'if you so wish....' (scores for listening)

high resolution pdf book of the scores + an on-going archive of realisations by various artists.

download 

inc. recordings / performances  by JrF, Ryoko Akama, Cheryl Leonard, Yui Onedera, Pierre Gerard, Phil Maguire, Mihalis Santamas & more....

 

jez riley french  |  dissolves: the eating of fruit

eg059

digital download

using specially adapted JrF contact mics - strung with wires - these two recordings made in Italy capture the sound of different species of ant consuming fruit. The first (a section of which formed part of the piece 'resonances di topoolo') is what remains of an original 4 hour recording of ants eating an apricot. The second captures a more subtle event - with a smaller number of ants eating a strawberry.

jez riley french - 'a quiet position  |  (resonances) leigh woods'

digital download

https://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/album/resonances-leigh-woods

leigh woods sits on the south bank of the avon gorge on the edges of bristol - one of those liminal spaces that we perceive according to our subjective ideals - a small piece of nature where we might find some calm, both in terms of sound and sensation. 

‘an english woodland is a place of contemplation, wherein ones most obvious companions are the birds, trees and ones preoccupations alone’ in fact, as the lens of field recording shows, there is a cacophony of sound that, closely observed, allows us to form a more rounded view of locale and our impact on it. In this way, when the question is asked ‘what is the sound of leigh woods ?’ the first responses could be birdsong, the rustle of leaves in the breeze, children playing and climbing etc. However, if a single sound dominates the woods it is the constant sound of traffic on the A4 below. Perhaps, as listening becomes a more diverse and enacted choice with a wider potential than mere hearing, we will begin to take stock of whether our understanding of nature and countryside is or ever was based on a stable reality. over the course of the year I visited leigh woods there seemed an invisible barrier between myself and the locale. Eventually I gathered around 40 recordings that represented various aspects of the woods and that communicated something of its position. A selection of these were used in a three sectioned commission exploring the contemporary and historical use of the woods. this release uses some of the field recordings to form the two ‘a quiet position’ pieces, which can be listened to anywhere, including as you sit in or walk through leigh woods, if you happen to visit. Also included are some of the individual recordings and a map showing the locations. 

commissioned by: National Trust / Trust New Art Bristol / MAYK

Jez riley French - 'room tone'

eg049

available now

recordings of architectural acoustics, locales filtered through buildings

recorded with JrF contact microphones, geophones and conventional microphones

sections of the work were exhibited at Continuo Associazione Culturale gallery, Udine , Italy 

'room tone' comes amidst a sustained and intense period of creativity for Jez riley French....the subtlety, the fantastical attention to listening and bringing new aural experiences to his audience grows more and more obvious with each release'

'....just when you think JrF has opened your ears as wide as they can go, he reveals yet more'

'a simply stunning release....at first I can hardly hear anything other than the low throb of the geophone recordings but, as with anything of value, the more I listen the more that is revealed, not least of which is the way the sounds sit alongside ones actual surroundings, as Jez intends, without even attempting to dominate them'