The members of 0 have worked with the Ensemble Intercontemporain (directed by Pierre Boulez), the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Christian Fennesz, Bernhard Gunter, Phil Durrant, Nomos, Mauricio Kagel, Nikos Veliotis, Pascal Comelade, Georges Aperghis. They have published records on labels such as FatCat, Ant-Zen, Type, Creative Sources, Amanita, DSA, Ameson, and toured in Europe, America and Asia.
Full length record available now: "Music of wheel", on Creative Sources, the portuguese label famous for its numerous issues in lowercase improv / composition.
"The ensemble 0 (pronounced « zero ») is a French quartet that last year were heard, or more pertinently not heard, realising John Cage’s 4’33. Music of wheel is a chance-driven composition by their pianist Joel Merah that might conceivably bear the frequent instruction « make a New York School sound here ». This appealing music ultimately has its own character, but it seems clear that Merah and his associates – electric guitarist Sylvain Chauveau, cellist Maitane Sebastian and trombonist Stephane Garin – are steeped in the music of Cage’s groundbreaking circle, especially that of Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff. Music of wheel has comparable delicacy, reserve, and poise.
Although the performers were allowed extensive freedom of choice, Merah specified that the overall dynamics of interpretation should remain soft. It’s well-ventilated music, and its combination of spaciousness and subtly variegating timbres results in an atmosphere of translucency. Toys, glockenspiel and bowed cymbal are brought to play along with sustained tones on guitar, bowed and plucked cello, sparing trombone sounding and well-defined yet evasive piano phrases.
For this release, six « fragments » were taken from three studio recordings of the piece. Fragmentariness is more fundamentally ingrained in the music’s fabric : part of its non-cumulative progression as it negotiates silence and stasis. The throw of dice is heard at intervals. It’s a paradoxical music that’s indeterminate yet manages still to establish an evident identity, music that’s immediately attractive and persistently elusive."
(The Wire, UK)
"One of the most accessible releases of the label" (Touching Extremes, Italy)
"Breathtaking spaces for improvisation" (Mouvement, France)
"Brings to mind the work of John Tilbury in AMM" (The Sound Projector, UK)
"A nice composition for orchestra, minimal and fragmented" (Metamkine).
ORDER "MUSIC OF WHEEL" BY SENDING A MESSAGE ON THIS PAGE.
It's a selection of 6 exerpts of Joel Merah's long piece "Music of wheel", for piano, cello, percussion/trombone, and electric guitar. The score of this composition inlcudes chance operations with dice, and improvisation skills are requested to perform it. The performances of this piece by 0 have last between 35 minutes and 2 hours and a half. That's why it was decided to select excerpts for the Creative Sources record.
New piece to download on Idiosyncratics label, "Passacaille" (composed by Joël Merah and 0), for two guitars, violoncello and percussion:
www.idiosyncratics.net/netlabel_html
Also out: "4'33" (John Cage), on the label Onement, a recording of five different versions of Cage's famous "4'33" (from 1952), performed in various places by the members of the ensemble. Ultra-limited edtion of 100 (no reissue), transparent jewelcase with white CD-R, numbered by hand.
VERY LAST COPY AVAILABLE (order by SENDING A MESSAGE ON THIS PAGE)!
www.myspace.com/onement
Discography :
"4'33" (Onement, 2006)
"Music of wheel" (Creative Sources, 2007)
