solo performances for tenor saxophone and electronics.
the combination of the horn with electricity creates dense layers of sonic abstraction resulting in an intense experience in total immersion in the sound.
audio & video:
amplfied horn mp3
action at sound forest festival, riga, video
live at club transmediale festival, berlin, video
technical requirement:
with amps: 1 Marshall or Hi Watt 100W amplifier + two 4x12 Marshall guitar cabs.
Or a PA adapted to the size of the space with efficient subwoofers.
press quotes:
"Noone plays the saxophone as abysmal as Chessex, when transforming his instrument into a black distorted foghorn by the use of circular breathing, amps and distortion pedals" CTM, Berlin
"The tenor sax came out a couple of minutes into the set, though, and sixteen flavours of fury were suddenly unleashed on the crowd. (...) by the end of the set, there was a wild man on stage, tearing holes in the fabric of reality with his horn and daring anybody present to do more than simply gape in awe. Absolutely the finest noise performance I've ever been lucky enough to witness". Finsquandrago, review of a live gig in Japan.
"(...)Eine halbe Stunde dauert dieser Moment, der einem das Herz stillstehen lassen will, bis Chessex am Rand der Erschöpfungs-Ohnmacht auf der Bühne zu schwanken beginnt und dabei beinah die Verstärker umreißt. Wie eine elektrische Wolke knistert die Kraft und die Erregung lange noch in der heißen Luft. Wäre dies das letzte Konzert, das wir erleben durften, es wäre ein würdiges Ende". Jens Balzer, Berliner Zeitung.
"Le bel écrin de cuivre n’est là que pour générer des tremblements telluriques, terriblement impressionnants qui seront ensuite travaillés, grâce aux nombreux artifices à sa disposition.(...)Intense expérience sonore compacte, raz de marée irrésistible où se mêlent éruptions volcaniques des profondeurs, naufrage de bâtiments de guerre rouillés, tonnerre et chants de sirènes apeurées. S’engageant entièrement dans sa performance, Chessex impressionne. L’assistance affronte debout cette vague surpuissante ou plus souvent, assise ou allongée, décide de se laisser submerger. Probablement moins improvisée qu’elle ne semble, la mise en place de cette sculpture sonore irrémédiable donne des frissons de plaisir et de peur. Expérience inédite, à mille lieues de tout ce qu’on peut imaginer, c’est une demi-heure hors de tout qui nous est offerte (...) Encore plus que les autres musiques, ici, c’est en direct que l’on goûte l’éphémère déluge. Et c’est sans doute derrière cette sensation ultime que court la faune présente ce soir." chronique NPAI festival.
acoustic version:
real time analyses of rooms / buildings acoustics with sustained pitches. exploring the acoustic geometry of the room.
audio/video
diffusion/acoustics at radio haus nalepastarasse (video with thomas ankersmit)
press quotes:
"(...)The endeavor was repaid by a dazzling, if literally “minimal” result: the whole concept is in fact based on a single note, held by Chessex through the celebrated technique of circular breathing (listen attentively and you can hear him persistently sneezing as he plays moving around the place). The music was subdivided in five sections yet the central pitch remains practically the same, either precisely produced and kept resounding or slightly undulating, often brought to clash with its own reverberation to origin that slight conflict of adjacent frequencies that lovers of Phill Niblock or Alvin Lucier know so well. Only for a few instants of the fourth chapter, Chessex - I couldn’t say how willingly - transposes the tone one octave higher, but it doesn’t last. The concluding act lets us get the impression of the instrument’s sound slowly deteriorating, a handful of feeble multiphonics perceptible in the decaying airy mass at the end of the track. Despite the label’s recommendation of listening by headphones, the effect via the speakers is especially beautiful. 33 minutes of your life for these nerve-reinforcing quivers are definitely well spent". Massimo Ricci, Touchning Extremes, review of the acoustic solo release on naivsuper label.
