Jez riley French

2012-02-10T03:37:00.001-08:00

<a href="http://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/album/a-quiet-position-wildeye-edition">a quiet position: wildeye edition by various</a>

a quiet position: wildeye edition

20 field recordings by some of the nice folks who've attended the Wildeye Location Sound recording courses with myself & Chris Watson over the last few years....and a couple by myself....

free to download....enjoy !

2012-01-24T23:20:00.000-08:00

Forced rhubarb (extract) - headphones required ! by JezrileyFrench

a short extract from one of several long recordings made in the famous Rhubarb triangle of West Yorkshire. I spent several hours in the heated, unlit growing sheds, listening intently to the fascinating sounds of the rhubarb growing - yes, the small pops & crackles you can hear on here are the actual sound forced rhubarb makes as it grows at super speed.

you will need headphones to really hear the most on this recording....

2012-01-09T06:24:00.001-08:00

available now:

'praha - favourite sounds of'

ep.014

25 recordings by Peter Cusack, John Grzinich, Jez riley French, Milos Vojtechovsky, Michal Kindernay, Lloyd Dunn, Stanislav Abraham, Udo Noll & Matthew Sansom

Prague soundings

The tracks on the CD are selected from several hundreds Prague soundscape recordings collected for the occasion of ‘The Favourite Prague Sounds’ which was set in up in 2008 as a collaborative project of artistic and interdisciplinary research. It was an attempt to assist an outline of contemporary topology of the quickly transforming urban soundscape of Prague. Initiated by two Berlin based curators Gaby Hartel and Frank Kaspar in cooperation with Michal Rataj and Miloš Vojtěchovský and produced in the framework of radio d-cz, several outputs have been accomplished: workshops, radio plays, exhibition, performances and web presentation. Authors Peter Cusack and Miloš Vojtěchovský approached and started dialogues with different people, artists, musicians, students and the result was ongoing web database with contributors from Czechia and abroad. To select the “right” sounds for the CD was hard job and in a way the collection is constructed on stochastic principal. Each track has a different story, the recordist a different strategy, each location sounds differently. There are by chance a lot of machines sounds and especially railroads, since the trains seems to be audible almost everywhere around the city, but it does not mean there could not be composed completely another other interpretation of Prague sounds.

Recordings of a “natural” wilderness environment could sometimes be appreciated as a higher style of musical expression, in contradiction to the sound pollution of any industrial or postindustrial city of the 21st century. The sonic atmosphere of a contemporary city seems to the majority of its citizens rather diffuse, boring, standardized, and taken over by the ambience of machinery or commerce, traffic, and the mishmash or curtain of reproduced music. The tendency towards the “regression” of a sonic identity of a 21st century town, evolving towards the globalized urban sound of a metropolis, is considered by many as a real problem. Still, this symptom can perhaps be taken as an inspiring starting point for further reworking, appreciation and artistic apprehension.

On closer observation, urban soundscapes seems to be negative and disturbing only if we observe or listen to it from the point of a hypersensitive device or “universal surveillance ear”. Prague, like any other big city, offers - besides the “global hum” - a rich variety of different ambiences and locations, each specific to the exact place you stand and how are you able to hear it. The city appears then as a complex living organism, driven by changing scores of multiple sonic lines and niches. If listener is able to navigate or “browse” through them, they can select and perceive them carefully.

If a pedestrian moves out from a busy business street or an underground stairway to the river bank, entering the passages and parks, climbing up to the attics, roofs, and towers, and descending into the “guts” of the town, the musical cacophony of the city dissolves gradually into fine and evolving textures of sonic micro-narratives, images and compound interacting motifs. At night, when the traffic fades out, it is suddenly easy to detect the fabric of almost subliminal noises, hidden by day in the noise of airplanes, cars, trains, the honking of vehicles, etc.

When Peter Cusack came to Prague he was surprised by the sound of air-raid sirens, taking place every first wednesday of month. This is a rather unusual regular event for someone coming from England and most European towns. Peter was also very interested and surprised by the fact that you can approach the railway so easily to listen to it. He noticed that trains are to be found more or less everywhere in Prague. He also noticed that there are many natural sounds in Prague which you wouldn’t guess exist if you didn’t pay attention to them. In fact, there may be more sounds of nature in Prague than in London. It seems that parks in Prague are wilder than those in most cities in the UK, and that the variety of different species could be higher. What about the other European towns? There is still not much comparative research on the phenomenology of the Everyday Acoustics available.

Milos Vojtěchovsky

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‘four quietudes - prague’ - Jez riley French

I capture moments - often times of quietude - moments of stillness within daily life. as I listen I become more and more fascinated by the smallest detail - micro-listening - even the sound of the bag on which I placed the microphone coming to rest; tiny movements - changing ones perception, these four 2 minute quietudes are to me like intuitive compositions or minimal improvisation - the joy of listening closer, deeper is something I am very glad to know....

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2011-12-02T12:17:00.001-08:00

new release

Jez riley French - 'resonances / residences'

two compositions for untreated field recordings & locale

'this is 'slow' music - its about listening, that delicate and overlooked aspect of our lives'

resonances di topolo

aquatic life in a stream | ants eating an apricot | balustrades (day) | balustrades (night)

recorded & composed as part of a residency at stazione di topolo, italy - july 2011

residences de lumiere

light supports along the hozugawa river | neon light in seoul | balustrades of the seoul tower | light supports along the hozugawa river

composed for the ‘lighthouse relay’ project, commissioned by folkstone fringe for the folkstone triennial 2011

recordings made on a concert tour of japan & during a residency at mullae art space, seoul, korea - june 2011

****

....if you so wish

the pieces on this cd can be listened to in the following manner

listen, at the quietest time of the day, with a window slightly open - the volume of the music resting alongside (but not above) that of the locale....

in this way,

each experience of listening is a new realisation of the scores

****

engraved glass egcd040

2011-11-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

interview with JrF on the 'sonic terrain' website

click here

2011-10-30T05:41:00.001-07:00

a quiet position - edition one: field fest by various

2011-10-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

two releases focusing on durational listening - with elements of field recording (conventional & extended) to come soon & then I shall be recording, after a gap of quite a few years, a cd of instruments - coda's for cello, harp, piano, zithers....

2011-10-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

a quiet position - edition one - field fest by a quiet position

field recording, in all its forms, has been through incredible creative growth in the last few decades & yet its essential power to engage us in the act & art of listening remains inextricably linked to its subtle simplicity, its ability to make us listen ever more closely to the world in which we move by making us stop for a time....

in October 2011 Field Fest, bruxelles (curated by european sound gallery, q-o2) brings together many artists /composers / musicians whose work involves various aspects of field recording....'a quiet position - edition one' is an online compilation offering you the chance to hear some small elements of that work. it should be noted however that much of the work in this area of music / sound is not ideal for listening via computer speakers so please do listen via headphones or other speakers. I hope you will find the pieces enjoyable, inspiring and thought provoking....thanks....jez riley french

'a quiet position - edition one: FIELD FEST' is now online for your free listening pleasure....

featuring work by jrf, annea lockwood, anne wellmer, mechaorga, eric la casa, els viaene, michael pisaro, manfred werder, peter cusack & more....

direct link:

http://soundcloud.com/a-quiet-position/a-quiet-position-edition-one

link to pdf (artwork / track notes etc):

http://issuu.com/engravedglass/docs/a_quiet_position_-_edition_one?mode=a_p

here also is a link to the main web page for 'a quiet position':

aquietposition.tumblr.com

2011-09-29T01:44:00.001-07:00

online now - for free download or viewing, the October issue

http://issuu.com/engravedglass/docs/october_issue?viewMode=magazine

featuring work by:

elfriede stegemeyer

irmãs brontë

florence henri

pierre jahan

mary ellen bute

gene davis

yasu 1967

jez riley french

jessie tait

marion überschaer

desiree mcclellan

by an unknown photographer

an archive # 1

2011-09-15T05:25:00.000-07:00

just received copies of the book / cd ‘mullae resonance’ from Seoul….the publication is the result of the residency, workshop & exhibition put together by Hankil Ryu & the folks at Mullae Art Centre….

the cd features two improvisations by participants, recorded by myself & mastered by Hankil Ryu.

the book / catalogue features photo-layouts from the various sections of the project - workshops | seminars | performances | exhibition, along with texts on some of the diy sound making techniques that were explored.

2011-08-30T07:31:00.001-07:00

2011-07-28T23:13:00.001-07:00

I have a new web page - it acts as a kind of audio / visual dairy with field recordings & images. click on the link below to view & follow:

Jez riley French on tumblr

ants eating an apricot - recorded with JrF strung contact microphones - topolo, italy - july 2011

2011-07-24T12:53:00.003-07:00

ants eating an apricot - recorded with JrF strung contact microphones - topolo, italy - july 2011 by JezrileyFrench

aquatic life in a stream, topolo, italy, recorded with JrF hydrophones

2011-07-24T12:53:00.001-07:00

aquatic life in a stream, topolo, italy, recorded with JrF hydrophones by JezrileyFrench

2011-06-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

tierce - 'caisson'

available 10th July on Another Timbre

direct from me / engraved glass

caisson (extracts) by JezrileyFrench

Every few years some people start saying that improvised music has grown stale and is dying. Such prophets of doom should go out more. They could visit Hull – a city which gets as bad a press as improvisation: it too is supposed to be dying and have become a cultural desert. But if you choose the right weekend and can find the right art gallery amidst the city centre’s backstreets, then you might find three men sitting at tables with an assortment of electronic gizmos and general junk in front of them (one even has an old knitting machine…) It’s true that there’s not a great deal to watch as they sit twiddling knobs and switches and scraping this and that, but that’s why there’s a film being projected on the wall behind them – a documentary without its sound, which seems to be about some weird central European guy experimenting with little rockets in an artistic sort of way. And the music the three men make is captivating. It starts hushed and delicate, but switches every so often into a more assertive, even abrasive texture – which might surprise you if you’ve heard these three before. They play for an hour – they kind of have to because that’s how long the film is. But it’s unusually long for an improvisation, and that’s good because you can hear it stretching them, forcing them to open and explore areas that they might not have got to in the safety of a 30 minute set. And as the film’s credits start to roll, the musicians stop, though I can’t work out how they know to, as they don’t turn round and look at the screen. But that’s the end.

Several months later a disc arrives through my door with no label and no note in it. I receive a lot of music through the post, so I’m neither surprised nor particularly curious. But when I play it I am. What is this? It’s really good. And then I remember that Jez said he wanted me to write a few words about Tierce, and I realise that I’ve heard this before. But I’m hooked by now, and I sit through the whole hour again, wishing everything I was sent was this good. As Shakespeare nearly said, “if this music’s dying, then give me excess of it before it shuffles off its mortal coil.” I just wish that other forms of music could die so gracefully, and with such vigour and vitality.

- Simon Reynell (Another Timbre)

Mullae art space, Seoul, Korea - June 2011

2011-06-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

2011-05-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Jez riley French - '....until now'

photographic scores 2007-2011

available to view online or to download here

2011-05-23T07:47:00.001-07:00

Maile Colbert has compiled an article on certain aspects of field recording - available here

featuring interviews with JrF, Rui Costa, Catherine Clover, Andrea Williams, Hildegard Westerkamp etc

2011-03-26T03:29:00.000-07:00

CHRIS WATSON using some of my contact mics to explore the hidden inner sounds of trees on BBC's The One Show (friday 25th March edition)

click here to visit my site selling these + hydrophones

also you can hear results possible by using the mics this way on this great recording of beetles in an oak tree by Peter Toll:

click here to listen

2011-03-20T07:40:00.001-07:00

egcd037

limited edition taiyo yuden full size on deluxe, recycled stock art card - first 20 copies come as 2 x 8cm cd (please state when ordering whether you would prefer a standard cd edition or the 2 x 8cm edition)

Jez riley French - four objects - piezo (mp3 extract) by JezrileyFrench

gathering together four of Jez's most requested & intriguing pieces for single objects

broken piezo disc
teasel plant
slate window sill
flask

price options

from review on the watchful ear site by Richard Pinnell:

Jez releases a lot of CDs, many by other musicians, but also a good few by himself. I still haven’t had the time to catch up with his album released by the Compost and Height netlabel yet. Its here if you would like to sample some of his music in lossless format for free. I have come to think of Jez as something of a hunter/gatherer of field recordings, (though I’m not entirely sure that the description field recording these days really describes suitably what he and other like him actually do). Jez then releases albums of material that seem a bit like documentation of his explorations, audio photo albums maybe, an apt metaphor given Jez’ considerable skills as a photographer....

....they seem to work as little catalogues of recordings that can present some fascinating sounds, discovered in places we might not expect....little moments of aural revelation....

So Four Objects contains four recordings, each exactly ten minutes in length. As you might expect, the four tracks are focussed on recordings of four objects- a piezo disc microphone slowly breaking, a teasel plant found on the Norfolk coast, a slate window sill in Brussells and a hot drinks flask in the same city, which apparently started making the sounds heard here ten minute sand twenty-eight seconds after being filled with hot water.

The first, the sounds of the piezo disc’s last moments consists of a stream of tiny, tinkling, crackling pops and clicks, about as we might expect. What makes the recording nice is the absence of anything else, so the tiny sounds as they flit past sit against a backdrop of white. Apparently the disc was moved slightly to create these little crackles, and so there is some human input into the generation of the sounds. This piece then, sets the mood for the album in general- nice sounds, found by an attentive ear, captured and presented well....

The second track, the recording of the teasel plant reminds me a lot of the extensive listening I have done int he past to Jeph Jerman’s field recordings of cactii. The plant has a brittle, almost hollow sound to it, so the recording we hear has a strong percussive feel. The wind blows the plant, which makes it knock into itself, so creating this contact mic'ed recording. Again, its a nice capture.

The third piece, the recording of the window sill is another contact mic piece, but here the sounds of vibrations on the slate surface take on a strange, alien quality, almost (for some reason) like standing in a long concrete tunnel listening to the sound of dense church bells ringing at the far end of it. Again, it takes a knowledgeable and creative ear to discover this kind of thing, and Jez is remarkably good at finding hidden beauty in unexpected places, a theme that runs through much of his work, audio and visual.

The hot drinks flask is an intriguing one. The statement that the sounds we hear, a sudden explosion of escaping air, occurred at 10′28″ after the flask was filled suggests that this was no accident, and the careful placement of microphones to capture this phenomena also suggests that Jez was expecting this to happen, perhaps having come across it by accident before. What we hear then is an initial rush of sound that slowly breaks up into little stuttering jabs of sound, not at all unlike the sound of raw open circuit electronics we often hear in modern improvisation. I’d never have guessed that a flask was creating the sound, so again the element of revealing hidden treasure is the track’s strong point....

So Four Objects is not at all without its merits....it certainly showcases the remarkable ability of Jez riley French to discover and then reveal to the rest of us a soundworld beyond what we normally perceive.....Four Objects then is a collection of nice, creative recordings....

2011-03-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

as part of the Ear Room series on Sound & Music you can find an interview with myself by clicking here

piavascapes festival

2011-03-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

piavascapes festival

2011-03-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

piavascapes festival - portugal

2011-02-26T07:35:00.001-08:00

NEW RELEASE in the 'instamatic' series....

Jez riley French - instamatic # 8 - portugal (mp3 extract) by JezrileyFrench

2011-02-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

'almost, touching'

- works for salt & other grains, paper, fingers & table surfaces

several pieces exist, some performances have happened, some are happening this year....

2011-02-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

Jez riley French . between gestures . glasgow

live and field recordings

one . between kinetics (live sections from performance at sharmanka)

two . spaces between others (between scores, concert room at wandelweiser event)

three . between window and table (live sections from performance at 12 / 2)

four . between still morning and a long picnic (recording of room at 12 / 2)

five . between agedashi tofu, udon and central (recordings in restaurant and station)

Jez riley French - field recordings, zither, salt, glass lenses, lx-1 camera, paper, contact microphones, table, fingers, shells

p&c 2011

engraved glass eg-sr02

42.25 mins

free download

(loseless wav audio file + pdf)

engraved glass / compost & height

to visit the download page click the link below

gesturelink

2011-01-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

Simon Scott interviews me - click here to read

2011-01-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

UK arts organisation 'sound & music' have published online an interview with myself (from the ear room project):

http://soundandmusic.org/features/ear-room/jez-riley-french

2011-01-15T09:41:00.001-08:00

Festival Paivascapes #1 com programa fechado

Paivascapes #1 – River Paiva Sound Festival, a five-day celebration dedicated to the exploration of riverside landscapes and communities through sound and multimedia art, which is produced by Portuguese sound art organization Binaural/Nodar, has its program complete.

During Paivascapes #1 festival, to happen between March 4th to March 8th, 2011, twenty five artists will have their works shown or performed and six key speakers will participate in a series of conferences on creativity, rurality and environment.

List of participant artists:

Alicja Rogalska (PL), Anna Hints (EE), Charles Stankievech (CA), Craig Dongoski (US), Ignaz Schick (DE), Jez riley French (GB), John Grzinich (US), Katherine Liberovskaya (CA), Lasse-Marc Riek (DE), Luis Costa (PT), Maile Colbert (US), Manuela Barile (IT), Marc Behrens (DE), Marja-Liisa Plats (EE), Martin Clarke (GB), Masayo Kajimura (DE), o.blaat (JP), Patrick McGinley (US), Phill Niblock (US), Rui Costa (PT), Rui Silveira (PT), Sérgio Cruz (PT), Tiago Carvalho (PT), William Lamson (US), Yasuno Miyauchi (JP).

List of key speakers:

Tiago Monteiro-Henriques (PT), Sérgio Caetano (PT), Marcos Medalon (PT), Nuno Martins (PT), Domingos Cruz (PT), Tiago Carvalho (PT).

2011-01-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

audible silence - 12 hours
audible silence - 2 days
audible silence - 10 days
audible silence - 2 months

- gathering the recordings
- not recording
- listening
- intuitive listening, moment to moment pleasure of each moment

- composed 2010-2011 by Jez riley French
- realised: often

2010-11-23T02:41:00.001-08:00

'sonata for clarinet & nodar'

Jez riley French (field recording / composition)

Joana Silva (clarinet)

Luis Costa (field recording)

egcd035 / nodar002

(a joint release between engraved glass & edições nodar)

in the last days of my residency at binaural (Nodar, Portugal) an idea came from a series of chance occurrences. Luis spotted Joana in the village & knew she was a clarinet player & that she had come from Lisbon to visit family for the summer. In the days before, myself & Luis had talked about recordings of instruments & singers in the natural environment - the roots of field recording. A decision was made to ask Joana if she would be willing to play her clarinet whilst walking slowly along a path that swept around the curve in the Paiva river that runs through Nodar. Joana, still at school, still learning the instrument, agreed & a day was arranged.

I think it's fair to say that what took place was truly a unique moment. This was not a 'perfect' realisation of a score that had been rehearsed. This was not a seasoned performer with a vast experience of contemporary composition playing a piece they knew well. Instead what was captured was a young player truly exploring the idea for the piece. There was no detailed instruction to her in regards to overall duration or the space between the played sections. This, therefore, is a composition of a moment.

Of course, the very nature of field recording & one of it's charms, is that it is a gesture to capture an unpredictable environment. Given the rural nature of Nodar village some aspects of everyday village life were bound to make an appearance. It was another chance occurrence that at the time we were recording someone decided it was time to trim the overgrowth on their plot of land with one of the loudest machines invented for the purpose. As this sound went on & on my thoughts went from frustration to resignation - we were, after all, capturing an aspect of life as it was happening. In composing the final piece it would have been possible to leave this intervention of modern rural reality out. However doing so would have also removed a memorable part of the experience.

It is the emotive capture of this day, this moment that motivated the composition drawn from the recordings made that day & the decision to create this release.

my thanks to Joana for her openess, exploration & dedication to the essential qualities of the music (both performed & environmental) & to Luis & all at Binaural for their hospitality & commitment.

2010-11-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

issue two & three of the free pdf arts zine 'tristesse engraved' are now available by clicking

here

2010-11-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

several of my field recordings have been used in one of the versions of 'July Mountain' by Michael Pisaro, available on the 2nd release from his new label 'gravity wave' - which can be purchased by visiting Michael's label blog here.

2010-09-27T23:55:00.001-07:00

Jez riley French - 'dawn chorus - north & south banks'

ltd edition taiyo yuden cdr mounted on art card

*limited edition release featuring recordings made along the banks of the river Humber in east yorkshire. The recordings were made for a durational performance as part of 'seeds & bridges' 2010 & the cd comes mounted on the art-card flyer for the event. For this release I have composed a 64 minute single piece using the unprocessed recordings - mostly recorded on the north bank near to Flaxfleet *

2010-09-13T00:40:00.001-07:00

engraved glass is pleased to announce issue one of a new free to download pdf arts edition:

tristesse engraved

featuring:
photographic response to Wandelweiser / Michael Pisaro on 'ascending' series score / David Velez - two photographs / by Amy Newton / Bridget Hayden - three works / treasure hiding pages / leaf explorer pages

to download click HERE

please spread the word about this if you can - & do consider getting involved

2010-09-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

four extracts from recordings made on the recent Wildeye sound recording course in Norfolk (where I am a tutor along with Chris Watson)....for those interested in spending a few days exploring field recording, eating nice food & meeting nice folk these courses are really good value....

1) dawn chorus (recorded with an NT4 & sound devices 702)

2) pond life (recorded with one of my JrF hydrophones & a sony minidisc recorder)

3) steam train (recorded with NT4 & sound devices 702)

4) train points wire (recorded with one of my JrF contact mics & a sony minidisc recorder)

to listen & download these files click here

2010-07-17T15:43:00.001-07:00

. a photo diary of my residency in portugal recording (amongst other things) a 20km section of the paiva river....click here

portugal - binaural / nodar residency

2010-07-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

a photo diary....

2010-07-01T03:10:00.001-07:00

April 2011 - booking now:

Advanced Wildlife Sound Recording course

with Chris Watson & Jez riley French

click here to view & book

This two-day course with Chris Watson & Jez riley French aims to explore aspects of field recording in more depth, plus a demonstration of techniques for editing audio files on a computer and mixing soundtracks. It is suitable for those who have already taken our Wildlife Sound Recording course, or those who already have good experience of sound recording in the field.

The bulk of the course will be taken up with recording in the field - experimenting with different techniques and microphones, including hydrophones and surround sound systems - and then analysing the results back at base.

The course is taught by Chris Watson, one of the world's top wildlife sound specialists who regularly works for the BBC, and assisted by audio specialist Jez riley French.

Day 1 : Aim to arrive by 6pm, directions will be sent when you have booked your place.
7pm - evening meal served (no problem if you arrive later)
8pm - introductory chat - who we are, who you are, and what we will be doing over the next two days.

Day 2:
Dawn - recording of dawn chorus in the grounds of Whitwell Hall.
8am - breakfast
9am - a discussion about the sound recording fieldcraft and techniques we will be practising. This will include the selection of appropriate microphones, microphone placement, rigging and cabling, mono, stereo and surround sound techniques and the use of hydrophones and contact mikes. This will be followed by practical work in the grounds of Whitwell Hall and analysis of the morning's dawn chorus recording.
1pm - lunch
2pm - a demonstration of how to edit, manipulate and improve sound recordings, and also how they can be effectively combined and mixed together to produce a soundtrack. This could be for a television or radio programme, for installations, or for your own enjoyment.
7pm - evening meal served, after which we will take a trip to Holt Country Park to attempt to record woodcock and other birds at dusk.

Day 3:
Dawn - recording of dawn chorus in Foxley Wood.
8am - breakfast
9am - further fieldwork including the use of hydrophones in ponds
1pm - lunch
2pm - critical analysis of recordings made over the weekend
4pm - course ends

Chris Watson - experienced sound recordist specialising in wildlife - Chris also runs courses in wildlife sound recording and post production at the BBC Natural History Unit, and lectures internationally on location sound and sound design. He has worked closely with two of the most high-profile natural history presenters in the business, David Attenborough and Bill Oddie. He is Oddie's favourite sound man and the TV veteran says of Watson: "I don't know anyone who is so intense yet so splendidly frivolous." Chris became a sound recordist in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television and is now widely regarded as one of the most creative sound artists in the business. His recent credits include the hugely popular Springwatch and Autumnwatch, and he received the Wildlife Film Asia Award for the BBC's Galapagos: Born of Fire. Watson also creates for the radio, with credits includingSoundscape: The Sea Swallow, Watersong and The Estuary all for BBC Radio 4. See www.chriswatson.net

Jez riley French is an audio specialist whose output involves elements of intuitive composition, field recording (using conventional & extended methods) photographic images (including their use in photographic scores) and improvisation. He has performed, exhibited and had his work published widely across Europe and also lectures in both field recording and intuitive composition as a guest lecturer. He is currently resident artist at Hull School of Art & Design.

Jez also makes & sells his own hydrophones and contact mics + runs the ‘in place’ project with a website exploring various aspects of field recording & related work. In recent years Jez has been working closely with specific architectural spaces, capturing a sense of place that is both highly personal and yet offers the audience a fascinating opportunity to look and listen anew to the environments in which we spend our time. http://jezrileyfrench.blogspot.com/

2010-05-12T01:39:00.001-07:00

OUT NOW

Jez riley French - 'instamatic # 6 - prague'

egcd032

72 minute cdr on taiyo yuden disc / mounted on art card

limited edition of 100 copies

£8 UK / £10 rest of world

'earlier this year I visited prague again for a few days....the few days turned into a week due to volcanic ash closing the airspace over europe....I walked around prague sometimes recording, sometimes not....just walking & listening & looking - for my own pleasure....on the eventual long coach journey back to the UK I listened back to the recordings & found them to have captured 'something'....an evocative representation of the rich filigree of sounds that came & went on those walks....'

postage options

extracts from a review by Richard Pinnell ('the watchful ear' website):

...the CDr that I have settled upon is the sixth in the Instamatic series released on riley French’s Engraved Glass label, a recent release that blends together field recordings he made while visiting Prague last year. The Instamatic series is based around this kind of travel recording, little snapshots of a place and time, a bit like leafing through a few pages of someone’s photo album....There is something that I always enjoy about this kind of site-specific field recording...Once the nature of the album was clear to me then I slipped right into the music, trying to understand where every sound came from, trying to identify where the joins sat from one set of sounds to the next, spotting the sound of approaching cars way off in the distance, listening to passing footsteps for as long as I could before they became subsumed in the next set of sounds to come along...The recording quality of this music, as with all of riley French’s work is excellent, and the disc comes attached to another oversized glossy card sporting one of Jez’ excellent photos. The real joy here is in the sounds though...if you enjoy a well made set of field recordings simply for what they are- a moment in time captured for later perusal then this CD is a really nice listen. If you are bored wherever you are, or like me sat at home after a dull day, its nice to be able to shut your eyes and find yourself somewhere else.

exclusive tracks on new compilations

2010-01-25T03:25:00.000-08:00

In september the framework radio programme aired its 250th edition!

to mark the occasion, a collection of artists who have been important to the program over the years agreed to donate new and exclusive tracks, which we have published on a pair of double-cdr compilations, in handmade silk-screened packaging.

these compilations are available only through framework, and you will receive one as a thank-you for your minimum donation of €25 (or any subscription that will result in the same amount). alternatively, for a minimum donation of €40 euros, we'll send you both!

The 2 double cd sets including new & exclusive tracks by:

jeph jerman / loren chasse / nuno moita & matteo uggeri / felicity ford / tarab / murmer / scott sherk / steve roden / peter cusack / keith berry / toshiya tsunoda / matsuwa / maria balabas / asmus tietchens / keith de mendonca / seth nehil / martin clarke / maksims šhenteļevs / hitoshi kojo / dallas simpson / eric cordier / jonathan coleclough & ben owen / toy.bizarre / mark schreiber / michael rüsenberg & steve welsh / jim haynes / thomas tilly/TÔ / john grzinich / jean-luc guionnet / emmanuel mieville / jez riley french / giancarlo toniutti / rie nakajima / chris watson / joel stern & lloyd barrett / richard garet / aaron ximm / michael northam / simon whetham / phill niblock

having just recieved my copies of this very special package let me tell you it is well worth getting hold of fast before they run out.

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Also just released is a double cd celebrating the Klingt artists network based in Vienna, Austria.

Disc 1:

01. Alexandr Vatagin coop

02. skylla pink dwarf

03. Christof Kurzmann 180 Seconds Over Latin America

04. Ernst Reitermaier rustenfeld

05. Boris Hauf Hanging out in between

06. Swedish Azz just azz

07. Kazuhisa Uchihashi / Burkhard Stangl good things come to those who wait

08. eRikm botelo de klein

09. Gerald Roßbacher err

10. Toshimaru Nakamura nimb#46

11. K&K assembling the forgotten gate to hell at ibiza beach (postmortem happy end remix)

12. Regolith Moon Bombing

13. Tonic Train Trinity8

14. ctrl als wir die karotten schaelten, vergaßen wir den haferbrei

15. Kazuhisa Uchihashi 531

16. schnee schneeflocke

17. Jan Machacek / Anat Stainberg / Billy Roisz no story song

18. Susanna Gartmayer / Thomas Brghammer sehr sehr

19. The Magic I.D. our favourite thing

20. Pendler Oh No

21. bulbul + Boris Hauf Guten Abend

22. Nitro Mahalia Loss Noch Less

23. Siewert / dieb13 watch your jellyfish

24. Jez Riley French bath oil salt glass

Disc 2:

01. David Schweighart i trash your fuck

02. Stefan Geissler sequenz 03

03. LSD orion

04. nifty’s hope bungalow

05. HOSE repentance

06. Klinger / Lewis / Nagl / Novotny kahüttenclipper

07. noid artina.hr_2008 july th_11:17pm to 11:22pm

08. Los Glissandinos pop

09. Matija Schellander dangerfield

10. noiset noiset no. 1

11. b:f:n tschifra

12. frufru aqualung

13. taus ping paung

14. cilantro haphazardous

15. Tronstoner The Sprawl Atavism

16. Clemens Hausch photobrom

17. Goh Lee Kwang (part 2, downsampled)

18. ennoson TIME COMPRESSION 2,58

19. Angélica Castelló San Antonio

20. dieb13 entirely unlike 2:20

20b. Duo Schamberg Enter Preis

Michael Pisaro - 'Only' (harmony series # 17)

2009-09-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

Throughout the month of August 2009, a selection of artists and musicians were invited to perform Michael Pisaro's Harmony Series, a project initiated by Jason Brogan, and produced by Compost and Height. The documentation of Only [Harmony Series #17] can now be viewed/downloaded from www.compostandheight.com

Only [Harmony Series #17] Artists: Adam Sonderberg / Barry Chabala / Ben Owen / Casey Anderson / James Saunders / Jason Brogan / Jason Kahn / Jez riley French / Joseph Clayton Mills / Julia Eckhardt / Julia Holter / Manfred Werder / Michael Pisaro / Patrick Farmer / Richard Kamerman / Rhodri Davies / Ryan Jewell / Sam Sfirri / Sarah Hughes / Steve Roden / Vanessa Rossetto

JrF & Neil Davidson - photographic score realisation - free download

2009-08-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

available now from the 'compost & height' online label:

click here to download or stream

'Sunday afternoon, 29th March, 2009 - Neil's flat in Glasgow, in the kitchen with the window open: here is a recording, very much a location recording, of myself & Neil Davidson playing one of my photographic scores. These pieces begin with a very wide field of interpretation available to the performers & in this case the informal & sociable nature of the session had a significant influence on the work (positive). Neil plays acoustic flat wound guitar with preparations & I play field recordings, zither & paper. Glasgow contributes wind rattling the window & other sounds coming in through it' - JrF

ear room - re-sounding dialogues across the globe

2009-08-01T04:06:00.001-07:00

a new online interview project curated by Mark Peter Wright has just launched - you can take a look by clicking here

there will be an interview every month & the first edition features....er....me !

Austria residency / connected:09 / Pollau

2009-07-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

whilst in Pollau I created a 20 minute piece & made a limited edition cd with various found paper items as the sleeve + photographic prints.

an mp3 version + pdf file of information & images is available for free download here:

4 new releases

2009-07-05T11:24:00.001-07:00

Jez riley French - '....the bright work' - hydrophone recordings

1) East Yorkshire waters: Thornwick Bay # 2

2) Czech waters: Dolni Pocernice lake

3) English waters: River Cherwell

4) Estonian waters: Mooste jarvi, Apnajarve, Palojarv & Vohandu river

recorded 2008 / 2009 with JrF hydrophones & others.

egcd031

taiyo yuden cdr mounted on oversized photo card + additional photo card.

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a few copies of the 'as (urfaces)' cd & print set to accompany an exhibition of work completed during my time as artist in residence at Hull School of Art & Design are now available. There are only a handful of these left though.

details of the pieces included on the cd can be found by clicking here.

prices

review from 'just outside' (Brian Olewnick):

'a more purely field recording-oriented release (though French bows or otherwise touches various surfaces on three of the six tracks). Here, one's reaction I find often depends "simply" on how intriguing one finds the given sound-field in play. Even there, you're almost compelled to give a deeper listen if, initially, you're not so fascinated; often there's more at hand than you thought. The one unenhanced cut that I immediately loved was the fourth, "as030", which features a motor of some kind (I think), it's strong, subtle and varies hugely within a narrow focus. The lengthy final track, the one on which bowing can most clearly be discerned, works pretty well also, a rich range of rubbing-induced groans....one can easily imagine wallowing it it with pleasure in an actual installation. It's a good disc....'

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3inch split cd on 'compost & height':

Jez riley French - 'pelure # 6'

A composition of untreated field recordings capturing the seating fabric and floor surfaces of Peel Hall, Salford, prior to giving a performance there later the same day. I enjoy the simple pleasure of spending some time quietly exploring like this - listening to the audible silence of objects and environments that surround me. Recorded November 2008

Rob Curgenven - 'largo affettuso'

Field recordings + Transparence resonating dubplate (feedback, surface noise and room harmonics) performance recorded live at Extrapool, Nijmegen, Netherlands, 8th March, 2009 by Martin Luitenremixed and mastered at B52, Berlin, Germany, 12th & 13th March, 2009additional overdub - Fender guitar feedback, recorded 1st February, 2009 at the Cloud Factory, Amsterdam,

Limited edition of 50 copies mounted on wooden square.

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Free MP3 & PDF download:

Jez riley French - 'four approaches to quietude - bruxelles, June 2009'

a limited 3inch photo card mounted version of this release is also available:

Jez riley French & Patrick farmer - live MP3

2009-06-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

Simon at Another Timbre has just uploaded several mp3 extracts of sets from his 'unnamed music festival' set of concerts & one of them is by myself & Patrick Farmer.

to download it click here (it's only on there for a limited time)

q-o2 residency photo blog

2009-06-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

bruxelles photographic score # 3

bruxelles photographic score # 4

q-02 (Belgium) residency photo journal

2009-06-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

click here

2009-06-15T05:27:00.001-07:00

hull school of art & design residency

2009-06-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

a few copies of the cd / print set featuring work completed as part of this residency will be available soon from engravedglass.blogspot.com

exclusive radio broadcast

2009-06-05T00:14:00.000-07:00

there will be a 28 minute section of my recordings broadcast from Portugal on the show curated by Paulo Raposo from Sirr records.

Tune in (over the net) on Friday, 12 June @ 20.30 on radiozero.pt (streaming)

and Antena2, National Radio on 28 june 01-07h fm national broadcast (Portugal) http://www.radiozero.pt/

free download / stream

2009-06-03T00:12:00.000-07:00

from The Wire website:

In April this year, Jez riley French spent a day recording the surfaces and ambiences of The Wire office. Here are some of the results:

pelure # 9 - gathered wire mp3 download / stream (192kbps stereo)

Unprocessed recordings gathered around the office of The Wire, April 2009....10 minutes

The piece begins with a binaural recording made close to the subscription department desk then moves deeper into the fabric of the office via recordings of the electronic signals in the space, recorded with coil devices.

In addition to my other explorations of music / sound, including work with audible silence, extended field recording and improvisation, I have been recording certain buildings with a connection to the experimental arts for some time now. This has mostly been in terms of my own personal experiences with these forms of creativity but I am sure there are many people for whom The Wire has been a welcome source of connection to interesting discoveries. With that in mind I thought it would be fun to create some pieces using sounds from the current Wire offices. I ended up with two finished compositions: one featuring surface vibrations (not suitable for playback via computer speakers) and the piece available here. This second composition has both playful and intense elements – perhaps that can be said of the magazine too?

JrF

new release

2009-05-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

the . point engraved series:

eg.pcd001: tierce - Daniel Jones / Ivan Palacky / Jez riley French

*8cm cdr on printed postcard / in plastic sleeve*

recorded @ seeds & bridges (afternoon)

Limited edition of 55 copies.

Daniel Jones - e-guitar, turntable, electronics, objects.

Ivan Palacky - dopleta 160 knitting machine

Jez riley French - guzheng, zither, field recordings, objects

review from 'just outside' (Brian Olewnick):

'I'm increasingly at a loss for things to say about work like this, especially when I enjoy it, which I very much do in this case. Descriptions are inevitably feeble but simply observing that it somehow conjures up a situation, a place, a real or imagined environment and does so convincingly doesn't do justice either. I will say the trio (Jones, guitar, turntable, contact mic, objects, mixer; Palacky, Dopleta 180 amplified knitting machine (!); French, field recordings, guzheng, zither, objects) strike a delicate balance, managing to capture something of a field recording feel in their improvisations (certain taps, for instance, evoking the naturally irregular rhythms of water drops), that the performance tumbles along like a quiet stream over a complex bed. It's really, really good (a 3", by the way) and you should hear it'

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forthcoming . point engraved releases include discs by:

Kiyoshi Mizutani
Tim Parkinson
Thomas Smetryns
Patrick Farmer
Matt Davis
Matt Sansom
Dallas Simpson
Eric Cordier
& more....

each release will be a highly limited edition.

Moks residency journal (updated every couple of days)

2009-05-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

The MoKS residency blog can now be found by clicking here

Jez riley French - '...audible silence'

2009-02-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

egcd028 - Jez riley French - 'audible silence'

*69min + taiyo yuden cdr with photo prints etc / limited edition of 280 copies*

after several months of living with these recordings & waiting for them to feel 'ready' this new release if now completed. As some of you aleady know these recordings capture sounds gathered in Kettle's Yard - Cambridge, the JdP building - Oxford & several sites in the Czech republic (Skolska 28 gallery, Josef Sudek attelier etc).

The three resulting tracks represent, as far as i'm concerned, the music of these spaces using elements such as the sound of vibrating tables / surfaces, floors, empty rooms & heating systems filtered through various surfaces & objects.

more details can be found here: audible silence edition

mp3 audio extract: click here

* review of '....audible silence' on Brian Olewnick blog can be found here (nb. one small thing to point out - an answer to Brian's pondering in the first sentance: none of the recordings are processed at all - I never process my recordings as i'm always fascinated by the sounds I explore as they are).

* it also gets a nice mention in the latest Paris Transatlantic here

audible silence - Jdp, Oxford (extract)

2009-02-06T12:05:00.001-08:00

nb: due to the low frequencies of certain surface vibrations playback via laptop / computer speakers might not result in representative playback.

audible silence - JdP, oxford (mp3 extract).mp3

2008-11-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

....in place

(click here to explore field recording, audible silence & sonic architecture)

....listen

2008-11-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

(click here to listen to MP3 extracts by Jez riley French - field recordings, intuitive composition etc)

2008-11-24T11:01:00.001-08:00

2008-11-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

2008-11-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

2008-11-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

2008-08-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

2008-05-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

2008-05-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

2008-05-16T07:54:00.002-07:00

2008-05-16T07:54:00.001-07:00

2008-05-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

2008-05-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

2008-05-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

2008-05-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

2008-05-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

photographic scores

2008-05-16T07:35:00.003-07:00

. I am currently involved in a series of personal scores forming the heart of a new strand of my work.

bruxelles photographic score # 3
bruxelles photographic score # 4

estonia photographic score # 4estonia photographic score 3

duet # 4 (part)

duet # 4 (part)

solo 2008 / 2009

solo 2008 / 2009

a method for compositional scores based on photographic images.

Several of these scores are currently in circulation:

There has always been a strong emotive and intellectual link for me between the visual and the audible. My approach to photography has connected with those ‘other’ impulses and inspirations that perhaps are more commonly associated with forms of musical expression. The images themselves are concerned not with the precise capture of a physical space or object but rather they are my way of an emotive visual response to a location or experience, often taken in conjunction with my explorations with conventional and extended field recording methods.

During the time i've been working on this process I have assembled several images into one piece, experimented with applying certain conventional musical notation to the images & various other processes. In a sense, I moved further away from the point, from the musicality of the images during this time. Perhaps it was necessary ?

It is my hope that the direct and simple approach that I feel is the most successful way for me to explore this form of visual composition offers the performer an enjoyable, interesting and rewarding experience.

The scores are supplied with notes that are intended as an outline of an initial way to approach the basic aspects of the form, however they are by no means restrictive.

scores are supplied as A4 sheet per part.

If you would like to purchase a score or perform one of the pieces please contact me at:

tempjez@hotmail.com

intuitive composition

2008-05-16T07:35:00.002-07:00

full text soon.

a term I came up with in the early 1990's which is related to focused improvisation but feels closer to describing what it is that I do in performance - mostly....

sonic architecture

2008-05-16T07:35:00.001-07:00

full text soon

a term I first used in a public setting back in 2000 - related to the audible aspects of structures.

residencies

2008-05-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

July 2011 - Topolo, Italy

June 2011 - Mullae Art Space, Seoul, Korea

April / May 2010 - Nodar / Binaural, Portugal

March 2010 - Port Meirion, Wales

October 2009 - Nodar / Binaural, Portugal

Sept / Oct 2009 - vestiges of industry, Czech republic

September 2009 - Mayrau, Czech republic

July 2009 - Connected 09, Pollau, Austria

June 2009 - Q-02, Brussels, Belgium

May 2009 - Moks, Estonia

October 2008 / April 2009 - Artist in residence @ Hull school of Art & Design

June 2008 - Skolska 28 / Open studio (full residency) - Prague, Czech Republic

July / August 2007 - Generator arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK

May 2007 - Skolska 28 / Open studio (short term residency) - Prague, Czech Republic

2003 - Hull Time Based Arts, Hull, UK

curatorial / on-going projects

2008-05-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

'in place' - project exploring aspects of field recording, sonic architecture, audible silence & the intuitive compositional arc in performance - 2008 - on going

seeds & bridges – arts event series for Hull & East Yorkshire 2006 - on going

Founder / composer – ime (intuitive music ensemble) 2000 – on going

New Work Yorkshire – member of the advisory group 2006 – ongoing

Co-ordinator, promoter for visit to Hull by contemporary Chinese artists – Hull 2005

Shell / Huff – series of exchange concerts between Hull & Sheffield based improvisers. 2006

ime / lima (leeds improvised music association) – series of exchange concerts between Hull & Leeds based improvisers 2005/2006

lecturer / teaching positions

2008-05-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

regular tutor - wildeye field sound recording courses (alongside Chris Watson), Norfolk 2009 - 2010 - 2011

presentation - Goldsmiths, London 2011

3 day field recording workshop - Mullae art space, Seoul, Korea 2011

Guest lecturer - Newcastle University 2009

Guest lecturer - Zlin university - 2008

Guest Lecturer – Leeds School of Contemporary art & Design - 2008

Guest lecturer – Hull school of art and design – 2008

Lecturer in intuitive composition – independent art school 2004

Guest lecturer – Hull school of art – 2003

published recordings / writings

2008-05-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

'tierce - caisson' (another timbre)

'four objects' (engraved glass)

'between gestures' (engraved glass / compost & height)

'instamatic # 8 - portugal' (engraved glass)

'sonata for clarinet and nodar' (engraved glass / binaural)

'dawn chorus - north & south banks' (engraved glass)

'instamatic # 6 - prague' (engraved glass)

'bath oil salt glass' exclusive track on the 'Klingt' double cd (mikroton)

'building 14, Zlin' exclusive track on the Framework 250 double cd (framework)

'the bright work - hydrophone recordings' (engraved glass)

'Pollau' - mp3 / pdf download + limited cdr release (blog & engraved glass)

'four appraoches to quietude' - mp3 download (blog)

'as (urfaces)' - to accompany residency & exhibition at Hull School of Art & design (engraved glass)

'pelure # 6' (compost & height split series)

'pelure # 9 - gathered wire' - free download / stream (for The Wire magazine website)

'tierce' (with Daniel Jones & Ivan Palacky) (. point engraved editions)

'....audible silence' edition (engraved glass)

'the view from the studio window' (engraved glass)

'instamatic series # 3 & 4 - Ghent bird market & Ghent beguinage' (engraved glass)

'instamatic series # 2 - Vienna' (engraved glass)

'instamatic series # 1 - Bridlington harbour & Thornwick bay' (engraved glass)

'pocklington canal head / wansford canal and watton beck' - audio cd (engraved glass)

‘field recordings volume 21’ – audio cd (engraved glass)

‘generator pieces 2727807’ – audio cd (generator projects / engraved glass)

'church door & window' - track on ‘Autumn Leaves’ download release to accompany book on sound art by Angus Carlisle (gruenrekorder)

'boat ropes & lake hollow pole' - track on ‘Rhythm’ – audio cd (cherry music Japan / gruenrekorder Germany)

'recorded clear input improvisation 202 (.24)' (1995) - mp3 download (compost & height)

'extract from Spike Island performance' - mp3 release (compost & height)

'zither & rain' - track on the 'rain is pretty music' mp3 release (rain music)

‘two events’ – audio cd (engraved glass)

Text piece ‘silence’ for ‘Then the silence increased’ exhibition catalogue – Manchester, University of Salford – May 2007

‘Global ear – Hull’ – article in ‘The Wire’ magazine + numerous reviews for same publication & on label websites 2005/2006 – ongoing.

2 hour radio program on the film music of Toru Takemitsu – Resonance FM 2006

Field recordings Volume 20 - East Yorkshire & Germany 2006 – audio cd (engraved glass)

‘a bastards tale’ – soundtrack for radio play 2004

‘piece for guitar, zither & microphone’ – radio broadcast (resonance fm & artradio, Berlin) 2004

‘temperature’ – soundtrack for film by Aurelie Klien 2003/2004

‘Hull on earth (Jez Riley)’ – radio documentary on resonance fm radio 2003

‘piano / ice’ (piano & ime) – broadcast on artradio, USA 2003

full list of recordings published:

‘field recordings volume 21’ – engraved glass 2007
‘generator pieces 2727807’ – engraved glass / generator projects 2007
Various artists – ‘Rhythm’ – guenrekorder / cherry music –2007
Various artists – ‘Autumn leaves’ (download release) – gruenrekorder 2007
Various artists – ‘Rain is pretty music’ (download release) – rain music 2007
‘two events’ – engraved glass 2007
‘church flower stand # 2’ – engraved glass 2007
‘photo film compilation’ – engraved glass 2006
‘seeds & bridges live performance’ (with Lee Patterson) – engraved glass 2006
‘Field recordings vol. 20’ – engraved glass 2006
‘book series one’ – engraved glass 2005
‘book series two’ – engraved glass 2005
‘field recordings vol. 19’ – engraved glass 2004
‘maybe everything you hope….’ – engraved glass 2004
Various artists – ‘ime compilation’ – engraved glass 2004
‘clear inputs vol. 2’ – engraved glass 2003
‘field recordings vol. 18’ – engraved glass 2002
‘clear inputs vol. 1’ – engraved glass 2001
‘with a coney’ – engraved glass 2000
‘brzeska than capra’ – engraved glass 1999
‘houses - field recordings vol. 17’ – self released 1999
‘in fields - field recordings vol. 16’ – self released 1999
‘intuitive compositions vol. 2’ - self released 1999
‘fence recordings - field recordings vol. 15’ – self released 1998
‘waters - field recordings vol. 14’ – self released 1997
‘surfaces - field recordings vol. 13’ – self released 1997
‘assorted - field recordings vol. 12’ – self released 1996
‘churches - field recordings vol. 11’ – self released 1996
‘windows - field recordings vol. 10’ self released 1995
‘fences & waters - field recordings vol. 9’ – self released 1993
‘field recordings vol. 8’ – self released 1991
‘field recordings vol. 7’ – self released 1990
‘intuitive compositions vol. 1’ - self released 1990
‘field recordings vol. 6’ – self released 1989
‘field recordings vol. 5’ – self released 1987
‘live performances’ - self released 1986
‘field recordings vol. 4’ – self released 1986
‘field recordings vol. 3’ – self released 1985
‘Abintra works’ - self released 1984
‘field recordings vol. 2’ self released 1983
‘gardens - field recordings vol. 1’ – self released 1982
‘tape pieces’ - self released 1982
‘doppel trio’ - self released 1981
‘simple 2’ - self released 1980
‘simple 1’ - self released 1979
‘feedback works’ - self released 1979

exhibitions

2008-05-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

June 2011 - 'four mullae resonances', Mullae art space, Seoul, Korea

february 2011 - 'score for paiva river', paiva region (various galleries), portugal

July 2nd 2010 onwards: 'four approaches to quietude' exhibited, Folkstone

2010 - 'as (urfaces)' - audio / photographic exhibition, Hull School Of Art & Design, Hull

April 2009 - 'in place' - audio / photographic exhibition, ArtLink, Hull

September 2007 - ‘Hammonds’ - photographic exhibition, Hull

April - November 2007 - ‘east riding’ (audio/ visual) – 4 part work, various venues, Hull

July 2007 - ‘mouth of the humber’ (audio / visual) - Humber mouth festival, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

May 2007 - ‘Then the silence increased’ group exhibition - University of Salford, Manchester

December 2006 - 'Auditory' group exhibition – Holy Trinity, Leeds

2006 - ‘Tristesse 22102006 1 & 2’ – New Work Yorkshire perambulator, South Square gallery, Bradford

2006 - performance - resound exhibition, Mid-Pennine gallery, Burnley

2004 - ‘quartet avj2004-2’ – EICH gallery, Hull

2004 - ‘duet – images of sky’ - Platform 2 exhibition, Hull

2004 - ‘tags (tufts of art)’ – ‘Stuft’ group show, Red Gallery, Hull

instruments / sources

2008-05-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

I play / make use of....

. field recordings
. piano
. zithers - english box zithers, autoharps, kantele & Guzheng
. dulcitone (tuning fork piano)
. organ
. guitar (acoustic / electric)
. cello
. clear-input methods
. inside-methods
. contact microphones

. hydrophones

. coil pick-up's
. objects (pebbles, shells, paper, salt, polenta, glass lenses, plants, grasses)
. clarinet
. gen sx1000
. xylophones
. melodica
. alto recorder
. bells
. pitch pipes

concerts

2008-05-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

July 2011 - below is a list of main performances from the early 2000's until 2010. I haven't updated this section later in 2010 - the reason ? well, simply one of time....

25th September - solo @ the old vicarage, Bradford

August 13th - solo @ Moor music festival, Skipton

18th March - performance with Hankil Ryu / Daniel Jones / Patrick Farmer / Paul Khimasia Morgan, Coachwerks, Brighton

14th March - performance with Hankil Ryu, seeds & bridges, RED gallery, Hull

5th February - performance with Rowan ForestierWalker, Cella venue, Brighton

2009:

12th December - photographic score performed by Phillip Thomas (piano), Ferens art gallery, Hull

7th November - performance (inc photographic scores) with Patrick Farmer, Sarah Hughes, Rachel Dean & Shayla Reynolds, Holy Trinity, Hull

1st October - performance, Arnolfini gallery, Bristol

Sept 27th - sound and music expo, Leeds

Sept 26th - freesonic, Bloc gallery, Sheffield

July 18th - Pollau church, Austria

June 29th - q-02, Brussels

June 18th - Victoria hotel, Leeds

June 13th - Seven arts, Leeds

June 10th - r.o.d., CalArts, Valencia, California, USA

May 22nd 2009 - Goiya, Riga, Latvia

May 21st 2009 - Riga radio, Latvia

May 18th 2009 - y gallery, Tartu, Estonia

March 31st 2009 - Adelphi, Hull

March 28th 2009 - Street Level gallery, Glasgow

March 18th 2009 - East street studios (installation & performance) - with Stuart Bannister

February 15th 2009 - Cube cinema, Bristol - duet with Patrick Farmer

February 8th 2009 - Cafe Oto, London

January 29th 2009 - Newcastle University

November 21st 2008 - Zlin university, Czech Republic

November 8th 2008 - Canton uniting church, Cardiff - duet with Heleen Van Haegneborgh

November 7th 2008 - Sussex Uni - duet with Heleen Van Haegenborgh

November 6th 2008 - Cafe Oto, London - quartet with Heleen Van Haegenborgh, Patrick Farmer & Matt Davis

November 4th 2008 - Ferens Art Gallery, Hull - duet with Heleen Van Haegenborgh

November 3rd 2008 - Peel hall, Slaford - duet with Heleen Van Haegenborgh

October 14th 2008 - Logos foundation, Ghent - solo field recordings + Pauline Oliveros piece (in quartet)

September 12th 2008 - Seeds & bridges, Hull - trio's with Angharad Davies & Catherine Kontz (works by Wolff, Oliveros + intuitive composition for trio)

September 4th 2008 - Artlink Gallery, Hull

July 19th 2008 - Bloc gallery, Sheffield

July 9th 2008 - Port Mahon, Oxford

June 19th 2008 - Skolska 28, Prague

June 14th 2008 - duo with Ivan Palacky - Brno, Czech Republic

May 28th 2008 (trio with Patrick Farmer & Dom Lash) - LMC festival, London

January 2008 - Spike Island gallery, Bristol

December 2007 - duo with Daniel Jones (+ Max Eastley, Evan Parker, Mark Wastell and Graham Halliwell) - Chisenhale dance space, London – Dec 2007

December 2007 - 'audible architecture # 6’ - Bloc assembly, Sheffield

November 2007 - solo & with Taku Unami, Noid, Klaus Fillip & Tim Blechmann – Amann studio, Vienna

October 2007 - duo with Ivan Palacky - No-Fi, Newcastle

October 2007 - trio with Daniel Jones & Ivan Palacky - seeds and bridges, Hull

April - November 2007 - ‘east riding’ (4 part audio / visual work) - various venues in Hull

July 2007 - ‘mouth of the humber’ (audio / visual performance) - Humber mouth festival, Hull

July 2007 - Duo for field recordings & strings (with Rhodri Davies) – St Mary's Church, Hull

April 2007 - solo & duet with Daniel Jones (+ Toshimaru Nakamura & Billy Roisz) - Hull Time Based Arts, Hull + 'The Art Space', Nottingham

May 2007 - Skolska 28, Prague

May 2007 - Amann studios, Vienna

May 2007 - solo + collaboration with Ivan Palacky - Sklenena Louka, Brno

May 2007 - Rhiz, Vienna

May 2007 - Quitch gallery, Linz

March 2007 - leeds (private house)

March 2007 - trio with musicforone & Charlie Collins - Red Deer, Sheffield

March 2007 - duo with musicforone - Lamp, Hull

February / March 2007 - duo with Lee Patterson + trio wth Angharad Davies - Nottingham (Knee Knees), London (Omega works, Ray's Jazz / Foyles), Brighton (Westhill hall), Manchester (Salford Mill).

February 2007 - with Okkyung Lee, Matt Bourne, 7 Hertz & Will Guthrie - Leeds, Hull, Nottingham.

December 2006 - Holy Trinity, Leeds

November 2006 – Kinetica gallery, London

further 2006 concerts:

‘Tristesse 22102006 1 & 2’ – New Work Yorkshire perambulator,South Square gallery, Bradford

Re-soundtrack performance - digital Scarborough festival, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough

UK tour (with Pamelia Kurstin) – venues inc. e:vent gallery London, Generator arts Dundee, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Brighton, Bristol

Hommage to Ozu 1 (film & live performance) - Slack video, Hull

Solo & trio performance with Lee Patterson & Ben Gwilliam - resound exhibition, Mid-Pennine gallery, Burnley

Two presentations / performances @ Sonic Arts Group events – Leeds Uni, Leeds

Two performances for Hull Art Lab’s rolling performance series – Hull Art Lab, Hull

selection of earlier concerts:

‘two-teburi-koe’ (audio / visual) – ‘humbermouth’ festival, Hull

‘dliamansctlndpls’ – ‘imetexture 2', Hull

‘quartet avj2004-1’ – NewWorkYorkshire, Bretton Hall, Wakefield

‘quartet avj2004-2’ – EICH gallery, Hull

‘duet – images of sky’ (audio / visual) - Platform 2 exhibition, Hull

‘for guitar, zither & microphone’ – performance & radio broadcast (resonance fm & artradio, Berlin)

‘goodbyes’ - Anlaby road school of fine art, Hull

‘limitedspace’ – limited space performance – Tokyo

‘piano / ice’ – HTBA live art weekend, Hull

‘september start’ & ‘september end’ – Hull school of Art

‘brzeska quartet’ – HTBA, Hull – 2003

‘k-foundation – burning a million’ (live soundtrack) - Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

‘blue book / sun-wed’ – humbermouth festival, Hull

compositions

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photographic scores: a pdf publication featuring a number of my photographic scores is available to view online or download by clicking here

below is a short list of compositions completed from 1979 - 2007

Pollau - for field recordings

four approaches to quietude, bruxelles - for field recordings

Thornwick Bay # 2 - for field recordings / hydrophone recordings

Czech waters - for hydrophone recordings

Estonian lakes - for hydrophone recordings

Estonian rivers - for field recordings / hydrophone recordings

as (urfaces) - 6 pieces for field recordings / surface vibrations

pelure # 9 - gathered wire - for field recordings / internal electronic signals

pelure # 6 - for field recordings / surface vibrations

....audible silence - enter (Kettle's yard, Cambridge) - for field recordings / surface vibrations (2009)

....audible silence - a next moment (JdP, Oxford) - for field recordings / surface vibrations (2009)

....audible silence - towards evening (Czech republic) - for field recordings / sonic architecture (2009)

The view from the studio window - for field recordings (2008)

instamatic # 4 - Ghent (beguinage) - for field recordings (2008)

instamatic # 3 - Ghent (bird market) - for field recordings (2008)

instamatic # 2 - Vienna - for field recordings (2008)

instamatic # 1 - Bridlington harbour & Thornwick Bay - for field recordings (2008)

Jez riley French / Heleen Van Haegenborgh - 'in place series # 1 - 5' (2008) - intuitive composition for piano, field recordings, zithers & objects

intuitive composition for trio (2008) - with Angharad Davies & Catherine Kontz

pocklington canal (2008) - for field recordings / hydrophones

Wansford canal and watton beck (2008) - for field recordings / hydrophones

'audible architecture # 7 - Prague' (2008) - for field recordings

'Generator pieces - onsite # 1' (2007) - for field recordings

'Generator pieces - onsite # 2 (2007) - for field recordings

'Generator pieces - offsite' (2007) - for field recordings

'east riding parts 1 - 4' (2007) - for field recordings

'mouth of the humber' (2007) - for field recordings

'audible architecture # 6 - Sheffield' - for field recordings, zither & objects

'two events - east yorkshire' (2007) - for clear inputs, inside methods, zither & field recordings

'two events - west yorkshire' (2006) - for church flower stand, piano & field recordings

'church flower stand # 2' (2006) - for church flower stand

'Lake Konstanz' (2005) - for field recordings

'book series # 1 - 4' (2005) - for clear inputs

'64 short pieces - sudek' (2004) - for guitar

'temperature' soundtrack (2003) - for guitar & field recordings

'piano / ice' (2003) - for piano & ensemble

'intuitive compositions # 5 - 8' (1991 - 1997) - for various solo instruments

'intuitive compositions # 1 - 4' (1987 - 1990) - for various solo instruments

'tape pieces # 1 - 6' (1980-1982) - for tape

'doppel trio' (1981) - for guitar & tape

'feedback works' (1979) - for guitar

biography

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Jez riley French (b. 1965)

composer | musician | artist | listener

born & lives in East Yorkshire, UK.

Using intuitive composition, field recording, improvisation and photography, Jez riley French has been exploring his enjoyment of detail, simplicity and his emotive response to places and situations for the past 3 decades.

Alongside solo performances and exhibitions he collaborates with other artists, runs the ‘in place’ project on field recording – a subject on which he also lectures, organizes the ‘seeds & bridges’ event series and runs the ‘engraved glass’ label.

In recent years Jez has been working extensively on recordings of surfaces and architectural spaces, some results of which make up the ‘....audible silence’ project and has also been developing the concept of photographic scores.

His work has been performed, exhibited & published widely, including in France, Austria, Japan, Korea, the Czech Republic, UK, Belgium etc.

‘I am fascinated and passionate about the infinite detail and expanding vistas of life around us, its sights and sounds, often overlooked or hidden. My creative output focuses on this never ending, joyous exploration via intuitive composition, conventional & extended field recording techniques, photography & photographic scores. The music / sound I create has evolved from improvisation to what I prefer to term 'intuitive composition' and has increasingly involved elements such as a love of audible silence & stillness & the empathy of compositional arcs. These evolved from my need to always remain open to my emotive, intuitive response to situations & environments’ - JrF

for further information please see:

. compositions
. instruments / sources
. guest lecturer positions
. concerts
. curatorial / on going projects
. exhibitions
. published recordings / writings
. residencies
. in place
. engraved glass label / audio extracts