NEW RELEASE: LJERKE

We start 2018 with a new release: LJERKE. LJERKE is a Dutch-Norwegian project, featuring the Kleefstra Bros and Sytze Pruiksma from the Netherlands and Alexander Rishaug, Hilde Marie Holsen and Michael Duch from Norway. We toured the Netherland from 6-13 November 2016, together with the video artists Marco Douma and Haraldur Karlsson. A project of live impro music, poetry and film. During the tour LJERKE also recorded material, which is now published on a cd + dvd by Eilean Records. The cd contains six pieces, the dvd five videos. Pre-sale: 2 January 2018, official release: 8 January 2018. Go to our Bandcamp to order LJERKE (just a few copies left)!

LAST YEAR AND NEXT

The hiatus of about 1,5 year in releasing new stuff since Piiptsjilling's Slieperswaar may have been somewhat disconcerting, we've heard. Hope we made up for that a bit at the end of 2016. It's been a good year music wise, with all different projects we're in on stage and/or releasing.

2016 started off with a small tour by Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra joining Danny Saul. With K|B|K we also released two new albums: studio-album Dage (Low Point) and the live-album Desimber (Tombed Visions). Both were released on cassette and are also available as downloads. There's another K|B|K-release on its way and that is Dage's twin-album 'Dize', soon to be released on cd by Midira Records. K|B|K will perform live in January (Paradiso Amsterdam) and April (UK).

2016 was also the year of Tsjinlûd's first album, which consists out of a book and cd. The group also performed a few times in a changing line-up, including the collaboration with the Portuguese poets Raquel Lima and Nuno Garcia, and cellist Joana Guerra. Joana also teamed up with The Alvaret Ensemble, during its tour through the Netherlands and Belgium. A fine tour, about time too, which we closed with two days of recording, what will lead to a new album, set for (hopefully) next autumn.

Also Piiptsjilling recorded new work and even did a rare (recorded) live gig. From both we'll be extracting releases, one soon, the other somewhat later in 2017. And that's not all, because new in 2016 was the LJERKE-project, in which Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra was joined by the great Norwegian musicians Alexander Rishaug, Hilde Marie Holsen and Michael Duch. With LJERKE we also did a very, very fine tour and spend two days recording, which will lead to an album release in 2017 too.

So, that's it for 2016 and quite a bit for 2017. More to come. Tsjoch!

LJERKE: Dutch november tour

LJERKE is a Dutch-Norwegian artist in residence project, featuring the Kleefstra Bros and Sytze Pruiksma from the Netherlands and Alexander Rishaug, Hilde Marie Holsen and Michael Duch from Norway. They'll be touring in the Netherland from 6-13 November, together with the video artists Marco Douma and Haraldur Karlsson. A new project of live impro music, poetry and film, kinda in the same context of former projects as Seeljocht and Skeylja that also featured the Kleefstra's and Pruiksma. LJERKE can be seen on several locations and each night it will be different. The LJERKE-group will also hit the studio for recordings.

LIVE UPDATE

 

This Fall and Winter we'll be playing live quite often, mainly in the Netherlands. More info about the gigs and the (new) projects will follow soon-ish, but as you can see we'll be bringing along some great musicians! Hope to see you at one or a few of these gigs.

TSJINLÛD
03-09-16: Dokkum (NL) - Tosta Festival 

LJERKE
Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra with Alexander Rishaug, Hilde Marie Holsen & Michael Duch
06-11-16: Drachten (NL) - De Lawei
10-11-16: Nijmegen (NL) - Extrapool
11-11-16: Rotterdam (NL) - WORM
12-11-16: Utrecht (NL) - Le Guess Who?
13-11-16: Leeuwarden (NL) - Noordelijk Film Festival (Neushoorn)

THE ALVARET ENSEMBLE  
feat. Joanna Guerra & Olga Wojciechowska
07-12-16: Leuven (B) - t.b.a.
09-12-16: Heerlen (NL) - Savelbergklooster
10-12-16: Den Haag (NL) - State X New Forms
11-12-16: Leeuwarden (NL) - t.b.a.

BUCKET LIST

Meanwhile the Kleefstra Bros are making plans for this autumn and winter, involving different collaborations and bands. First of all Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra will be releasing new albums, planned for late summer and October. Meanwhile Piiptsjilling will hit the Landscape Studio again in the original line-up. Tsjinlûd's debut release is delayed. The collective is aiming for November now to release the book plus cd with photography, paintings, drawings, poetry of all members. Before that Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra will do several performances early November with an artist-in-residence project involving a few great Norwegian musicians and video-artists from the Netherlands and Iceland. One month later The Alvaret Ensemble can be seen live in the Netherlands and Belgium. As usual the quartet will be joined with some extra musicians and there are plans for new recordings. That might not be all, so stay tuned. More later...

KLEEFSTRA-RELEASES ON BANDCAMP

Most of our releases are available through Bandcamp. You can find some on our own Kleefstra Bros Bandcamp, including 'Nacht en Dei' by Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra, which is only available as a download. A few other releases are available on the Bandcamp-pages of labels that published our albums, like Home Normal, Low Point and Experimedia. Check the links to the albums below:

Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra - Wink (2009)

Piiptsjilling - Wurdskrieme (2010)

Gareth Davis & the Kleefstra Bros - Tongerswel (2011)

Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra - Deislieper (2011)

Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra - Griis (2012)

various - Hibernate Sampler Vol. 5 (2012)

Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra - Nacht en Dei (2012)

Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kuitwaard|Kleefstra - Sinneplakken (2012)

SPECIAL GIG WITH SOLI BRASS

On February 17th Romke Kleefstra and Sytze Pruiksma will do a special performance with Soli Brass, the best brass band in the north of The Netherlands. The first jams together were actually pretty awesome. The audience will be locked in between and surrounded by the twenty piece brass band and the stage with Romke and Sytze on it. A natural surround sound, of what you could call an impro-orchestra!
This special gig is in the context of Klanklânskippen, which takes place in the theatre De Lawei in the town of Drachten four times a year. So, the 17th, three o'clock in the afternoon and more info here. Previous editions featured friends like Celer, Nils Frahm, Machinefabriek, Greg Haines, Gareth Davis, Danny Saul and many others. In April there will be another edition of Klanklânskippen on which Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra will hook up with Pieter Nooten (ex-Clan Of Xymox).

KLEEFSTRA|PRUIKSMA|KLEEFSTRA LIVE IN AMSTERDAM

May 26th Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra plays De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam on a Narrominded label night. Narrominded is a very fine Dutch record label. The label night starts at 21h sharp! Hope to see you there.

THE ALVARET ENSEMBLE

Let's introduce The Alvaret Ensemble! Last year Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra and Greg Haines shared stages frequently. Collaborating on festivals such as CTM (Berlin), Approximation (Düsseldorf), Into The Great Wide Open (Vlieland, NL) and Le Guess Who (Utrecht, NL) was working out so well that the four decided to hook up more often. The quartet got together and recorded for three nights in a row in the Grunewald church in Berlin with several musician friends and decided to form The Alvaret Ensemble. The debut album is scheduled for late November, featuring Iden Reinhart (Strië), Hilary Jeffery, Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm and Martyn Heyne. More about that soon-ish.

The Alvaret Ensemble is also involved in a kind of artist in residence project in the slipstream of last year's Seeljocht. We are moving temporary to Iceland and will make music there with some wonderful Icelandic musicians such as Kira Kira, Eirikur Orri Ólafsson, Ingi Gardar Erlendsson and Borgar Magnason. We aim for a release of these recordings off course and will perform several nights in a row on the Dutch festival Oerol on the Frisian island Terschelling. Also our video brothers of 33one3rd are part of the gang. There's more to the project, but first... hey ho Iceland. Heilsa!

picture by martyn heyne

KLEEFSTRA|PRUIKSMA|KLEEFSTRA PRESENTS ... !

Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra (KPK) will be playing the Willibrordus Chrurch in the small town of Holwerd, on the Wadden Sea coast, during the Atelierroute Lauwersland, on Sunday the 11th of March (16:00 h). A special gig, because the trio has some announcements to make.

First of all KPK presents Deislieper, because since the release of the cd the trio never played its homeland. But there's more. KPK will form a new ensemble with a great piano player. This new ensemble will leave for Iceland, to be joined by some Icelandic musicians, and to make and record new music for a special festival in The Netherlands. This will all be filmed and it will be performed live on the fest at a later date.

The new ensemble also made some exciting recordings last summer at the Grunewald Church in Berlin, with several friends. The first album with a part of these recordings will be released in fall. But before this is all going to happen, KPK will first release an album (as a quartet) in spring, that was recorded the day after Deislieper was recorded. More about it soon and on March 11th, when KPK is presenting all this and more. Come round, you're welcome!

OUT NOW: DEISLIEPER

On December 13th 2008 the Kleefstra Bros shared the stage with Sytze Pruiksma for the first time with a curious impro (video). A year later the three stepped into the Landscape Studio to make one afternoon of music, which lead to Deislieper, the first album by Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra.

The album contains five pieces, all uncut impro's, in which percussion, bird whistles, bells, cymbals, experimental as well as melodic guitar and spoken word float together, whirling around eich other, taking its time. Deislieper is published by Hibernate Recordings. The art work is done by Ian Hazeldine, based on the brilliant high key pics by Ruurd-Jelle van der Leij. The album off course contains a booklet with the spoken words in Frisian, plus translations. In the release section you can see where it is available. Of which getting it through the [r] is a very good option! And in the listening section you can find three tracks (scroll down a bit). This is what Fluid Radio said about it.

Meanwhile the trio is involved in more recordings, that will probably lead to some exciting other releases... More about that someday. First Deislieper. Play it loud!

BOHAI BAY

On the Frisian filmfestival in the town of Leeuwarden the new movie 'Bohai Bay' will be shown. Bohai Bay is the tidal area near the Chinese city Beijing, where nature is threatened and partly destroyed by industrial expansion. The area is an essential stepping stone for migratory birds between their Siberian breeding grounds and teir Australian wintering areas. Multi percussionist Sytze Pruiksma went to Bohai Bay for filming. Poet Elmar Kuiper edited the material to an epic trilogy in which the relation between human and nature is essential. There is music and poetry in the movie by Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra with Nils Frahm, Greg Haines, Sytze Pruiksma and others, recorded live on January 9th 2011 in theater Lawei in the town of Drachten. More info (in Dutch) here. You can see 'Bohai Bay' on November 12th in theater Harmonie in Leeuwarden.

COMING UP IN NOVEMBER: DEISLIEPER

Hibernate Recordings set the date for the release of Deislieper, the first album by the Kleefstra Bros with multi percussionist Sytze Pruiksma from The Netherlands. Deislieper's out on November 18th. Hibernate already uploaded the opening track of the album on Soundcloud, so have a listen.
Sytze is involved in more projects that we're doing. First of all there is Seeljocht, which you can check out at two cool Dutch festivals late November. Then we made some awesome recordings with a kind of international super group of instant composers in Berlin in August. A great deal of these recordings will probably be released next year. So beware... And then we are working on some exciting plans sprouting from the Seeljocht-experience. More on all of this later! First a bit of Deislieper!

Kleefstra / Pruiksma / Kleefstra: Stadich lit ik dy kalder wurde by hibernate

KLEEFSTRA|PRUIKSMA|KLEEFSTRA LIVE AT APPROXIMATION FESTIVAL

From September 20th until 25th the Approximation Festival takes place in Düsseldorf. Great names on the bill for every night. Steve Reich is opening the fest on September 20th, Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra is closing it together with Greg Haines as a quartet on Sunday 25th. The quartet will play in Salon Des Amateurs, 21.00h sharp. Be there!

GIG KLEEFSTRA|PRUIKSMA|KLEEFSTRA BROADCASTED

The special gig by Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra on August 19th in the ship 'De Lading' will be recorded and broadcasted by Zeilsteen Radio. This internet radio station will broadcast the gig almost directly after the gig around midnight. You can hear it again on August 20th en 21st at 19h. So, tune in!

SPECIAL GIG KLEEFSTRA|PRUIKSMA|KLEEFSTRA

August 19th Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra will perform live in the hold of the ship Het Schip De Lading, which is being built by the artist Marten Winters on the square of the former prison Blokhuispoort in Leeuwarden. It's a exclusive, free gig for an intimate crowd (only 35 places available per gig). It starts at 20.30h. For more information you can contact me.
The special gig in Leeuwarden forms the kick off of an indian summer and autumn of cool events. The trio will record new material with some friends in Berlin, is involved in the artist in residence project Seeljocht for the Into The Great Wide Open festival on Vlieland (the Kleefstra's with Piiptsjilling, Pruiksma with Greg Haines), will play the Approximation Festival in Düsseldorf with Greg Haines and the first album 'Deislieper' will be published by Hibernate Recordings this fall. So, if you are somewhere near Leeuwarden on the 19th, come, see and meet us at Het Schip De Lading!

NOTICE THAT:

• The release of the album Tongerswel by Davis|Kleefstra|Kleefstra on Home Normal is set for August 11th!
• Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra will kick off some special matters with a small show in a ship on the square of the former jail Blokhuispoort in the city of Leeuwarden (NL) on Augustus 19th. The special matters? More about that later.
• For the Seeljocht-project a very very very special limited release with three tracks by Piiptsjilling, Greg Haines plus friends and Heather Woods Broderick with Nils Frahm will be published by the Into The Great Wide Open Festival. So keep your eyes on the [r] for leftovers.
• Two more albums are to be expected this year, one by Piiptsjilling on Spekk Records and one by Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra on Hibernate Recordings.
• We are even planning releases for next year! Including more Piiptsjilling and the second full length by 'the kings of darkness' Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra. Beware.
• You can book an evening with Celer, Machinefabriek and Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra!! This setting is available for The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany for the period of March 15-25 2012. Mail me.

COMING UP

No gigs or tours for a while, but there is some good stuff coming up in the next few months. Some releases and a very special Piiptsjilling-project:

Piiptsjilling - Molkedrippen (cd)
The third Piiptsjilling album will be released by Spekk Records. Recorded during the same session days as the album Wurdskrieme.

Davis|Kleefstra|Kleefstra - Tongerswel (cd)
The postponed, first album with Gareth Davis will be published soon on Home Normal.

Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra - Deislieper (cd)
The first release with multi percussionist Sytze Pruiksma will be a very nice album on Hibernate Recordings.

Seeljocht
Piiptsjilling will be the artist in residence during the Into The Great Wide Open festival on the Isle of Vlieland in the Dutch Wadden Sea. For this project, called 'Seeljocht', the band is bringing some friends along. A very fine project, including new music, video, a release containing cd and dvd, and off course Piiptsjilling and friends live on the finest stage of the festival on September 2nd-4th. More about Seeljocht later!

Anything else? Yes, off course. Recordings with Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra for a Japanese film, other recordings with a small kinda big band in Berlin, something with a boat maybe and hopefully quite some gigs with Sytze Pruiksma here, there and everywhere. Stay tuned.

KLEEFSTRA|PRUIKSMA|KLEEFSTRA @ PALAIS WITTGENSTEIN (CTM11)

Saturday the 5th of February Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra hits the stage at Palais Wittgenstein, at the HBC in Berlin, during the CTM Festival. Check the program for the night here (also Greg Haines and Library Tapes playing) and check the whole CTM11 program here. Hope to see you there. Wir freuen uns sehr!

KLEEFSTRA|PRUIKSMA|KLEEFSTRA ON CTM11

Kleefstra|Pruiksma|Kleefstra is added to the program of the CTM11 festival in Berlin. We'll be playing the HBC Palais Wittgenstein on February the 5th, together with Greg Haines and Library Tapes (the renaissance of contemporary chamber music performance practice, curated by Marc Weiser). The HBC has a very fine program from February 2nd up to February 5th, containing Simon Scott, Svarte Greiner and Markus Fjellström on the 2nd, Ryan Francesconi and James Blackshaw on the 3rd, Hauschka and Hildur Gudnadottir on the 4th and our eve on the 5th. Check the whole program here.