Grand Electronic Suite

STEAM-Group + Sven-Åke Johansson

At the Roundhouse London 1972

Houtkamp
Anijs 
van Campen
Kamphuisen
Johansson

Part I
The Structures, Instrumental

Part II
A Friendly Goo-bye, vocal

Luc Houtkamp: tenor saxophone
Richard Anijs: french horn
Tony van Campen: live electronics
Hennie Kamphuisen: cello, crackle box
Sven-Åke Johansson: percussion, accordion

Rec. at the Roundhouse London1972
during ICES Festival

"For this show we reharsed a week in a small village in the south of Holland. The repertoire of the first half was a kind of "frozen improvisation". We made some written plans about the form and structures and then rehearsed it for a whole week. So during these rehearsals things moved from improvisation into fixed form, just by remembering what we have played, and polishing it. This is a working concept that later became a sort of standard method in my work. The second half of the performance was totally different. Sven-Åke Johansson made a choreography and libretto on the music of "The Grand Canyon Suite" of Grofe. We didn't play the music ourselves, but we had a tape of the music played and we sang with it at the end. Also we had this dance act on it. We were all dressed up as animals, I was the big bear, with ears and all, and danced the awaking of the day, the adventures of the animals, the storm, and returning to peace at the end. We were not dancers at all, and it was very amateurish on purpose. Those were the days...."
Luc Houtkamp

2008 SÅJ-CD 15