In 1989, within the framework of the Long Night of Radio Art at the Ars Electronica Festival, two Australian musicians, Jim Denley (voice and flute) at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, in the evening due to local time, and Ross Bolleter (piano) at a studio in Perth, Australia in the morning, explored our idea of time-space in music, streching it as far as possible. Thanks to satellite technology, their mutual improvisation reached around the globe, creating an enormous acoustic bridge.

Music and the issues of time and space have always been closely connected; in „Simulplay 1“, the 1989 performance, one could experience sound within this time-space-framework in a totally new way.

16 years later, Jim Denley (voice and alto saxophone) is in Vienna and will once again „meet“ Ross Bolleter (piano) in radio space to improvise with eachother. Ross, as then, will play the piano at his studio in Perth, Australia, whilst Jim will this time play alto saxophone and use his voice at a studio of the ORF radio station in Vienna, Austria. They exchange the sounds and tunes via ISDN line, using the slight delay which occurs when transmitting the data as an effect within the music.

This kind of non-local, remote playing music together is nothing unusual to Denley and Bolleter. Quite the contrary, one can regard this as characteristic for their artistic collaboration: For over 20 years they have been repeatedly working together; however, they have only very rarely been in the same space. Generally, they have always been playing with link-ups, with remote electronic media, this way articulating and pushing further the issues of time and space in music. The spaces they „inhabit“ for these projects are often physically very different rooms resp. in different time zones, meeting temporarily in a virtual space, e.g. in the strange radio space.

Besides the issue of time-space in their performances, 16 years later also experiences of working as musicians as well as personal developments, the aging of the artists become an element in the new piece. The greatest difference probably lies in the music itself, as musical ideas and structures have changed a lot over the years.

Therefore, some short excerpts of the historical event of which two strongly varying recordings exist are to be heard as a kind of intro. One recording documents Denley’s concert in Linz, the other is a studio recording with Bolleter’s piano play in Australia.

The project is realized in collaboration of ORF Kunstradio and ABC.

Related Links:
• 14.09.1989: Simulplay 1