Press

“Pianist Lisa Ullén and bassist Nina de Heney are among the foremost and most well-known improvisational musicians in Sweden (…) it’s about a search on equal terms for sounds and complex tones where they capture each other's ideas and develop the music further together. The touch is sometimes delayed, but just as often insistent with distinct strokes on the bass body and strings as well as cluster attacks in the piano's lower register. Sure, music with strong elements of dissonance can be demanding, but the exceptional excitement and dynamism that Ullén and de Heney create here is difficult to resist.” Peter Bornemar, Lira Musikmagasin.

“Extraordinary is all I can say as I dive in to such an unique approach.… Amazing piano, some of it prepared, which should appeal to fans of John Cage as well as of Cecil Taylor”. Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery.

THE SEASHELL AND THE CLERGYMAN (1928)

Directed: Germaine Dulac Screenplay: Antonin Artaud (writer), Germaine Dulac (uncredited) Cinematography: Paul Guichard, Paul Parguel Starring: Alex Allin, Genica Athanasiou, Lucien Bataille. First movie projection Studio des Ursulines, Paris 1928, France.

Length: 41′

BIOS

Lisa Ullén

A native of Seoul, Korea, Lisa Ullén grew up in the northern part of Sweden, and is based in Stockholm.

She is a graduate of the Royal Musical Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, where she studied classical piano in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since the late 1990s, she has devoted herself entirely to improvised music, in the form of free jazz as well as avant garde and contemporary classical and experimental music. A versatile player with a singular musical vision, Ullén has repeatedly proven her ability to imprint her absolute sense for tonal texture on whatever musical context she appears in.

Internationally recognized as a distinctive and uncompromising musician and composer, Ullén over the last decade has produced more than fifteen albums. She has collaborated extensively with many well-known Swedish artists and dancers, and has also scored several dramatic productions. She’s also performed and recorded music by contemporary composers . In 2018, she released the triple album Piano Works and Ep Sekvenser och Lager on her own label Disorder. In October 2018, Lisa Ullén was awarded the  Jazz composer of the Year-prize by the Swedish Radio.

http://lisaullen.com/bio/

Nina de Heney

Born in 1962, Nina grew up in Switzerland. She studied with Miroslav Vitous at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston from 1981 to 1983. Nina moved to Sweden in 1983, where she again studied from 1988 to 1993 at the Göteborg Conservatory of Music, where she also achieved a Soloist Diploma 2004 to 2006.

She started doing solo performances in 1992, often working with dancers and in 2008 she founded the festival Dance 'n' Bass alongside dancer and choreographer Anna Westberg. Her three solo albums Archipelago, 2 and Three have all been met with critical acclaim and she has, on several occasions, been nominated for the Swedish Jazz Celebration and received the 2012 Jazz Musician of the Year Award. In addition to this she has been awarded funds from the Swedish Arts Grant on several occasions. Nina has been working in the jazz and improvisation scene in Sweden for many years with a number of groups and is currently working  in duo with  pianist Lisa Ullén and in trio with  Karin Johansson, piano, and Henrik Wartel, drums.

https://www.ninadeheney.com

DUO 

Duo have been playing as a duo since 2007, and rapidly gained recognition as one the most thrilling new groups on the improvisation scene in Sweden. They are individually known and respected as well established performers, having each developed a personal sound on their respective instrument. It has now been 10 years since the release of their first CD "CARVE" (Lj records, 2009). After several trio releases, this double CD album presents the duo in two intense recording sessions done in Haga Church (Göteborg), one evening with a live audience, one without.