ORCHESTRE TOUT PETIT JEAN TINGUELY
Sound installation
The Orchestre Tout Petit Jean Tinguely is a sound installation based around an old East German double bass that was saved from being destroyed. Vincent Bertholet, initiator of the absurdist Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, is also the father of this “tiny” orchestra. In the tradition of the artist Tinguely and his worthy successors such as Pierre Bastien or Frédéric Le Junter, the Orchestre Tout Petit is a poetic attempt to breathe new life into some of the objects in our society that are at the end of their life cycle.
Vincent Bertholet (repairs)
Does art need an open society and vice versa?
11:30 – tba
Panel
The fact that we can express ourselves musically with freedom here at the Jazzwerkstatt Bern is not a foregone conclusion. In Iran, for example, it is forbidden for women to sing freely in public. Unfortunately, repressive forces are also currently gaining strength in Western countries, such as our German neighbour, where there are those that reject the “ideology of multiculturalism” and worry about the “decline of German dominant culture”. These forces are pursuing a strategy of weaponising art and culture, which, if successful, would lead to huge restrictions on artistic freedom. To what extent are open democratic societies and the freedom of our artistic practice mutually dependent? To what extent, as artists, can and must we stand up for this freedom?
Vincent Bababoutilabo discusses these topics with Iranian ethnomusicologist and filmmaker Yalda Yazdani, Swiss musician Sarah Chaksad and queer activist and author Duygu Ağal from Berlin.
Racism, Anti-racism and Jazz
15:00 – tba
Lecture by Vincent Bababoutilabo
Events such as the horrific attack in Hanau and the numerous #BlackLivesMatter protests that followed in 2020 showed us that racism is a historical reality. It permeates all areas of human interaction – and jazz music is no exception. What does racism look like in the world of jazz? What can we do about it? Vincent Bababoutilabo tackles these questions. In his lecture, he will present an introduction to racism-critical perspectives, a historical overview, and a discussion of jazz as an anti-racist practice.
Vincent Bababoutilabo is a Berlin-based musician, author and activist at the intersection between art and politics. In recent years, his projects have focused on migration, exploitation and resistance as well as the search for positive visions for a just society.
ROSA SHAKUR UND DUYGU AĞAL
20:00 – Turnhalle
In this lecture performance, two different perspectives on life in Almanya (the Turkish word for Germany) are woven together into a new fabric. Riot pop from the ruins of Berlin meets the prose of Duygu Ağal. Industrial pop music tells stories about the struggle of everyday people for a good life. Ağal reads from her debut novel “Yeni Yeşerenler”. It’s about lesbian love, Hamburg vs. Berlin, women’s football, violence and despair, but also about emancipation and friendships. Loud and quiet contemplation and listening as an art form.
Vincent Bababoutilabo, fl, voc | Rahel Hutter, sampler, synth | Philip Theurer, dr, mpc | Duygu Ağal, voc
ZIMMERMANN/LIENHARD
21:15 – Turnhalle
Deep droning sounds, sustained tones, fine melodies and virtuoso passages. The accordion and the electronic oscillators are more similar than they seem. Although the sound production of their instruments is so different, Tizia Zimmermann and Pablo Lienhard try to dissolve the boundaries of acoustically and electronically produced sounds and approach each other improvisationally. Sometimes they merge into one, sometimes the duo lets worlds collide.
Tizia Zimmermann, accordion | Pablo Lienhard, electronic oscillators
JAMES FONDA
22:30 – Turnhalle
“I feel like an oil painter from the Renaissance,” says James Fonda about his attempt to combine digital and analog music. The result is light-footed, flowing songs about the selfie craze and self-dissolution in the cloud. James Fonda’s first, self-titled album breaks the boundaries naturally given to an “analog native” and sets dreams and fantasies free.
Christian Aregger, g, synth, voc, electr
ORCHESTRE TOUT PUISSANT MARCEL DUCHAMP
23:45 – Turnhalle
Founded in 2006 by Vincent Bertholet (Hyperculte) Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp is a major project. Designed like a real orchestra, the size of the ensemble has varied over time. Now at twelve, fourteen in the past or six at its beginnings, the ensemble has scoured the stages of Europe to demonstrate that the formula “the more, the merrier” has never been as true as on stage. Whether in prestigious festivals and stages all over the world or on the five albums released since its launch, the group demonstrates incredible fluidity. Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp (mischievous title in homage to traditional African groups – Orchester Tout Puissant Konono n°1, Orchester Tout Puissant Polyrytmo etc… – and to one of the greatest dynamiters of 20th century art) embraces the shapes of its musicians while pushing them to their limits. What emerges is a powerful, experimental, unstable and terribly lively, organic sound.
These characteristic traits are found on ‘We’re OK. But we are still lost’, the group’s fifth opus. Built around twelve musicians. removed from their respective habitats, it develops a repetitive musicality which, deployed in successive waves, creates a feeling of trance. Combining free jazz, post punk, high life, brass band, symphonic mixes and kraut rock, their sound uniquely transcends genre boundaries.
Vincent Bertholet, b | Liz Moscarola, vl, voc | Emmanuelle Legros, flgh | Benoît Giffard, tb | Thomas Levier, vla | Naomi Mabanda, cello | Gabriel Valtchev, dr | Guillaume Lantonnet, dr | Aïda Diop, marimba | Elena Beder, marimba | Titi, g | Romane Millet, g
GENOSIDRA
01:00 – tba
DJ-SET
Colombian producer, DJ and sound artist, Genosidra is a member of the Argentine label Hiedrah Club de Baile. He is also a member of the Argentine punk rock noise band Blanco Teta. With extensive research in contemporary electronics, experimental music and noise, his musical production and live performances and DJ sets aim to explore noise in the context of Latinx dance music through textures and a non-linear musical discourse. He has performed in important festivals and venues around Latam and Europe such as, Primavera Sound (Arg), Lollapalooza (Arg), Pohoda (SLK), Cite de la musique Lausanne, Fusion Festival (DE)
VOLQUET3
tba
DJ-SET
Volquet3 is the DJ alter ego of South American artist, and this year’s co-curator, Violeta García. She works with noise, experiments with traditional South American rhythms and mixes it all together with music from the future.
Violeta García, decks