Initiated from the Book of Air project, Vvolk is one of the only acoustic ambient orchestras in the world.. Composed of 18 musicians led by brothers Stijn and Bert Cools, the orchestra is known for it's whole night laying down concert. This album, the third in the“Book of Air series”, is a slow paced 60 minute piece composed by Stijn Cools.
This is the 3rd album in the “Book of Air series”, as part of the Granvat platform curated by the brothers Stijn and Bert Cools (
www.granvat.com).
As in the 1st Book of Air album
Fieldtone and the 2nd
Vvolk, the parameters
time and sound are again widely present. This time the 3 interwoven bass lines give the deep drive and foundation of the sound, completed with a layer of acoustic instruments and sparkling chords on top.
Se (in) de bos is inspired by the fluctuation objectivity of our daily observations.
“While getting deeper in the sound of vvolk, the perception of time fades. It is astonishing how improvised music can create such a timeless, and calming experience for the listener.”
“Vvolk investigates performing and improvising music, in close relation to present time; what are the possibilities in playing music, when changes in this music pass by unnoticed? How do we as musicians relate to the running time of a performance? This clearly challenges the improvising musicians, and makes audience and performers discover new territories in collective improvisation.”
With Laurens Smet (electric bass), Hendrik Vanattenhoven (double bass), Nathan Wouters (double bass), Stijn Cools (drums & cymbals), Indre Jurgeleviciute (kankles), Fruz Tontelling (harmonium), Wout Gooris (Rhodes), Bert Cools (electric guitar), Ruben Matchelinckx (electric guitar), Benjamin Sauzereau (electric guitar), Niels Van Heertum (euphonium), Yann Lecollaire (bariton saxophone), Viktor Perdieus (tenor saxophone), Thomas Jillings (tenor saxophone), Erik Bogaerts (alto saxophone), Frans Van Isacker (alto saxophone), Mathieu Robert (soprano saxophone).
Also available in
vinyl.
Stijn Cools plays drums and composes in a wide range of styles, preferably linked to
improvised music. He works as a
sound designer/electronic musician, and he plays the drums as well as many eastern percussion instruments. Experimenting with rhythm and sound, and the interest in clear artistic concepts are great sources for his artistic development. His diploma in architecture and scenography makes an important contribution to his thinking and developments in the musical field. Recently Stijn also started to dedicate himself to audio production (recording/mixing/mastering). In 2009 he won the “Gent Jazz talent prize”, in 2010 the “Toots Thielemans Jazz Award” at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In the Summer of 2016, he won another Gent Jazz prize with the band Hoera, on behalf of the Gent Jazz Festival. Together with his brother Bert Cools, Stijn founded the art platform and art production house Granvat on www.granvat.com. With Granvat they created a house for their projects and collaborations with fellow artists. It also contains work by internationally respected artists:
Hariprasad Chaurasia, Solo Sissoko, Eyvind Kang. Stijn Cools is the composer and co-founder of the
Book of Airseries.
Bert Cools speaks music from his childhood with the guitar as medium and driving force. He receives the Dutch Erasmus Award for “best musician” (2010) and graduates cum laude at the conservatory in Rotterdam. With the band Hoera. they won the Gent jazz price in 2016. In addition to composing for various projects, Bert performs concerts all over the world (India, Mexico, NY, Europe, China, Taiwan, Japan etc.) with his own bands and projects (Merope, Hoera., Book of Air Vvolk & Fieldtone, JK's Kamer).
