Balanyà, Rogers i Sanders: música improvisada que inclou el jazz més autèntic, el radical, l'experimentació, la música ètnica i l'expressió d'avantguarda contemporània. Llibertat i innovació absoluta de la mà d'un grup de músics que sempre dona lloc a complicitats i expectatives inesperades. La forta personalitat musical dels intèrprets i la seva ressonància en l'escena musical del jazz fan que els seus concerts despertin sempre un gran interès.

El trio té una identitat i un so propi. El contrabaix de Paul Rogers, fabricat per ell mateix, té 7 cordes en lloc de les 4 habituals i ofereix sons més greus i més aguts, impossibles d’obtenir en altres contrabaixos, és un prototip únic al món.

Balanyà - Rogers - Sanders han tocat amb Evan Parker, Keith Tippett, Tom Cora, Sophia Domancich, Louis Sclavis, John Stevens, Elton Dean. Rosco Mitchell, Derek Bailey, Roswell Rudd, Peter Brotzmann, Barry Guy, Charles Gayle, Peter Evans, William Parker, John Butcher, Borah Bergman, Hans Koch, Joachim Kühn, Das Neue Ensembe Hannover, Franz Hautzinger, Carlos Zingaro i molts d’altres.

Aquest projecte es va estrenar al Mercat de Música Viva de Vic (Catalunya, Espanya) el 17 de març de 2017.

Paul pertany a la més selecta pura raça. Músic rebel, fa tres dècades que segueix un viatge exemplar, sense cap concessió, amb integritat, una exigència, una sinceritat que causen una gran admiració i respecte. Toca un contrabaix de 7 cordes de disseny propi.

Mark és increïble i immensament divers, està al centre de “Kwingyaw" (Barry Guy, Ken Vandermark, Mark Sanders) i és difícil saber què està fent per obtenir alguns d'aquests sons. Bruce L Gallenter Downtown Music Gallery. NY

"El més valuós entre les qualitats de Balanyà és la seva llibertat, la seva permanent recerca del desconegut, la frescura, la sorpresa, la seva notable inventiva i domini tant del piano com de la percussió, que li permet expressar tota la complexitat de l'ésser humà, el tema principal de la seva música."

Balanyà, Rogers y Sanders: música improvisada que incluye el jazz más auténtico, el radical, la experimentación, la música étnica y la expresión de vanguardia contemporánea. Libertad e innovación absoluta de la mano de un grupo de músicos que siempre da lugar a complicidades y expectativas inesperadas. La fuerte personalidad musical de los intérpretes y su resonancia en la escena musical del jazz hacen que sus conciertos despierten siempre un gran interés.

El trío tiene una identidad y un sonido propio. El contrabajo de Paul Rogers, fabricado por él mismo, tiene 7 cuerdas en lugar de las 4 habituales y ofrece sonidos más graves y más agudos, imposibles de obtener en otros contrabajos, es un prototipo único en el mundo.

Balanyà - Rogers - Sanders han tocado con Evan Parker, Keith Tippett, Tom Cora, Sophia Domancich, Louis Sclavis, John Stevens, Elton Dean. Rosco Mitchell, Derek Bailey, Roswell Rudd, Peter Brotzmann, Barry Guy, Charles Gayle, Peter Evans, William Parker, John Butcher, Borah Bergman, Hans Koch, Joachim Kühn, Das Neue Ensembe Hannover, Franz Hautzinger, Carlos Zingaro y muchos de otros.

Este proyecto se estrenó en el Mercado de Música Viva de Vic (Cataluña, España) el 17 de marzo de 2017.

Paul pertenece a la más selecta pura raza. Músico rebelde, lleva tres décadas siguiendo un viaje ejemplar, sin ninguna concesión, con integridad, una exigencia, una sinceridad que causan una gran admiración y respeto. Toca un contrabajo de 7 cuerdas de diseño propio.

Mark es increíble e inmensamente diverso, está en el centro de "Kwingyaw" (Barry Guy, Ken Vandermark, Mark Sanders) y es difícil saber qué está haciendo para obtener algunos de estos sonidos. Bruce L Gallenter Downtown Music Gallery.

"Lo más valioso entre las cualidades de Balanyà es su libertad, su permanente búsqueda de lo desconocido, la frescura, la sorpresa, su notable inventiva y dominio tanto del piano como de la percusión, que le permite expresar toda la complejidad de ser humano, el tema principal de su música."

The career of the Catalan pianist Josep-Maria Balanyà, born in Barcelona, with more than 40 years on stage, 27 albums recorded and more than 140 works, has taken him from classical music and jazz to his specialisation into the field of improvisation and new contemporary music, experimental music and performance. Internationally recognised, Balanyà is also composer, conductor of improvising orchestras, sound artist, painter and photographer.

Josep-Maria Balanyà explores the limits of music in his compositions and performances. He is particularly interested in the combination of different arts and the transfer of art into music. In order to expand and deepen his preoccupation with the fine arts and also with the craft material, he attended courses in painting and etching at the European Academy of Fine Arts in Trier (Europäische Kunstakademie Trier) / Germany.

Under the auspices and organization of the head of the Academy, Dr. Gabriele Lohberg, Balanyà performed for many years a series of interactive concert-performances in the Kunsthalle of the Academy, where fine arts were combined with music and performance. Here he experimented with the interaction between the sounds that arise when working on copper etching plates and the artistic result. He worked with the metal workshop that made or provided sculptures for musical performances. The works are now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Tarragona. In a teaching assignment for the students of the European Art Academy, he devoted himself to the music images of contemporary compositions and suggested using them as a basis for further musically interpretable drawings. In performative concerts, he not only made musical instruments sound, but - with electronic amplification and alienation - sculptures (Pierre Wéber), paintings (class Joe Allen), bodies (models from the art academy) and objets trouvés as well.

As part of these projects, Balanyà even gave a concert of bells in the cathedral of Trier.

Mainly, his own art production focuses on abstract paintings in which he uses mixed media, but especially acrylic on canvas. His work can be seen in his private gallery in Brussels and in buyers' homes. In addition, he has studied photography and practiced this art since adolescence. His work has followed a process ranging from pictorialism, to direct photography, street photography, macro technique and the study of the human body. He is currently preparing several exhibitions in which he presents a series of impressionist-style photos with movement; this technique gives an abstract pictorial result.

As for his main field, music, Balanyà studied in Barcelona and Switzerland (Swiss Jazz School and Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Bern), he attended composition workshops, led by Helmut Lachenmann, Walter Zimmermann and Ivan Fedele, and improvisation workshops by Borah Bergman in New York. He carried out intensive research into the sounds of nature in Mexico, working with oceanographers and biologists, including mammalogist Bernardo Villa.

Most of his works have a significant amount of improvisation. His work as a solo pianist combines the pure sound of the instrument with prepared or manipulated piano techniques. He has presented various multimedia projects for piano, voice, live electronics, video, Butoh dance, as well as percussion pieces on sculptures, sound objects and fine arts tools. He has created sculptures and sound installations that can be played by the public. He has developed his most imaginative actions at the boundary between music and performance, such as a recital in complete darkness at the Sendesaal of Bremen (Germany).

He has played with first-rate musicians including Claudio Pontiggia, Hans Koch, Joachim Kühn, Franz Hautzinger, Carlos Zingaro, Michiel Borstlap, Walter Quintus, Ksenija Lukic, Hannah Marshall, Das Neue Ensemble Hannover, Americo Rodrigues, Ramón López, Paul Rogers, Mark Sanders, Hannah Ma (dance), Mimi Barthélemy, among others.

Balanyà has played in festivals and radio programs in many countries in Europe and America. He has received several grants in Germany (Worpswede, Eckernförde, Düsseldorf) and Switzerland (Fondazione Arp). He is currently based in Brussels and in Barcelona.

The concerts by Balanyà are powerful ​rituals –​ it could be said that he plays the piano with his whole body – during which ​we can perceive the presence of music change into matter.

Paul Rogers started playing the guitar at the age of twelve, two years later the bass guitar was added, and in 1973 he bought the first double bass. In 1974, he moved to London, played first in pubs, and finally met the saxophonist Mike Osborne, who introduced him to the free jazz scene, and soon joined musicians like Elton Dean, Keith Tippett, John Stevens, Howard Riley, Stan Tracey, Ken Hyder, Alan Skidmore, Evan Parker, Tony Marsh, Kenny Wheeler and John Etheridge. During this time Rogers often changed the formations and tried to play with as many musicians as possible. In 1984 he became a member of a trio formation with the drummer Tony Levin and alternately with Alan Skidmore or Paul Dunmall. In 1988 the Dunmall / Rogers / Levin Trio performed in the ensemble Mujician, who worked with the pianist Keith Tippett.
In 1987, Rogers moved to the United States, lived for one and a half year in Bronx, New York and played with musicians like Gerry Hemingway, Don Byron, Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, Tom Cora and Tim Berne. After his return to Europe, Pip Pyle was involved in the newly formed jazz quartet Equip'Out. Elton Dean and Sophia Domancich joined the formation, which had only a few performances and recorded only one album, Up!
The musical and personal relationship with Sophia Domancich continued even after the end of the group; Rogers played in their trio, with Bruno Tocanne on drums, which was soon replaced by Tony Levin. This formation continued until 1999 and recorded several albums. After that, Rogers settled down in France and worked there with Michel Doneda, Daunik Lazro and Ram n L pez, but also played with musicians such as Andrew Cyrille, John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Lol Coxhill, Barry Guy, Joachim Kühn, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Uwe Oberg.
Rogers is also a composer; several formations have played his compositions, such as 7 R.P.M. and the Paul Rogers Sextet (a 1990 tour through Great Britain with his suite Anglo-American Sketches). He has also received several composition commissions from the Arts Council of Great Britain. Under his own name, he recorded a quartet album with Paul Dunmall, Sophia Domancich and Tony Levin, later three solo albums, 1989 lists, 1995 Heron Moon and 2007 Being.

Mark has played with many renowned musicians including Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Derek Bailey, Henry Grimes, Roswell Rudd, Peter Brotzmann, Barry Guy, Otomo Yoshihide, Jah Wobble, Sidsel Endresen, Charles Gayle, Peter Evans and William Parker.
He works with John Edwards in a duo and with groups including Evan Parker, `Foils` with Frank Paul Schubert and Matthius Muller and groups with Veryan Weston, John Tilbury and Mathew Shipp. Mark works in a regular improvising duo with John Butcher and also performing John’s composition `Tarab Cuts` which has played festivals in Rio de Janiero, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Glasgow, Bristol and London. In a trio with cellist Okkyung Lee, John and Mark have played in Belgium, France, England and Scotland. He also has a longstanding duo with Sarah Gail Brand which has featured on the BBC`s `The Stuart Lee Show`and in the film `Taking the dog for a Walk`.
He has performed solo for a Christian Marclay exhibition at The White Cube Gallery in London, Evan Parker`s festival`Unwhitstable` in Wroclaw, Poland for `Solos Festival` The 100 Years Gallery London, an improvised music series in Derby and Cafe Oto in London.
Working with Christian Marclay in his `Everyday` piece for film and live music, he has performed in Aldeburgh, Ruhr Trienalle, Vienna Bienalle, Holland festival and London`s QEH and has also collaborated with him playing for the film `Screenplay`in London and Lisbon.
In situations using composition in one form or another Mark works in various projects including `13 Vices` with Brian Irvine/Jennifer Walshe, Alex Hawkins Ensemble featuring Peter Evans, Simon Fell Ensembe, groups with Hasse Poulsen and Luc Ex, Sarah Sarhandi`s `Both Universe`, Elaine Mitchener`s `Sweet Tooth` and has played in the groups of Shabaka Hutchings including`Sons of Kemet` Conceptual Artist Sam Belinfante collaborated with Mark in his piece `On the One Hand, and the Other` in two exhibitions at Camden Arts Centre, London For Conceptual artist Henrik Hakensen`s film `The End` he has performed as an improvising soloist with orchestras conductedd by Jessica Cottis, playing the music of John Coxon in Glasgow, Sydney and Monte Carlo As a guest with New York`s ICE Ensemble he has performed John Zorn`s `The Tempest` in London and at Huddersfield New Music Festival. Mark also works in the groups of Paul Dunmall including Deep Whole Trio with Paul Rogers, in duo and `Frisque Concordance` with Georg Graewe , and the ensembles of Mikolaj Trzaska, Uwe Oberg and Peter Jaquemyn. He has performed in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Morrocco, South Africa, Australia, Mozambique and Turkey, playing at many major festivals including Nickelsdorf, Riga, Ulrichsburg, Glastonbury, Womad, Vancouver, Isle of Wight, Roskilde, Berlin Jazz days, FMP, Mulhouse, Luz, Minniapolis, Banlieue Bleues, among others.