Dynamic Vibrations. Played with Hands and Feet

German edition

Sven-Åke Johansson occupies a unique position at the intersection of free music, classic swing jazz, experimentation, composition, music performance, musical theater, the art of speech and song, and the visual arts.
This book is a comprehensive compilation not only of the compositions and realized as well as unrealized concepts, but also of the explanatory drawings, sketches, and diverse texts by the Swedish musician born in Mariestad in 1943. Since the boundaries between the individual genres are fluid in his artistic practice, the decision was made not to prioritize different types of texts. While Johansson’s music spans acoustic readymades, bruitism, solo pieces, free formations, jazz combos, and music theater, it is also difficult to assign a clearly defined identity to a large portion of his texts; thus, program notes that explain compositions and concepts are at the same time idiosyncratic linguistic-poetic formations. Poetry and aphorisms have evolved into song lyrics, but also the other way around: vocal recitations that emerge in instrumental instant composing find a fixed form as independent poetry. The lively intermingling of diverse material that this book offers is, however, not presented in a disorderly manner, but rather organized into thematic clusters. The book is an artist’s book and a curated collection of materials, a comprehensive documentation of the compositions and musical concepts as well as the relevant texts by Sven-Åke Johansson. In addition, there is a series of interviews that not only reflect his idiosyncratic style of thought and language but also provide diverse explanations for a large portion of the compositions and pieces contained in the book.

The material was viewed and prepared by Thomas Groetz and Bastian Zimmermann.

In cooperation with Edition MusikTexte.

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