No Matter

Bill Laswell, Mark Nauseef, Kudsi Erguner, Markus Stockhausen   >  See other albums by this compilation's artists

Meditation Bells and gongs from Bali, Java, Korea, Japan, India, China and Tibet, where these instruments are often used to stun the mind and capture the awareness in meditation, create the matrix from which this music has developed. On this recording, a large collection of these instruments was played by Mark Nauseef. Like star constellations, the bells and gongs project from within and through the major element of this musical environment, space. This space, which has been arranged and orchestrated by chief subterranean navigator Bill Laswell, is the setting for displays of virtuosity from ney player Kudsi Erguner and trumpet player Markus Stockhausen. Laswell’s bass is the vehicle of forward movement, creating streams and clusters while all players send long lines, short phrases and single tones into space and observe subtle changes such as speed of vibration, overtones / harmonics and microtonal movement. Laswell’s beyond gaseous ambience is reflected in the title NO MATTER. As in yoga, where elements such as breath, gazing and attitude are not made of matter but are integral to good practice, this music’s essence is not a matter of form that can be described but may be experienced through complete attention and absorption by the listener.
  
The musicians involved in this recording have had various experiences in meditative music.
 
Master ney player Kudsi Erguner, a Mevlevi disciple, was exposed to the Mevlevi Sufi musical tradition while playing the ney in Dervish ceremonies alongside his father and has been featured on several well known recordings devoted to Sufi music. The Mevlevi order, founded in the 13th century by the great theologian Mevlana Jalalu'ddin Rumi, is the most famous of Sufi groups. The ney was / is played during ecstatic dances in trance ritual of the Mevlevi branch of Sufism known also as the "Whirling Dervishes". He has researched the music of India, Pakistan, and Turkey, founded diverse music ensembles, recorded numerous albums, and has worked with such well known artists as Peter Gabriel (Passion,US), Maurice Béjart, Peter Brook, Georges Aperghis, Didier Lockwood, and Michel Portal. Erguner has thus made authoritative contributions to World Music. He has documented and revived nearly forgotten musical traditions and brought them to the attention of the Western public, securing them a place within Europe's cultural inheritance. 

The son of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Markus Stockhausen, has collaborated extensively with his father and has been a featured soloist in many of his father’s operas with themes often dealing with spirituality and mythology. The main interests of Markus, as a trumpet player, are contemporary music and improvised music including his own kind of devotional, intuitive music which trancends all musical styles. In February 2003 he premiered "Jetstream" for trumpet and orchestra, which was written for him by Peter Eötvös, who also conducted the premiere in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2006 he premiered “Other Presences” by Jonathan Harvey for trumpet and live electronics at the Cheltenham Music Festival. In 2006 he wrote “Miniatur einer Seelenreise” for the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra, which has subsequently been released on EMI classics. The classical repertoire he plays on special request only.

Percussionist Mark Nauseef has a musical history that includes "hands on" research, study and performance in musical traditions ranging from the music of India, Java, Bali and Ghana to western contemporary and improvised music. Artists he has worked with include, among many others, Jack Bruce, Joachim Kühn, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Trilok Gurtu, Steve Swallow, L.Shankar, Andy Summers, The Gamelan Orchestra of Saba (Balinese Gamelan), Kyai Kunbul (Javanese Gamelan), The Velvet Underground, Ikue Mori and Lou Harrison. In addition to his own recordings, he has produced many records of various types of music including modern experimental forms as well as traditional forms. Traditional music productions include numerous recordings of traditional Balinese and Javanese music such as the acclaimed and award winning “The Music of K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat” which was recorded in Java. Other examples include Balinese ensemble recordings “Gamelan Batel Wayang Ramayana” and “Gender Wayang Pemarwan” which were recorded in Bali.  
  
 

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About Bill Laswell, Mark Nauseef, Kudsi Erguner, Markus Stockhausen

Bill Laswell, Mark Nauseef, Kudsi Erguner, Markus Stockhausen

See other albums by this compilation's artists