★Editions
I Smile When The Sound Is Singing Through The Space
*200 copies limited edition* Eight pieces of free vocal improvisation by the duo of Jason Kahn and Alice Hui-Sheng Chang, who have been working together since 2015. "I Smile When the Sound Is Singing Through the Space" is their second release and was recorded during Jason Kahn's one-month artist residency in September 2023 at Ting Shuo Hear Say in Tainan, Taiwan.
Eternal City
Tip! Three pieces spanning free improvisation, noise and extended saxophone technique by long-time collaborators Jason Kahn and Ulrich Krieger.
All Along The Way
Tip! 370-page book + CD chronicling of a solo tour through North America from May 5 to June 30, 2022.In addition to the book, there are two concert recordings on a factory-pressed CD:Portland: recorded June 1 at the Discordance Concert Series.Chicago: recorded June 15 at Elastic Arts.Jason Kahn // modular synthesizer, mixing board, tubeamplifier, electromagnetic transducers, contactmicrophones, radio, field recordingsAll recordings by Jason Kahn.
Köln
Tip! Recorded on their European tour in October 2022, this is the first release from the trio of Jason Kahn, Franzt Loriot and Christian Wolfarth.
Sounding
*In process of stocking* "I wrote the texts in this book as a kind of memorial device to recordings I made in Zürich between February 5 to March 22, 2020. Though not a direct reaction to the Covid pandemic, the transformation of the city due to restrictions of movement in the public space made these recordings only first possible in many ways. Of course, what immediately became noticeable after the first shutdown of the city occurred was how quiet the normally noisy urban environment had becom…
Days Falling
** Edition of 100. Heavy weight 180 gram vinyl. Hand-painted covers on thick gray cardboard ** Editions presents Days Falling by Jason Kahn. Recorded April 9, 2020 in Zürich at Kunstraum Walcheturm. Recording, mixing, mastering, liner notes and LP artwork Jason Kahn. Many thanks to Patrick Huber for allowing me to record in Kunstraum Walcheturm. These pieces were recorded during one evening on April 9, 2020 in Zürich, my home for the last twenty-one years. I rode my bike through the rainy night …
Infinity Suite
In common parlance the term Infinity Suite refers to a luxury hotel apartment comprised of several adjoining rooms. But my usage of the term here invokes the notion of infinite realities as resonating through dream and memory. An interconnected suite of spaces populated with vivid sounds and images spanning across periods of one’s life. My experience here focuses on the Indian city of Varanasi, but this sense of reality drifting I found there could’ve taken place anywhere. I focused on Varanasi …
Spirits
**Edition of 100 copies on heavy weight 180 gram vinyl, comes in hand-painted cover on thick grey cardboard. In process of stocking.** "Spirits marks the second release of my duo with Christian Wolfarth, though in 2010 recordings of a trio with Christian, Günter Müller and myself (then on electronics) came out as the CD “Limmat” on the Mikroton Recordings label in Moscow. Following this trio CD, Christian and I didn’t play together again until 2016, when we had a series of concerts in Switzerlan…
Voice and Sky
"Voice and Sky provides both a look at a previous work, On the Breeze – a series of public space interventions and text / sound installation – and an extension of that work in the form of a book and CD publication. My view is that an installation or any kind of work dealing with the idea of space – be it a public space or a designated art space – can only be fully experienced by being in that space first hand. In the case of On the Breeze, using material gathered hiking extensively through the S…
Space Text Sound
Space Text Sound documents text material used in three of my recent installations: An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Hong Kong (After Perec) (2016), Drifting (2016) and Other Ghosts (2015). All three of these works investigate the nexus points between the production of space through sound and how text can be used to reflect on this process. I’m interested in how words can convey the sense of place sounds can and, beyond this, how these words impart a feeling for inner spaces, often more common…
Monads
New Jason Kahn double LP for analog electronics, voice, percussion, environmental recordings. "In the field of philosophy monads are often referred to as the elementary particles which combine to create a substance. In the context of this double LP, the title refers to the constituent facets of my musical activity: namely, percussion, electronics, environmental recording and voice. What ties these different pursuits together is my particular approach to composition. No matter what sound material…
Songline
An extended voice/ radical vocality album, Songline was recorded during one evening in the rooms of a former Swisscom telephone relay station in Zürich. I decided to use the main room, which was entirely empty. Its linoleum floors, bare walls and many windows made for a very resonant space. Double glass windows sealed off the world outside but many sounds still emanated from somewhere deep in the bowels of the building. My vocal work goes back a few years now, appearing here and there on various…
Noema
"Noema is a collection of 37 short pieces composed from source material I recorded in and around Kyoto during a three-month stay there with my family in 2012. The over-arching theme of the record is the idea of exploring social space through everyday sound and especially in the case of Kyoto, not just focusing on what we've come to know the city for (temples, shrines, etc. Ð though some of these are in there as well). The pieces also deal with the idea of memory, much as the famous episode…
Open Space
I've been composing graphical scores since 2004. Each score has been done for a particular group, and not just for a certain set of instruments but also for specific persons, each with their own personal sound and their own distinct approach to improvisation. The scores hover in the gray region between composition and improvisation. They create a situation where the players are free up to a point to improvise but in which they could also find themselves in juxtapositions with other player…
On Metal Shore
The idea for "On Metal Shore" goes back to the 2008 collaboration "Vista" with Boston artist Asher. The genesis of this piece was early morning recordings I made on the shores of the Lake of Zurich in 2007, where I played some very resonant steel railings with my hands. There was something magical for me about being down by the water an hour or so before sunrise. My hands were freezing and as I played a flock of birds in a tree nearby would fly away from my noise (even though I wasn't playing ve…