The Norwegian improviser Paal Nilssen-Love, recently labeled by The Guardian as one of the best drummers in the world, is confirmed for the closing concert evening of Skaņu Mežs festival in Riga, Latvia on October 10th.
Already before turning 30, Paal Nilssen-Love has stated his position as one of the most profiled drummers in Europe today, he has made numberless performances at festivals and clubs in Europe and USA and participated on more than 50 recordings. He runs his own annual festival – All Ears – for improvised music in Oslo, which is an important part of his musical life. After having heard Paal in 9 different settings at the same festival, Down Beat reporter Dan Quelette stated: “His week at Molde proved a revelation: Nilssen-Love is one of the most innovative, dynamic and versatile drummers in jazz!”
Nilssen-Love is a long-term collaborator of Peter Brotzmann, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Frode Gjerstad and many, many others. So far, he has released five albums of solo drum improvisations, and frequently performs solo.
In Riga, Nilssen-Love is going to do a dual show: he’ll perform solo, and then he’ll join a yet-unannounced British tenor saxophonist for a duo performance. Stay tuned for more details!
Nilssen-Love’s performance at Skaņu Mežs festival is a part of the project “Experimental Music Lighthouses”. The project will take place between November 1 2014 – October 31 2015 and will be available to the greater public in October 2015 during the Skaņu Mežs festival in Latvia, as well as at the Insomnia festival in Norway shortly thereafter. The aim of the project is to promote a four part cooperation between Skaņu Mežs and Insomnia. This includes, amongst other things: the production of a Latvian/Norwegian composition; an exchange of Latvian and Norwegian musicians between the programs of the festival; creating a mutual festival program; the exchange of new compositions between Riga and Tromsø with the help of artists’ residencies. The unique soundscapes of both cities and their symbiosis is the emphasis of each of the exchange.
The project is co-financed by the European Economic Area’s (EEA) Financial Mechanism programme “Conservation and Revitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage.” The grant is made up of 84.236,74 EUR from the EEA (consisting of money from Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), an allocation of 14.865,31 EUR from the Latvian national budget and 15.625,95 EUR of Skaņu Mežs’s, own means.
Skaņu Mežs’2014 is supported by EU programme “Creative Europe”, Riga City Council, Latvian State Endowment for Arts (VKKF) and others. Skaņu Mežs is a member of ECAS – European Cities for Advanced Music association for experimental music festivals as well as the SHAPE platform for innovative music and audiovisual art.
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