Ruiskamer: Masayoshi Fujita + Hein Devos & Bertel Schollaert

Double bill with Japanese vibraphone and marimba player on tour with masterful record Migratory, and a layered experiment full of electro-acoustic manipulation techniques by saxophonist Bertel Schollaert and sound engineer Hein Devos (Amenra).

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In 2020, Masayoshi Fujita traded sweltering Berlin for a new place to live and work in homeland Japan, in the mountains along the coast of Kami-cho, Hyōgo, three hours west of Kyoto. Amid nature, “Migratory was born, an album on which the composer and producer explores the past and future of marimba and vibraphone, in dialogue with synths and various guests with migration stories of their own.

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There are contributions from Swedish shō player Mattias Hållsten, whom he welcomed to his home studio in Japan after a brief encounter in Sweden. But also from American poet Moor Mother, who reminds you on Our Mother's Light that we are actually all passing through, with an incantatory mantra on a Japanese-African-sounding composition. Fujita senior, Masayoshi's father, who himself lived in Thailand for 15 years, also lends his saxophone to the album, adding a layer of jazz to 3 of the tracks on the record.

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All those world travellers notwithstanding, the title does not refer to the migration of people, but to that of migratory birds, always on the move somewhere between Africa, Southeast Asia and Japan. Fujita therefore made the album as a soundtrack to their long journey, imagining how they would hear that music from above. The result is a mesmerising amalgam of sounds where genres and their boundaries become as blurred as those between countries when you fly over them from high above the clouds.

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In this performance, Hein Devos and Bertel Schollaert start from the low tones of the baritone and bass saxophone, which are manipulated both acoustically and electronically. In “Objetos de la Noche” by Alberto Posadas, the sound possibilities of the baritone sax are extended by the use of a jump drum in the sound cup. The result is a dark and overwhelming composition, refined and ferocious at the same time. Hein Devos' sound design enters into dialogue with the acoustics of the room, aiming to completely surround the listener with sound. In ‘TAL’ by Genoël von Lilienstern, the tones of the bass sax ultimately become a physical experience.

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Saxophonist Bertel Schollaert has a classical background and is mainly active in contemporary music, including with Nadar Ensemble. Sound engineer Hein Devos tours with several bands, including Amenra.