VHF

vhf

VHF play improvised electroacoustic music.

extreme techniques on alto saxophone and double bass combine with Simon Vincent's extraordinary live electronics and percussion to produce a group of remarkable delicacy and resonance.

their first album Extracts was released in 1999 by Erstwhile Records (U.S.A.)

their second album Statics was released by L'Innomable Records (Slovenia) in 2006

quotes:

Extracts: a Wire CD of the year (Jazz & Improvised) 1999.

"VHF have produced music of rare democratic brilliance, a music that eschews virtuosity in favour of a group aesthetic. Listen carefully. Be generous with your time." AVANT

"Compiled from a series of impeccably recorded 1998 performances, and combining aspects of traditional, improvisational, free jazz, and electroacoustic ensemble interaction, Extracts radiates a subtly thrilling inner intensity. At times, the music teeters on the brink of silence, obliging you to tune your ears to VHF's quiet frequency and peer in for a closer look. This is where the extraordinary clarity of the mastering becomes most apparent. A wonderful album." MOTION

"A trio the likes of which really hasn't been seen before. Extracts moves with almost geological slowness, pushing at some almost-immovable object in its path. The musicians concentrate on constructing compelling textures, and there are periods in each piece where only one or two of them are playing; the emphasis seems to be on musical narrative, if one may call it that, as opposed to melodic or even timbral elaboration. This is a sphynx-like piece of work which is quite unlike anything else around: seven slowly-unfolding stories without characters or settings, without descriptions or dialogue, which will have you glued to your speakers although you may not quite be able to explain why." MUSINGS

"Improv without chaos or scrabble, jazz without swing: VHF's novel concept makes for a unique listen." HIFI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW

"The first word that came to mind on playing Extracts was understatement, with an almost oriental minimalism and profundity on display. It is extremely difficult at this level to hold the listener's interest before s/he concludes there's nothing happening. These three not only overcome this but also produce some hauntingly beautiful music." RESONANCE

biography:

Graham Halliwell - alto saxophone

Graham Halliwell has recorded and performed with artists as diverse as Rhodri Davies, Matt Davis, Mark Wastell, Taku Unami, Bernhard Günter, Richard Chartier and Eddie Prévost. He is currently a member of +minus, VHF and a trio with Eddie Prévost and Mark Wastell. His primary influences are the music and writing of Morton Feldman, the experimentation of Alvin Lucier, Pierre Schaeffer and Eliane Radigue, and the visual art of the American Abstract Expressionists.

Simon H. Fell - double bass

Simon Fell is a composer and double bassist active in free improvisation and contemporary jazz and chamber music. He has worked in small or medium groups with John Butcher, Peter Brötzmann, Lol Coxhill, Billy Jenkins, Joe Morris, Keith Tippett, John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Joey Baron, Elliott Sharp, Billy Bang, Christian Marclay and numerous others, and is a founder member of London Improvisers Orchestra. Other regular groupings include SFQ, IST, Mick Beck's Something Else, Hession/Wilkinson/Fell and many more. He has presented compositions for improvisers at the LMC Festival, the Termite Festival, the Frakture Festival, Leo Records' Unsung Music Festival, Freedom of the City Festival and on many other occasions. His discography includes over 100 recordings. "A major contemporary musician" - The Penguin Guide To Jazz On CD.

Simon Vincent - percussion & electronics

Simon Vincent's CV reads like a Burroughs cut-up. He studied electro-acoustic music at UEA, and composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen, has played with the funk band Forehead, improvised with VHF, played hip-hop with Def Tex, had electroacoustic compositions performed at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, played jazz with Art Farmer, toured a sort of acoustic drum'n'bass in his trio with Kubryck Townsend and Russ Morgan, played more jazz with Pete Jacobson etc etc etc. The ultimate 21^st-Century Renaissance man....

info:

For further information on VHF, or details of fees, availability, etc, contact:

Bruce's Fingers, c/o Simon Fell, 29 Teillet, 23400 St. Dizier-Leyrenne, FRANCE

e-mail: info@brucesfingers.com

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