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Doek Festival blog #2

DSCF2699 copyBraxton’s Birthday: Blog #2 by Kevin Whitehead
Photography by Sara Anke Morris

Anthony Braxton turns 70 today, 4 June 2015, and I may not have to tell you he will be celebrating in high style at the Bimhuis tonight, as part of the ongoing Doek Meets Tri-Centric festival. Braxton the saxophonist will be playing some of his recent Falling River Music—ensemble improvising guided or stimulated by his abstract images and open-ended narrative elements, a way to tap into the intuitive side of music-making.…

Doek Festival Blog #1

Taylor Ho Bynum2Blog #1 by Kevin Whitehead
Photography by Sara Anke Morris

Doek Meets Tri-Centric: what a great idea. Ten musicians from the US (including Tri-Centric founder, saxophonist, official Jazz Master and classical composer Anthony Braxton) and ten-plus from Amsterdam, coming together to play big pieces by members of the ensemble, and to play in small, improvising combinations. This is my kind of festival; that combination of ad hoc groups and big anchor pieces recalls for me the Bimhuis’s 1991 October Meeting—the first place I saw many of the Dutch masters in person.…

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The new Doek book, hot off the press

doekbookphotoDoek has just produced a book centred around Doek Festival 2015 featuring programme information, brief bios of the artists involved, essays by Kevin Whitehead and Ruud Kagie, a dialogue between Taylor Ho Bynum and Eric Boeren, Q&As between Kevin Whitehead and Carl Testa, Kaja Draksler, Tomeka Reid and Onno Govaert, a highlight on photographer in residence Sara Anke Morris and more. Edited by Kevin Whitehead and Carolyn Muntz with graphic design by Isabelle Vigier, it’s quite a handsome little publication, if we do say so ourself.…

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Doek photographer in residence – Sara Anke Morris

john-dikeman-bariDoek Festival countdown
Sara Anke Morris photography

Strong music calls for strong images, and many, many jazz photographers have enriched our understanding of the art by capturing the way improvised action looks in the moment. The Doek festival and Doek’s musicians are grateful to the many photographers who have documented music on our stages over the years. To officially recognize the contribution such visual artists make, in 2015 the festival named the first Doek Photographer in Residence, Sara Anke Morris.

Belgium-born Sara Anke Morris says ‘I think I’m an intuitive photographer.’…

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Featured Artist – Wolter Wierbos

WolterDoek Festival countdown
Wolter Wierbos trombone

Wolter Wierbos is considered one of the world’s leading trombone players. He has played throughout Europe, Canada, USA and Asia. Wierbos has many awards to his name, including the Podiumprijs for Jazz and Improvised music and the most important Dutch jazz award, the VPRO Boy Edgar Prize.
Like many Dutch brass players Wierbos started out in a ‘fanfare’ (brass band), switching from trumpet to trombone when he was 17. “It looked good, and the trombones walk in front….”…