Strønen/Bry: A World Without Borders feat. Time Is A Blind Guide
DNB award winner Thomas Strønen, Time Is A Blind Guide and photographer Knut Bry in a striking musical and visual collaboration.
Drummer and composer Thomas Strønen received the festival's major musician prize, the DNB prize, at last year's festival, and is back at the festival this year with a number of exciting projects. For this concert in Sølvsalen, Strønen and his band meet Time Is A Blind Guide the photographer Knut Bry, who has created a visual framework around the concert based on his sensational photographic works from refugee camps on the island of Lesvos in Greece.
In the band Time Is A Blind Guide Thomas Strønen masterfully unites his interests in different musical traditions: Jazz, chamber music, contemporary music and folk music.
Strønen says this about the music: 'The band has an instrumentation that shows that I want several ensembles in one. (…) My musical upbringing has been diverse, with ECM aesthetics, as well as classical and electronic – and improvisational music; with this ensemble I try to collect many end threads'. The ensemble thus includes both strings, percussion and a piano trio, and the music is extremely appealing: beautiful and warm, suggestive and enthralling - and extremely expressive. The compositions and arrangements give the individual musicians ample opportunity for outstanding solo performances.
The photographer Knut Bry and Thomas Strønen have collaborated in several projects over the past 12 years, both at the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, through the environmental movement Bellona and at DOGA.
Knut Bry is one of Norway's most renowned photographers. Since the 70s, he has worked worldwide, mainly as a fashion and advertising photographer. His work has gained international recognition across genres – from editorial fashion series, to artist portraits of Whitney Houston, to worldwide reportage for VOGUE and The Traveler.
Knut is an ardent humanitarian and has worked in refugee camps on the island of Lesvos in Greece in recent years. His understanding of form, light and color is inspiring, and his being even more so.
Thomas Strønen (drums, percussion) Ayumi Tanaka (grand piano), Håkon Aase (violin), Leo Sander (cello), Ole Morten Vågan (bass), Knut Bry (photo)