15th, world-renowned Dutch composer/voice performer/sound poet Jaap Blonk will join Boston-based saxophonist/composer Jorrit Dijkstra in performance at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Cambridge. Blonk and Dijkstra will each perform a solo set before coming together as a duo to explore various permutations of acoustic and electronic improvisation. They met as members of the acclaimed Dutch improvised music scene, and have collaborated on various projects over the last several years. This concert is presented with support from The Netherlands’ Gaudeamus Foundation.

Jaap Blonk explores the fertile creative ground between poetry and music in the Dada vein, blending those idioms with performance art, improvisation and a constant search for new sound combinations that still exist within the semantics of language. Born in Woerden, Holland in 1953, Blonk has performed across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Indonesia, South Africa and Latin America. Along with his solo work, he has also collaborated with Paul Lytton, Mats Gustafsson, Michael Zerang, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Melvyn Poore, Paul Dutton, Nicolas Collins, Carola Bauckholt, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and the Ebony Band. He is also the founder of the 15-piece orchestra SPLINKS, the avant-rock trio BRAAXTAAL, and the Kontrans record label. The newest development of his extensive career is his experimentation with electronics, primarily sampling and processing his own voice. More information is available at http://www.jaapblonk.com

Jorrit Dijkstra
A product of the same vital music tradition that produced European free music icons like Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and Willem Breuker, Dutch-born saxophonist/composer Jorrit Dijkstra is a recipient of a Fulbright grant and the prestigious Podium Prize from the Dutch Jazz Foundation. His long list of high-profile collaborators includes Gerry Hemingway, John Butcher, Mat Maneri, Marty Ehrlich, Jim Black, Kenny Wheeler among many others, and he has recorded as a leader on the Trytone, Songlines and BVHaast labels. Since 2002, Dijkstra has lived in Boston, when he earned a master’s degree from New England Conservatory, though he continues to also lead and perform in a variety of world-touring ensembles based in Amsterdam, Chicago, and Vancouver. More information is available at http://www.jorritdijkstra.com