We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €7 EUR  or more

     

1.
homage 1 06:48
buy track
2.
homage 2 02:47
buy track
3.
homage 3 01:31
buy track
4.
homage 4 01:28
buy track
5.
homage 5 01:33
buy track
6.
homage 6 03:42
buy track
7.
homage 7 04:32
buy track
8.
homage 8 04:35
buy track
9.
homage 9 05:24
buy track
10.
homage 10 01:37
buy track
11.
homage 11 02:33
buy track
12.
homage 12 00:51
buy track
13.
homage 13 12:43
buy track

about

Josef Albers (1888 - 1976) was born in Germany. In 1920 he enrolled as a student at the Weimar Bauhaus and later joined the faculty. After the nazis closed the Bauhaus in 1933 Albers emigrated to the United States and started teaching, first at the Black Mountain College, later at Yale University.
Albers was a painter, designer, photographer, typographer, printmaker and poet. He is most famous for the series, Homage to the Square. Hundreds of paintings make up this series, each painting consisting of either three or four squares of solid planes of color nested in one another. (1)
When I first saw this series I immediatily saw a relation to drumming. In 'Interaction of Colors' Albers writes about the interaction of colors, what happens between colors, and about the discrepancy between physical fact and psychic effect. Just replace 'color' with rhythm and every drummer understands what I'm talking about.
For years the work of Albers has been an influence on my playing and has been stimulating me to create new ways of playing, expanding my approach to the drums. This album contains the first recordings that show this, with the drums focusing mainly on the rhythmic aspect.
Like all great works of art, the work of Albers has many aspects. It's educational, analytical and synthetic at the same time, but it has also a lot of humour. It definitely has a meditative, zen-like quality. In fact there are so many layers that one can find new elements the more one concentrates on it. I hope some of these aspects may have entered this album.
After recording the drumparts I have contacted two musician friends and let them add their interpretation of Albers' work on top of my drumparts. Homage to Josef Albers is, modest as it may be, my tribute to this great artist. To end with Albers' words : "To honor the masters creatively is to compete with attitude rather than with their results, to follow an artistic understanding of tradition - that is, to create, not to revive." (2)

Dirk Wachtelaer

(1) thanks to Wikipedia for these two paragraphs
(2) Josef Albers - Interaction of Colors - 1963, ninth printing 1978, page 52

credits

released December 7, 2017

dirk wachtelaer : drums
alec ilyine : guitar (1 - 7)
stefan coltura : violin (8 - 13)

homage 1 - 7 : drums recorded by alec ilyine at fly studio, brussels
homage 8 - 13 : drums recorded by jan weynants at jan's place, mechelen

all drumparts were recorded in one take, no edits, overdub nor programming - or it wouldn't be any challenge, no ?

violin recorded at stef's place, mechelen, overdubs were used extensively, no electronics

guitar recorded at fly studio, brussels

photo by indi wave, based on the homage to the square series by josef albers

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Dirk Wachtelaer image

Dirk Wachtelaer Belgium

Dirk Wachtelaer has been playing drums for more than 30 years. He has been active in many genres but his main focus has always been on improvisation and experimentation. He has played with Paul Schutze, Toshinori Kondo, Stevie Wishart, Phillip Clemo, and many others. He recorded 3 solo albums and leads the ensemble Vanishing Pictures, creating music that vanishes when you try to label it. ... more

contact / help

Contact Dirk Wachtelaer

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like homage to josef albers, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Fabiana Palladino stops by to talk about her mesmeric debut LP.
listen now