Joy Guidry's Amen was one of the most special records I listened to during last year; I have now gone with the habit of removing the digital files of music I listened to, when enough. Then I saw that Joy would come to Alice, and not only for a concert but to a talk too — yes please!

So first comes the talking: it was conducted by Alexander Julin Mortensen (from Passive Agressive); it touched upon some of Joy's influences, upbringing with the bassoon, the creative process, the tension of improvising; Joy was funny, and had lots to say — a few comments on how she feels comfortable with her music, its direction, despite the struggle of not wanting to get stuck under the ambient genre umbrella — or worse, the spiritual jazz, healing-music, which she believes mostly stems from being a black woman.

The concert: really nice. Joy had mentioned working with a live band, but for this concert in particular (and most likely the rest of the tour) it's a solo endeavour: it's her, the bassoon, a computer, and big amps. It's an exploratory, improvisational concert; the bassoon gets processed and looped, chopped and mangled, something that one would more immediately associate with maximalist pop provocateurs; at some point voices emerge, they're clear: Joy herself will address the audience, with a more explicit introduction to one of her new works.

Spoken word is not new in music, but if there is a ressurgence in its use — and maybe it can be argued — it might just be because recording and sharing voice artifacts has become so much easier. Off the top of my head, I'll think of the work of Claire Rousay; on another end of the spectrum — relying on it almost for the sake of form — comes Fred Again...