Ensemble Nist-Nah

The new Gamelan and percussion ensemble led by acclaimed Nantes-based, Australian drummer and percussionist Will Guthrie brings together ten of France’s finest.

Nist-Nah finds Guthrie branching out in a new direction, using the metallophones, hand drums and gongs of the Gamelan ensembles of Indonesia alongside drum kit, and other percussion – classic, found, and junk. The music is grounded in Guthrie’s travels in Indonesia and study of various forms of Gamelan music, from the stately suspended temporality of the courtly Javanese Gamelan Sekatan, to the delirious, thuggish repetition that accompanies the Javanese trance ritual Jathilan, to the shimmering acoustic glitch of contemporary Balinese composer Dewa Alit and his Gamelan Salukat.

Far from an exercise in exoticism, Nist-Nah developed out of Guthrie’s extensive work with metal percussion in recent years (as heard, for example, on his 2015 LP for iDEAL, Sacrée Obsession), where gongs, singing bowls, and cymbals are used to build up walls of hovering tones and sizzling details. Accordingly, Nist-Nah hosts a wealth of experience and expertise, with its members coming from eclectic and mixed backgrounds – from traditional musicians, contemporary percussionists, and noise and free jazz fanatics. Together, they present music equally informed by Guthrie’s interests in free jazz, electro-acoustic music ,and diverse experimental practices, exploring long tones, extended techniques, and non-metered pulse.

https://ensemble-nist-nah.com/en/

https://willguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/elders

http://will-guthrie.com/