Jack M Campbell, Andreas Kahre, Alexander Varty – No Room For Error

TRACKS
1. Haar I
2. Nightswimming
3. Cosmophony
4. Haar II
5. Smir
6. Haar III
7. Rumbledethumps

CREDITS
Jack M Campbell: Violin
Andreas Kahre: Percussion, NS electric cello, Graphic design, Audio Editing
Alexander Varty: Guitar, Electronics

Jordan Koop: Audio Production, Engineering, Mastering

This album owes its existence to an encounter on Gabriola Island, a small community in the Salish Sea, between Alex Varty and Andreas Kahre, two long-time residents and improvisers, and Jack Campbell — the youngest and certainly the most comprehensively schooled. Still in his early 20s, this violin virtuoso has already established his reputation as an exceptional composer and interpreter of contemporary music, notably in his microtonal pieces based on Alan Turing’s computational work at Bletchley Park. Next up will be the debut of his first opera, a one-act reflection on the life and times of Oscar Wilde.

The trio met during a summer residence that brought Jack to the island, and what emerged is a carambolage of musical proclivities that continues to surprise and delight us. Alex and Andreas share a long history of musical experimentation‚ from alt jazz and contemporary gamelan to working with performance poets to GMO, the Gabriola Microsynth Orchestra, a riot of tiny noise-makers. All of these diverse activities have found their way into what is presented here, enlivened and complemented by Jack’s virtuosity and deep musicality.

Despite the allusions to Scottish weather in the titles —according to Amanda Thomson’s invaluable A Scots Dictionary of Nature, haar is “a chilly, foggy, easterly wind”, while smir means “fine rain”—No Room for Error was recorded during a hot and sunny August weekend. Sitting outside the Noise Floor recording studio’s kitchen door, we inhaled the aroma of sun-baked salal and absorbed the raucous conversations of young ravens, while inside, we found a tranquil refuge—and a room where error was welcome, even expected.

That is because this is truly experimental music. Although the trio had performed just twice before entering the studio, we had discovered the deep joy in our intergenerational cross-pollination. The music mixes assurance, exploration, and adventure—and perhaps most of all it reveals a deep sense of trust in our shared ability to listen.

A technical note: Alex deploys Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers’ Trope software on “Nightswimming”, running an iPad into a bank of effects pedals to morph the generative app’s generally consonant tones into something appropriately immersive. He’d also like to thank Gary Economy for building his amplifier, and the electronic wizards at Red Panda and Fairfield Circuitry for digital and analogue processing, respectively.

Noise Floor studio owners Jordan Koop and Teri Ondang deserve full credit for creating a room that warmly welcomes experimentation. Any errors are purely our own.The creation of this album was made possible with generous support from the Ontario Arts Council, family, and friends.

No Room For Error is available from:

BIOGRAPHIES

Jack M Campbell is a Canadian composer, concert violinist, and recording artist, praised as a “Prodigiously Gifted Young Violinist” (The Strad). He has performed across Europe and North Americal and his albums include Sounding Bombe; Enigmatic Music, Planets, and Inventions. Campbell collaborates in several ensembles and has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Heritage Fund UK, and other philanthropic organizations.

Andreas Kahre is an interdisciplinary artist and improvising musician whose work combines sound, images, and text in many configurations. He has collaborated with theatre, dance, and media ensembles across Canada, and has created performances, installations, and sound-based public art internationally. Andreas is a former director/curator at the Western Front in Vancouver, the artistic director of the Gabriola Institute of Contemporary Art, and is a cofounder of the Gabriola Sound Symposium.

Alexander Varty began his performing career some 50 years ago, playing guitar for an Elvis Presley impersonator. His musical activities have since encompassed the frenetic art-punk band AKA, pioneering industrial/ambient act Dead Voices on Air, recording sessions with Plunderphonics mastermind John Oswald and sundry Canadian rock stars, and making Pacifica Koral Reef with his fellow improvisers Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Kaiser. Varty’s other enthusiasms include record collecting, ocean swimming, and performing on toy synthesizers with GMO, the Gabriola Microsynth Orchestra.