Jaap Blonk (born 1953, Woerden) is a Dutch avant-garde composer and performance artist.
As a vocalist, Jaap Blonk is unique for his powerful stage presence and almost childlike freedom in improvisation, combined with a keen grasp of structure. He performed in many European countries, as well as in the U.S. and Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa and Latin America. With the use of live electronics the scope and range of his concerts has acquired a considerable extension.
Besides working as a soloist, he collaborated with many musicians and ensembles in the field of contemporary and improvised music, like Maja Ratkje, Mats Gustafsson, Nicolas Collins, Joan La Barbara, The Ex, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and the Ebony Band. He premiered several compositions by the German composer Carola Bauckholt, including a piece for voice and orchestra. A solo voice piece was commissioned by the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2002. On several occasions he collaborated with visual computer artist Golan Levin.
Blonk is primarily self-taught both as a sound artist and as a visual/stage performer. One of his early influences was Kurt Schwitters, whose Ursonate he first heard in 1979; he memorized the entire work, and it became one of the cornerstones of his repertory; he has recited portions of the piece hundreds of times in various public places. His compositions and performances are examples of sound poetry, making use of words and phonetic snippets as well as clicks, hisses, and other vocal manipulations. His live performances involve humor and improvisation.
www.jaapblonk.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2qOO5ersWU
http://ottawaxpress.ca/2008/06/05/jaap-blonk-sound-and-meaning/
http://itp.nyu.edu/~ndy204/blog/?p=393
http://ottawaxpress.ca/2008/06/05/jaap-blonk-sound-and-meaning/
http://itp.nyu.edu/~ndy204/blog/?p=393
