Two years ago I wrote a long article
for this blog in which I was postulating how necessary it was, for
the good of improvised music, to have artists who are female and
non-European, in order to have new inputs and develop new languages.
Now, it is as my prayers have been listened by some god or similia.
Audrey Chen is a young contemporary
artist. Born in 1976 outside of Chicago, she is a 2nd
generation Chinese/Taiwanese-American musician. She started playing
cello at age 8, and voice at 11. Originally trained in classical
music, she started since 2003 to develop her own music and her own
style, very far from consolidated clichés.
Typical of her generation of
improvisers/contemporary musicians, Chen developed a great number of
collaborations: with Phil Minton (voice), Henrik Munkeby Norstebo
(trombone), Doron Sadja (electronics), Richard Scott (modular
synthesizer), Joke Lanz (turntables), and Maria Chavez (turntables)
among the others.
The goal of being often hand-in-hand
with other, different, musicians and disciplines is to develop your
own language and nuances while answering to different incitements,
which is different from developing your style alone.
But on this Runt Vigor, issued only on
180 gr vynil and digital, we can finally appreciate Audrey Chen in an
intense solo performance: a vocal solo track at the beginning, then
assisted by analog electronics and, finally, her cello.
Chen use of voice is different from the
'classical' avant-garde ladies like Joan La Barbara and Meredith
Monk: no melody or narration implied, only destructured microtones,
and sometimes some syllables. The cello is bashed and rubbed – not
only the strings, but also the body – and the electronics are
treated consequently.
Sometimes, listening to this record, I
asked myself is Chen has a feminine (meaning: new) quality in her
music. Difficult to answer, since the avant-garde isn't rooted in sex
like rock music and so is a-gendered – unless you are Cecil Taylor.
But for sure this music is something unheard before, a new wave,
something necessary. Hope to find something similar in the near
future. For the moment, my strong advice is to enjoy Audrey Chen.
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