| Documentary about Ariel Kalma and his album "An Evolutionary Music" | |
Some feedback: This is the best thing I've seen in ages. Thanks for the music and for sharing your thoughts with such honesty, I feel so inspired and humbled. - C R Pinto What an incredible gift to hear Ariel talk so passionately about his music and its origins. It is truly academic and spiritual without the over analytical overcast. The fact he is not as well as Glass, Riley and Reich is beyond me. His music is a fine and meaningful contribution to the world of music and art. Free from the shackles of modern structural music hegemony. Thank you to Matthew for taking the time to offer us insight of Kalma's music! - hrresonance |
Born and raised in Paris, France, Ariel started playing the recorder at age 9 and saxophone at 15. During his successive studies of Electronics, Computer Science, Music and Art in Paris, Ariel performed with several bands, then toured the world and visited Europe, Japan, India, Eastern Canada, and parts of the USA. Apart from rhythm & blues, pop and jazz, he acquired assorted experiences in middle-age French, electro-acoustic, and modal music. All the travels broadened Ariel's musical horizons tremendously; listening to and playing with different styles, people, and instruments, intricate scales, techniques, timing and rhythms.
After learning circular breathing from a snake charmer in India, Ariel practiced it on soprano sax - for many sleepless nights - in the basement of a cathedral in New York (when he was not playing upstairs on the large harmonium). Returning to France in late '76, Ariel could include those endless notes into his own long-delay-effect system with which he toured, playing solo concerts. Ariel contributed to the birth of (then) new music genres: minimalist, space, ambient, new age, electronic etc.
With his passion for recording and sound, Ariel always had a home studio and was also technical assistant to some of the composers at Paris' GRM - Musical Research Group part of the INA (Audiovisual National Institute), where he recorded some of his compositions.
Over 3 decades, Ariel Kalma published several vinyl LP's, cassettes, and CD's, many older ones out of print. His compositions have been used for modern dance-theatre, films, musical poetry, guided meditations, transformational groups. Ariel Kalma has also played on many albums in France - even throughout Europe, the US and recently Australia, where he lives.
The Indian Snake Charmer
In India I once watched a snake charmer playing for his cobras. His cheeks were like balloons filling in and out, and the music of his peculiar flute never stopped one second! When he closed his snake basket, I asked if he could teach me how to do the non-stop circular breathing.
He burst out laughing, showing his missing teeth! "You have money for me?" he took some Rupias from my hand. "Wait here", he said, disappeared and came back with two glasses: one filled with brandy, the other with water. "Drink first, then you learn!" he said, handing me the brandy, and insisted that I drink it all at once. I immediately felt the effect of the liquor.
He put the glass with water in my hand and a straw in the other. "You make bubble, and never stop". He had a smile in his old eyes. For the next twenty minutes, I endured my spinning head and the constant push of his voice telling me there was no air except in the straw, or that the cobras would bite me if I stopped...
I finally collapsed on the ground. "Good, Sahib!" he said, "now you know", and disappeared into the night. - This technique opened up a new dimension to my saxophone playing.
Visit by an American Indian Spirit
Some years ago I wanted to get in touch with the American Indian spirit, so I recorded drums with a half-Cheyenne friend (Stefen Be) on Maui, Hawaii. We wished to include original Indian language, but where to find it? Well, just a few days later, an Indian Cree literally knocked at my door (for some business matter). I asked him to listen to our drum track, and to tell me if we were in the right spirit.
"Good", he said, "I could hear some chants". That was exactly what I had imagined. "I am doing ceremonies with drumming, where I chant in Cree language", he said. I could not believe my luck! The next day we recorded the words of the music title "Ano Tao Inan", both in Cree and English, an ode to our ancestors.
Biographie
Voici Ariel Kalma :
Né a Paris, France, Ariel commenca a jouer la flute a bec a 9 ans et le saxophone a 15 ans. Durant ses études d’électronique, informatique, art et musique, Ariel joua dans plusieurs orchestres puis fit et partit en tournee en Europe, Japon, Canada. La nature aussi a beaucoup inspiré Ariel, avec ses chants d’oiseaux, les ruisseaux pétillants, les cigales… Ariel voyagea aussi en Inde, Turquie, Iran et Moyen Orient, Les États Unis, où il apprit d’autres instruments, d’autres manières de jouer, ajoutant le modal, le minimal, la méditation a ses experiences de musiques de la renaissance, rock, électro-acoustique, et jazz. Different styles, cultures, games, techniques, rythmes permettent une exploration fraiche pour la découverte d’arrangements inédits.
Ariel Kalma s'inspire de rythmes, mélodies, traditions de diverses cultures, d'ambiences acoustiques, de la musique modale, d'instruments traditionnels, et de la nature. Ariel aime experimenter avec les sons musicaux : mixer des sons anciens avec des arrangements modernes, électronique et effets spéciaux ; il aime souffler les instruments a vent et les tubes/didgeridoos en souffle continue, mais aussi créer des sons originaux au synthetiseur. Ariel mélange les styles pour produire des compositions très originales aux saveurs personnelles, touchant des sentiments profonds en une poesie-metaphore.
Depuis trois décennies, Ariel Kalma a produit des disques vinyls LPs, des cassettes, et des CD's. Ses compositions sont entendues dans des ouvres de dance-theatre, films, jingles, poesie musicales, compilations, groupes d'éveil, cassettes et CDs de relaxation et d'électronica.
En l'an 2000 Ariel créa son propre label de compilations : Music Mosaic, www.music-mosaic.com c'est là qu'il choisit des morceaux excellents de styles variés, et les assemble pour un voyage immobile aux quatres coins du monde.