Erwan Keravec solo
Playing solo was something that came naturally to me.
The Scottish bagpipes are historically a solo instrument. So it was only logical that I give it a try…
At first I wanted to move away from traditional music, then I recognized that I myself needed to move before transposing it onto the instrument.
Beginning in the drone of the pipes, Keravec starts the movement of each piece with the introduction of small differences and altered textures, each of which becomes a focal point until incremental changes replace it with sonetihing new. Forms build and rhythms shape sift as the song unfolds; each passage contains the seed of the next. The sounds range from deep multi phonic hums and creak to howls and sirens, punctuated with hoots, wails and ferociously saccading bleeps. Duration is key: the shortest of the tree songs is over six minutes, but the monumental « Increase the flow rate » is nearly 18.
The Wire, Jan 26
After having explored every facet of traditional Breton music, and then all its possible connections with contemporary music, Erwan Keravec offers a more intimate approach to the instrument — here, at least, a contemplative one.
France Music, Dec 25
Whitewater is immersed in an aquatic atmosphere, moving between swirling currents and meditative moments. The title “whitewater” reflects this state of mind.
He plays music specially devised for his instrument –music of austere violence, at the same time grandiose, fundamentally modern and often radical, yet never cut off from its roots
Jazz Magazine (2009)
Erwan Keravec treats improvisation as a visual artist, as one would treat the blacks in a monochrome, through incisions, rhythm and ways to catch light.
Jazz Magazin (2011)