Friday 12 December 2014, 8pm
Second show of a two-day residency from incomparible band, The Ex, who after 35 years, more than 25 albums and around 1800 performances still work independently, without record companies, managers or roadies.
- Richard Dawson
- Rattle
- The Ex & Afework Negussie
• TERRIE HESSELS - guitar
• ARNOLD DE BOER - vocals, guitar
• ANDY MOOR - guitar
• KATHERINA BORNEFELD - drums, vocals
The adventurous, innovative Dutch band The Ex exists 40 years this year and is still going strong. New projects, new songs and new adventures.
The Ex have defied categorisation ever since they started playing in 1979. Born out of the punk explosion, when anything and everything was possible, the band have still managed to retain both curiosity and passion for their music. Using guitars, bass, drums and voice as their starting point, The Ex have continued to musically explore undiscovered areas right up to the present day.
Already the early 1980s saw collaborations with jazz musicians and an Iraqi-Kurdish band. In the 90s the group found a myriad of partners from varied musical and non-musical backgrounds like Kamagurka, Tom Cora, Sonic Youth, Han Bennink, Jan Mulder and Shellac. In 2002 The Ex set up a lively musical exchange with Ethiopia, organised many projects over there and invited several Ethiopian musicians to Europe. Most striking was the collboration with the legendary saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria, which eventually led to two CD recordings and more than a hundred concerts.
The band also started organising the ‘Ex Festivals’, where they invited their favourite musicians. A mix of jazz improvisers, musicians from all over the world and local treasures they came across on tour. The last few years saw collaborations with Brass Unbound (Wolter Wierbos, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark and Roy Paci), Circus Debre Berhan and Fendika, both from Ethiopia, and many, many more.
After all these years, more than 28 albums and around 2000 concerts the band continues to work as they did in when they began, completely independent of record companies, managers or roadies. Because of this ‘do it yourself’ work ethic The Ex is still a great example for other forward-thinking bands and musicians.
“Staying a bird, staying independent, free if you will, for three decades, that takes skill and something else, something more like heart.” – Music journalist John Corbett on The Ex.
Such is the degree to which Richard Dawson has drawn down long drafts from the whirlpools of Elemental North Eastern Archetypes, he may now be one himself. Fearless in his research and willingness to follow his inspiration, Richard has created an impressive catalogue of music and storytelling steeped in both ancient myths and contemporary dread. A fog of sickness, trauma and mute inevitability inhabits these records and is often expressed in the havoc with which Richard's hands produce sounds from his long-suffering guitar, an instrument as bruised, individual and indefatigable as its owner.
Richard's latest release is The Ruby Cord (Domino), his critically acclaimed seventh album, comprising seven tracks that plunge us into an unreal, fantastical and at times sinister future where social mores have mutated, ethical and physical boundaries have evaporated: a place where you no longer needed to engage with anyone but yourself and your own imagination. Breaking of convention with its 41-minute opening track “The Hermit”, The Ruby Cord swiftly garnered critical acclaim for the Geordie bard and picked up several Album of the Year spots. Subsequently, Richard has released The Ruby Cord Live: a 40 minute DVD of his performance at St George’s Bristol in May 2023, filmed by James Hankins.
This benefit gig for Resonance, the best radio station in the world, offers a chance to hear Richard Dawson in an (increasingly rare) intimate setting.
Afework Negussie is a versatile musician and singer from Gondar in northern Ethiopia. He has a background in the Azmari, and he is also partly trained at the National Theatre in Addis Ababa. Azmari are the voice of freedom of expression in Ethiopia. They improvise constantly, and have commented on politics, religion and everyday life. Their style is very specific, both provocative and humorous.
