File under: Contemporary Avant-Garde Jazz

Jon Balke

Name: Jon Balke – Skrifum
Brand: ECM Records
SKU: ECM 2839, 750 6857
Price: 18.20 EUR
Availability: InStock

Skrifum

LabelECM RecordsGenreJazz & Improvisation

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From the very first note, Norway’s Jon Balke proposes a new sonic dimension with Skrifum, continuing a line of inquiry begun with Warp (2016) and Discourses (2020), solo piano albums which also processed the acoustic environment in which the music was heard. Skrifum (the Icelandic word for “write”) takes things a step further. With the aid of electronic audio tool the Spektrafon, which he helped develop, Balke is now able to directly manipulate ambient audio sound from the piano while playing – pulling out frequencies and sustaining them as chords of harmonics. This activated reverberation becomes new material for improvised dialogue, often with quite beautiful results.

Jon Balke: “The Spektrafon’s sound feeds back in ways that demand space. I take that opportunity to play mostly monophonically and to focus on every single note and its position in the soundscape.” Skrifum was recorded in November 2023 at Village Recording in Copenhagen and edited and mastered at Bavaria Musikstudios in Munich. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher and Jon Balke.

Details

File under: Contemporary Avant-Garde Jazz

Cat. number: ECM 2839, 750 6857

Year: 2025

Format

Recorded November 2023

The Village Recording, Copenhagen

Engineer: [...]

Mixed by [...] and [...]

at Klokkereint Studios in Gjøvik

Cover: [...], Sign I (1973-74)

An ECM Production

℗ 2025 ECM Records GmbH [on disc]

Printed in Germany

Release notes

Recorded November 2023 The Village Recording, Copenhagen Engineer: [...] Mixed by [...] and [...] at Klokkereint Studios in Gjøvik Cover: [...], Sign I (1973-74) An ECM Production ℗ © 2025 ECM Records GmbH, München [on O-card back; on tray card] ℗ © 2025 ECM Records GmbH [in booklet] ℗ 2025 ECM Records GmbH [on disc] Printed in Germany

Tracklist

1	Sparks	4:05
2	Traces	2:41
3	Lines	2:54
4	Streaks	4:08
5	Lanes	4:07
6	Strand	2:40
7	Stripes	4:14
8	Ductus	2:15
9	Rifts	4:22
10	Calligraphic	1:21
11	Syllables	4:34
12	Kitabat	2:38
13	Skrifum	2:16
14	Tegaki	5:11

Credits

Jan Groth: Cover
Sascha Kleis: Design
Thomas Vang: Engineer [Recording]
Jon Balke: Liner Notes [English], Mixed By, Music By [All Music By], Piano, Electronics [Spektrafon], Producer [Produced By]
Sven Andréen: Mixed By
Kerstin Siemonsen: Photography By [Liner Photo]
Manfred Eicher: Producer [Produced By]