The Tin Men and the Telephone album (available at the Bimhuis performance tonight) is a wonderful piece of creative packaging. It’s also a very good album.
The CD is attached to a 12″ vinyl LP and packaged in a gatefold record sleeve. In Tony’s flat, the kitchen has been converted to something of a cottage industry. These things don’t make themselves you know…
Tin Men and the Telephone perform tonight at the Bimhuis, at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam.
Tin Men and the Telephone rehearse the introduction to their Bimhuis performance.
Tin Men and the Telephone perform at the Bimhuis at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam, this Thursday, 1st September.
Tony Roe from Tin Men and the Telephone discusses which comes first: the integration of technology, or the musical compositiona???
Tin Men and the Telephone perform at the Bimhuis at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam, this Thursday, 1st September.
Drummer Bobby Petrov explains where the relationship between music and technology started for Tin Men and the Telephone…
Tin Men and the Telephone perform at the Bimhuis at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam, this Thursday, 1st September.
Tony demonstrates ‘piano to text via midi’ technology…
Tin Men and the Telephone perform at the play online pokies Bimhuis at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam, this Thursday, 1st September.
Tony explains his use of a sample as a rhythmic cue in one of the Tin Men and the Telephone compositions.
Tin Men and the Telephone perform at the Bimhuis at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam, this Thursday, 1st September.
Tony Roe talks about the concept of “layering” within music and video performance.
Tin Men and the Telephone perform at the Bimhuis at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam, this Thursday, 1st September.
Tony Roe from Tin Men and the Telephone explains why he uses video in his performances.
Tin Men and the Telephone perform at the Bimhuis at the opening of the Rhythm Changes conference in Amsterdam, this Thursday, 1st September.
With the first Rhythm Changes conference just around the corner, I’ve been reading a range of texts which feed into the event theme of Jazz and National Identities, ranging from Roberto M. Dainottoa’s Europe (In Theory) to the latest edition of Philip V. Bohlmana??s Music, Nationalism, and the Making of the New Europe published this year. Bohlman describes the interplay between music and nationalism as a type of love-hate relationship and suggests there are three general reasons why the impact of nationalism on music leaves many people feeling uncomfortable – here’s my paraphrase of his hypothesis:
1. There is an unwillingness to accept that music can or should be used in service of the nation-state. Audiences like to believe that music is apolitical and so, by tying music to the nation state, the mystery or autonomy of art is challenged.
2. Nationalism trivialises music, as a type of levelling occurs where individual, local or regional difference is eradicated and music becomes stereotypically kitsch. Music that takes on markers of the state inevitably becomes embarrassing, ugly and repulsive.
3. Music that is used in service of the nation-state feeds into all that is dangerous and destructive. Nationalist music has a ritualistic nature that serves to erase the voice of difference; effectively, it can come to represent racism and prejudice. (Bohlman: 2011, 11-12)
During the conference, I will be keen to see how jazz feeds into these debates and how the music has been framed in relation to different national settings. This could range from discussions of jazz as America’s “Secret Sonic Weapon” during the Cold War to European jazz sounding like the embodiment of Scandinavian landscapes. The programme promises an array of perspectives and some fascinating discussions. Bohlman concludes:
“It would be almost easy to hate nationalism in music. But then we run up against those who love national and nationalist music, and they remind us that it is one thing to hate nationalism and another thing to hate music.” (Bohlman: 2011, 12)
What do you think?
I’m in Amsterdam a few days early to prepare for the upcoming Rhythm Changes conference. One of the first events of the conference is a performance by Tin Men and the Telephone.
Bandleader Tony Roe is a PhD student who is researching the relationship between technology and improvised jazz music performance, so we thought it would be a good idea to spend a bit of time with him this week and learn a little bit about his research and his approach to the music.
I met him in a cafe in Harlemmerstraat and asked him to introduce himself…
