Poster par Liouba Frydman (@lioubafrydman)
On Tuesday the 19th of November, Ekumen is back to Brussels for an exceptional evening of fully acoustic performances in Zwaab, the new name of the old Saint-Rémi church in Molenbeek.
Making the best of the place's resonance, we crafted a program focused on unamplified wind instruments: American multi-instrumentalist Henry Birdsey (member of Tongue Depressor and Old Saw) will blow his bagpipes, and French artist Claire Bergerault will produce interferences between her voice and accordion.
Two artists creating a slowed-down (one could say drone) music, favouring deep and transformative listening.
No presale: entry only in cash at the door, advised price 10€.
Bar available, also cash only.
The church has no heating, we advise you to dress accordingly.
**Entry price of 10€ is suggested, allowing us to pay the artists fairly. If your income doesn't allow you to pay this price for the concert, we offer a pay-what-you-can policy.
Location
5, rue Michel Zwaab; 1080 MolenbeekTimetable
20:00 — doors20:15 — Henry Birdsey
21:15 — Claire Bergerault
Henry Birdsey
Artist Henry Birdsey, photographed by Alin Cincă.
Originally from Vermont (USA), Henry Birdsey is a man of many tricks: recording engineer, lap steel, pedal steel, harmonica and bagpipe player (amongst others), he researches interference patterns and other acoustic phenomena occurring in our human perception of sustained tones. Profoundly influenced by the vastness of his natal Vermont's lush forests, his music is often ample, with an almost geological sensitivity to it. Time slows down, sound permeates the whole body. His interest for alternate tuning systems is not a theoretical pursuit, but rather a means to an end: a tool to carve the physicality of sounds.
Along with band-mate Zach Rowden, he is half of the now-cult duo Tongue Depressor, whose work is available through, amongst others, XKatedral, Redscroll Records, Worried Songs, or Full Spectrum Records. He also leads the excellent Old Saw band, an ambitious project gathering six musicians to transpose his geological drone music in a vocabulary usually associated with more “traditional” American genres such as americana, folk and country music: pedal steel, banjo and organ.
Recommended listening
Henry Birdsey, Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court (Poole Music, 2023).
TONGUE DEPRESSOR + Austin Larkin, Landau Bar (Redscroll Records, 2024).
Old Saw, Country Tropics (Lobby Art Records, 2021).
Artist's links
Henry Birdsey's official website: henrybirdsey.com
Henry Birdsey's Bandcamp page: henrybirdsey.bandcamp.com
Henry Birdsey's Instagram page: @henry____birdsey
Claire Bergerault
Artiste Claire Bergerault, photographed by Rémi Angeli.
Claire Bergerault is a vocalist and accordeonist who has been active in the French experimental music scene for more than twenty years. Her list of past and present collaborators includes, amongst others, Thomas Tilly, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Lionel Marchetti. As a solo performer, she crafts an experimental music one could qualify as elementary—or, rather, as elemental: delving back into the fundamentally physical and ondulatory nature of sound, she explores the friction between the two immaterial surfaces of, on one hand, her voice, and on the other hand, the sustained tones of her accordion. The resulting sound waves invite you to a unique, meditative and engulfing experience.
Recommended listening
Claire Bergerault, Concert solo (CRAK Festival à Paris, 2017).
DE L'ANGLE MORT τρίο (Claire Bergerault, Patrick Charbonnier & Lionel Marchetti), Aigue - Marine (More Mars, 2024).
Jean-Luc Guionnet & Claire Bergerault, AIRS TROUVÉS (Montagne Noire, 2021).
Artist's links
Claire Bergerault's official website: horslaps.org
