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ABOUT

ABOUT

"Intriguing... Ingenious. You’ll spend a while pondering how to classify them – prog folk? Operatic post-punk? Gothic reggae? – but they know how to write melodies."

- The Guardian

Contemporary album of the month

“Hard to imagine that voice, guitar and flute could

groove so hard and deliver so much.

- The Wire

After a while, the record’s quixotic magic begins to take hold. Like a tightly packed gift that only reveals its beauty over time

- The Quietus

 Punk or prog rock with art music and sampled improvisations or free jazz with backstage opera and the melancholy of folk.

- Musikexpress 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5 stars)

Witch 'n' Monk is the twinning of nonconformist Colombian flautist Mauricio Velasierra and anarchic soprano and guitarist Heidi Heidelberg.

Their unique sound is constructed with a collection of hybrid Latin American flutes radically manipulated with effects and extended techniques, anarchic soprano vocals that move seamlessly and suddenly between characters and timbres, analogue electronics and a jazz-punk guitar/bass hybrid. Each limb is called upon to create the sound of multiple dimensions being inhabited simultaneously, using a myriad of control pedals and labyrinthine signal paths to orchestrate live.

The essence of their collaboration is encapsulated in the name; dark and light, feminine and masculine, punk and Romantic, free-form and intricately composed. Exploring extremes and creating contrast are fundamental to their work and thus they tread upon the edges of genres. Celebrated in the jazz, contemporary classical and DIY underground music scenes they have played across the UK and Europe, at prestigious venues and festivals such as Berlin Jazzfest, London Jazz Festival and Umea Jazz Festival, Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, London’s Royal Festival Hall and Paris' La Cigale, but also they produce avant-garde live film scores performed at communist Italian skateparks or among the thorn bushes in overgrown East London gardens. 

There is a theatricality to their performances and their pursuit to blur the edges between art forms, collaborating with scent artists, visual artists, and embracing unusual spaces in their performances. They have been commissioned by ensembles, festivals and arts organisations such as Staatsoper Stuttgart, Staatstheater Freiburg, Lux:NM, AMOK Festival and Jerwood Arts Foundation to compose or arrange for larger ensembles or to create interdisciplinary work such as ‘Unravelling the Mind’ - a multi sensory performance incorporating live music, video art, immersive staging and live scent design, or ‘Witch ’n' Monk Extended’ a work for chamber ensemble, drums and video artists, or their original live music score for Oscar-nominated film ‘Embrace of the Serpent’.

 

Their previous releases ‘Fulafalonga’ and ‘We Are Peering Over’ were released in 2014 and 2016 and their new album was released on John Zorn's legendary label Tzadik Records on May 22 2020 to international critical acclaim , it was named Contemporary Album of the Month by The Guardian and received the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Witch 'n' Monk are the hosts of the FLUID FORM CLUB in Berlin that takes place regularly at ausland with different guest artists. The FLUID FORM CLUB is a space for passionately unpredictable music that escapes classification, bringing together a community of curious minds.

VIDEOS

VIDEOS

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WITCH 'N' MONK DUO

WITCH 'N' MONK EXTENDED

+ LUX:NM FEAT. JIM BLACK

MUSIC

MUSIC

WITCH 'N' MONK

[TZADIK, 2020]

WE ARE PEERING OVER

[LOTUS ARTS BOX, 2016]

DATES
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UPCOMING DATES

 

JAN 18 | UNRAVELLING THE MIND: IMPORT EXPORT Munich (DE) info

FEB 5 | "IMPROVISING A ZENTRUM": ALTE MÜNZE Berlin (DE)

+ Various other improvisers! 8pm

FEB 6 | "OPEN KIOSK: ALTE MÜNZE Berlin (DE)

+ Various other improvisers! 12-8pm

MAR 15 | EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT: DORTMUNDER-U (DE)

film screening with original live music

MAR 22 | SUPAMOLLY Berlin (DE)

+ Dog of Man & GURF

MAY 3 | JAZZARCHITEKT, Wiesbaden (DE)

MAY 4 | 674.FM Konzertraum, Ubierring 13, Cologne (DE)

JUN 8 | ausland, Berlin (DE) tickets

FLUID FORM CLUB #6 with 13 Year Cicada

JUN 24 | Stadtgarten, Cologne (DE)

AUG 2 | Oficinas do Conventho, Montemor-o-Novo (PT)

AUG 3 | No Noise Festival, Porto (PT)

AUG 31 | Kaivos Festivalii, Outokumpu (FI)

SEP 7 | *special performance* Radionovela, on Cashmere Radio info

SEP 21 | Feral Folk Festival, Berlin (DE)

SEP 28 | FLUID FORM CLUB, Berlin (DE) x PoiL Ueda

EUROPE & UK TOUR

NOV 2 | CCL, Lille (FR)

 

NOV 6 | Pan Pan, Birmingham (UK)

NOV 7 | Prince Albert, Brighton (UK)

NOV 10 | RaminagrObis, St Étienne (FR)

 

NOV 13 | Schönegg Varieté, Zurich (CH)

NOV 14 | Kulturbogen55, Innsbruck (AT)

NOV 17 | Raumschiff, Linz (AT)

NOV 18 | Porgy & Bess (Strenger Kammer) , Vienna (AT)

NOV 19 | Cafe Wolf, Graz (AT)

NOV 20 | Punctum, Prague (AT)

NOV 22 | RE:JAZZ FESTIVAL, Berlin (DE)

NOV 27 | BEEFLAT, Bern (CH) x Stefan Schultze

2024

*****
PAST DATES

2023

ART SPACE IN EXILE Berlin (DE)

FRI-SON Fribourg (CH)

PROGR Bern (CH)

CUADRO22 Chur (CH)

TAM TAM OK Munich (DE)

KANTINE AM BERGHAIN Berlin (DE)

SÄÄLCHEN Berlin (DE)

JAZZ OF PEACE & WINE FESTIVAL Cormons (IT)

NIGHT OF SURPRISE FESTIVAL, STADTGARTEN Köln (DE)

AUSLAND Berlin (DE)

WESTWERK Hamburg (DE)

BABYLON KINO Berlin (DE)

FLUID FORM CLUB @ AUSLAND Berlin (DE)

MOODS Zurich (CH)

JAZZHAUS Freiburg (DE)

2022

RAUW FESTIVAL Rotterdam (NL)

SAGE GATESHEAD (UK)

TOR 9 Bremen (DE)

KESSELHAUS Berlin (DE)

SOUNDWAVES FESTIVAL Bari (IT)

C-SPACE Berlin (DE)

KÜHLSPOT Berlin (DE)

COME CLOSER FESTIVAL (DE)

STAATSOPER STUTTGART (DE)

TALLINN MUSIC WEEK (EE)

PLLEK Amsterdam (NL)

CAFE WAGNER Jena (DE)

HOUSE OF MUSIC Berlin (DE)

SCHOKOLADEN Berlin (DE)

THE WORKMAN'S CLUB Dublin (IE)

BRILLIANT CORNERS FESTIVAL Belfast (UK)

THE ROSE HILL Brighton (UK)

2021

BRILLIANT CORNERS FESTIVAL (Online)

JAZZWOCHE, A-TRANE Berlin (DE)

2020

TIVOLI VREDENBURG Utrecht (NL)

LIVESTREAM Berlin (DE) x LUX:NM & Jim Black

HALLE 424 Hamburg (DE)

AMOK FESTIVAL Bruges (BE) + Stephane Galland

CAFE WAGNER Jena (DE)

JAZZFEST BERLIN Berlin (DE) + Jim Black & Lux:NM

2019

FORUMBRASIL Berlin (DE)

DAS KAPiTAL Berlin (DE)

ROODE BIOSCOOP Amsterdam (NL)

JAZZROCKEN Bremen (DE)

AUSLAND Berlin (DE)

ZUKUNFT AM OSTKREUZ Berlin (DE)

OBOA FESTIVAL Gorgast (DE)

HANGAR49 Berlin (DE)

BLACK HEART London (UK)

THE PEER HAT Manchester (UK)

TANDEM FESTIVAL Oxfordshire (UK)

SNAPE MALTINGS Aldeburgh (UK)

WATT Berlin (DE)

MS STUBNITZ Hamburg (DE)

 

2018

HANGAR49 Berlin (DE)

ZOMERJAZZFIETSTOUR Groningen (NL)

TOLHUISTUIN Amsterdam (NL)

TOLHUISTUIN Amsterdam (NL)

DAVE LOMBARDO Berlin (DE)

PARADOX Tilburg (NL)

SMEDERIJ Groningen (NL)

BREBL Nijmegen (NL)

PLETTERIJ Haarlem (NL)

BIMHUIS Amsterdam (NL)

 

2017

MANCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL Manchester (UK)

WORM Rotterdam (NL)

EARSESSION Amsterdam (NL)

HUSET Aarlborg (DK)

WESTWERK Hamburg (DE)

DUNKERS KULTURHUS Helsingborg (SE)

 

2016

SOUTHBURGH FESTIVAL Norwich (UK)

PETE THE MONKEY FESTIVAL (FR)

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL Liverpool (UK)

MOUNT STEWART (NI)

BLACK BOX Belfast (NI)

FUSEBOX Leeds (UK)

SMUGGLERS FESTIVAL Deal (UK)

NETHER EDGE FESTIVAL Sheffield (UK)

RICH MIX London (UK)

 

2015 etc.

LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL - supporting The Bad Plus (UK)

UMEA JAZZ FESTIVAL Umea (SE)

INJAZZ SHOWCASE FESTIVAL Rotterdam (NL)

SOUTHBANK CENTRE London (UK)

RICH MIX, London (UK)

UNION CHAPEL London (UK)

BARBICAN CENTRE London (UK))

VORTEX JAZZ CLUB London (UK)

LA CIGALE Paris - Les Femmes s'en Melent Festival (FR)

CONTACT
Witch 'n' Monk Press Photo 2 (Landscape)
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CONTACT

BOOKING

music [at] witchnmonk.com

Benelux (NL, BE, LU): linda [at] stroom.ws

OTHER INFO

music [at] witchnmonk.com

EPK

PASSWORD REQUIRED

contact
music [at] witchnmonk.com

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