Comerford+Flynn+Dumoulin+Ber // Joseph Nowell (release)

As artist-in-residence at Walter, Sam Comerford explores the borderland between avant-garde and improvisation, and the Irish folk tradition he grew up with. For this concert, he writes new repertoire around the estrangement of that tradition and brings together two worlds: Belgian improvisers Jozef Dumoulin and Samuel Ber with Irish folk singer and flautist John Francis Flynn.

Comerford and Flynn once shared the same youth in Dublin, teenagers competing in the flute competitions of the Dublin Fleadh – neither of them quite at home there. Yet today, Flynn is one of the most intriguing voices in folk. He approaches traditional Irish songs in a singular way: dissecting, analysing, rebuilding. Sam sets up this encounter precisely to bring those radical visions of tradition together, complemented by the strong musical personalities of Ber and Dumoulin. Four days and one evening of dialogue at Walter.

Also new work emerges in the universe of Joseph Nowell. With the release of Themes and Variations, he investigates how composition and improvisation can strengthen one another. Classical theme-and-variation forms are the starting point for short, often monothematic pieces, interspersed with free, melodic interludes. Live, this translates into uninterrupted sets that move between abstract intensity, hypnotic ostinati and lyrical expressiveness.

Quite possibly the evening of Walter’s autumn programme when it comes to tradition, composition and improvisation. Five musicians, each on their own search for sound, structure and expression. Each set with its own logic, its own surprises.