Vladimir Estragon
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Estragon were an avant-rock group founded in Germany
in 1988 by German
composer and reed player Alfred Harth
with FM Einheit, Ulrike Haage
, and Phil Minton
(UK
). In 1980 Harth produced the LP Es herrscht Uhu im Land on JAPO/ECM
with the idea of integrating punk rock
, free jazz
and classical music
and followed this design throughout the 80s in the groups Cassiber
, Duck and Cover, Gestalt et Jive
and Vladimir Estragon.Vladimir Estragon were using electronic arrangements whose preset-derived poetry was poisoned by oblique complexities and sudden animations entering the picture when less expected.
Vladimir Estragon performed their postmodern program during the years 1988–1989 as well as on the Berlin Jazz Festival and the Jazzfestival Münster.Despite having invitations for upcoming tours to Australia
and the USA the group stopped too early when Haage left to join the pop group Rainbirds
.
by Samuel Becket. The group’s album title was taken from a phrase in James Joyce
’s Finnegans Wake
.Both names were chosen by Harth who had favored Samuel Becket as a writer from around 1968 on.Harth interpreted the two characters Wladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot
as West Germany
and East Germany during the Cold War who are waiting for unification.Surprisingly to everybody the iron curtain
collapsed some months after the foundation of the music group Vladimir Estragon.
/Tip Toe, 1989)http://www.enjarecords.com/cd.php?nr=TIP-888+803&PHPSESSID=e31c7d2599fe04a1db07d837ca3c8ece
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1988 by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer and reed player Alfred Harth
Alfred Harth
Alfred 23 Harth is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who mixes genres in a polystylistic manner...
with FM Einheit, Ulrike Haage
Ulrike Haage
Ulrike Haage is a German pianist and composer. She is also a producer for radio plays, for which she does the dramaturgy and the music composition. Last but not least, she is a sound artist.- The jazz years :...
, and Phil Minton
Phil Minton
Phil Minton is a jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter.Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's group, Daniil Kharms and Joseph Brodsky with Simon Nabatov, and extracts from James Joyce's...
(UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
). In 1980 Harth produced the LP Es herrscht Uhu im Land on JAPO/ECM
ECM (record label)
ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
with the idea of integrating punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and followed this design throughout the 80s in the groups Cassiber
Cassiber
Cassiber were a German avant-rock group founded in 1982 by German composer and saxophonist Alfred Harth, German composer, music-theatre director and keyboardist Heiner Goebbels, English drummer Chris Cutler from Henry Cow and German guitarist Christoph Anders...
, Duck and Cover, Gestalt et Jive
Gestalt et Jive
Gestalt et Jive were a multinational avant-rock group founded in West Germany in 1984 by multi-instrumentalist Alfred Harth, comprising Steve Beresford , Anton Fier , Alfred Harth , Peter Hollinger , Ferdinand Richard and Uwe Schmitt .In 1980 Harth produced the LP Es herrscht Uhu im Land on...
and Vladimir Estragon.Vladimir Estragon were using electronic arrangements whose preset-derived poetry was poisoned by oblique complexities and sudden animations entering the picture when less expected.
Vladimir Estragon performed their postmodern program during the years 1988–1989 as well as on the Berlin Jazz Festival and the Jazzfestival Münster.Despite having invitations for upcoming tours to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the USA the group stopped too early when Haage left to join the pop group Rainbirds
Rainbirds
The Rainbirds were a German Pop rock band established in 1986 around the singer Katharina Franck. Their greatest hit was "Blueprint".-History:...
.
Name
The group’s name referred to the characters in Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
by Samuel Becket. The group’s album title was taken from a phrase in James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
’s Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake is a novel by Irish author James Joyce, significant for its experimental style and resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's...
.Both names were chosen by Harth who had favored Samuel Becket as a writer from around 1968 on.Harth interpreted the two characters Wladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
as West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and East Germany during the Cold War who are waiting for unification.Surprisingly to everybody the iron curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
collapsed some months after the foundation of the music group Vladimir Estragon.
Members
- FM Einheit – percussion works, drums, stones
- Alfred HarthAlfred HarthAlfred 23 Harth is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who mixes genres in a polystylistic manner...
- composition, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet - Ulrike HaageUlrike HaageUlrike Haage is a German pianist and composer. She is also a producer for radio plays, for which she does the dramaturgy and the music composition. Last but not least, she is a sound artist.- The jazz years :...
– composition programming, piano, synth - Phil MintonPhil MintonPhil Minton is a jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter.Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's group, Daniil Kharms and Joseph Brodsky with Simon Nabatov, and extracts from James Joyce's...
– vocals, trumpet
Discography
Three Quarks For Muster Mark (LP+CD, Enja RecordsEnja Records
Enja Records is a German jazz record label based in Munich, Germany. It was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971....
/Tip Toe, 1989)http://www.enjarecords.com/cd.php?nr=TIP-888+803&PHPSESSID=e31c7d2599fe04a1db07d837ca3c8ece