#Birgitta Flick

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[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Knowing you was a choice

Pairing: Raven Scientist (Victoria Van Gale/The Raven Leader)

Summary: Mere days after they met for the first time, Victoria pays the Raven Leader a visit and makes her a proposition (which has nothing at all to do with how her heart flutters around her, of course)Notes:

Notes: I was ready to write Victoria as being kinda cold and super awkwards around children, but then I rewatched The Storm and The Windmill and like. This woman wants to be a mum. She’s so good with kids. It’s not even Kaisa’s “I get a lot better with children because I am kinda like them”, Victoria is just straight up great with them (except with like. Weather spirit children ig lol). Anyway I just know that as someone who works with kids the raven Leader would be impressed by that, so thank you, canon, for helping me here

Also, yes. In my head Victoria is a Carlos from wtnv sort of person who just walks around with her lab coat for no apparent reason. You can’t take this away from me

Read it on ao3 or read the first instalment in this verse

As the Raven Leader, Birgitta had to always be ready for the most unexpected things one could possibly imagine. To swiftly get her children away from danger. To counteract the effect of a poisonous plant when one of them ate one as a dare. To properly chasten bullies who thought that there was any space for mistreating others in the Sparrow Scouts. To call the poor single mother of one of their newest scouts and say ma’am, I’m sorry, but I think your daughter is messing with forces unknown again. You name it.

She had not, however, been prepared to step outside of her office and find the woman she’d met at the hardware store staring intently at the map of the Sparrow Scouts grounds.

She was standing in front of it, her long hair falling like a mantle across her back, and her usual tight as a rod posture forgone so she could lean her torso towards the map. Gone were the casual clothes in which Birgitta had met her, replaced by dark blue overalls and a labcoat.

It was clearly a ploy. Nobody would find a map with a couple of buildings and colourful dots that symbolised camping grounds interesting enough to be looked at for more than ten seconds, and her contemplative look marked the lines of her face too sharply for it to be genuine. She wanted to be caught like this, but Birgitta was not about to point that out, much less complain. It would be a lie to say that her mind hadn’t been replaying their interactions whenever it was even slightly idle ever since their meeting.

“Oh, Birgitta, how lovely to see you here!”

The exclamation made her have to bite down on the inside of her cheeks to keep herself from laughing. She knew perfectly well that Victoria had allowed her to be in her field of vision for a couple of moments and only addressed her when she was close enough that, in her mind, it wouldn’t seem like she had been expecting her. It didn’t work.

Yes, Van Gale, how lovely, she thought, how lovely that you would find me in my workplace. During working hours. Directly outside my office.

What a dork.

“Ditto!” She said instead. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Oh, you know-” Victoria flicked her wrist with feigned nonchalance, making Birgitta want to burst out laughing again. She wondered if the scientist had any idea of the meaning that kids gave to that gesture these days. “Just wanted to revisit some memories from my time as a Scout. I haven’t been here since I… left. I see a lot has changed. The grounds are a lot bigger than I remember.”

At the mention of her pet project, Birgitta beamed.

“Not to toot my own horn, but most of the expansions were done after I became Raven Leader.”

Victoria gave her a lopsided smile and an impressed look that said ‘go ahead, I’m listening’. It was one of the things that had drawn Birgitta to her when they first met. The woman no doubt had a vast amount of knowledge and experience with the most diverse things, but instead of treating her like she was anything less for not having a fancy job or a privileged education, she seemed truly fascinated to hear what she had to say. It was endearing, to say the least.

She invited Victoria for a walk, and after the woman accepted, she began telling the tale about how she had been promoted from being one of the event organisers to Raven Leader much younger than most Leaders before her. How she had seen the potential for their organisation to do and teach much more than they had been able to at that time. How she convinced the board to let her organise a fundraiser to buy a larger piece of land for the Scouts, and her research to find the cheapest one that still offered as much safety to the children as possible. In the end, she’d come across the perfect slot, far enough away from the town that it could easily be considered the wilderness but close enough that weekend trips there weren’t hard to convince parents to allow. She had gotten a special price since there were rumours of that land being ‘haunted by nightmare spirits’, but she had known how much people loved to exaggerate their ghost stories. Still, the fundraiser hadn’t been successful enough to buy it (baked goods only allowed you to save so much money), so Birgitta had put her own life savings into the purchase, trusting her instincts that with more space, the Sparrow Scouts would flourish even more. It had undoubtedly paid off, not to mention that Birgitta herself was named as one of the owners to the land, side by side with the organisation she led.

Victoria took in her story as they walked side by side, first through the corridors of the main hall, its walls covered in pictures and portraits and trophies from local competitions which they encouraged their scouts to take part in, and then through the outdoor areas, which were prepared to accommodate a variety of activities. Birgitta had nothing if not a steel determination, and anyone who heard her tales from working at the Scouts would have picked that up. It was the trait that Victoria admired the most in any person. Even though her brand of ambition was much different to Victoria’s, more warm and thoughtful where hers was cold and borderline machiavellian at times, it made her admire her instantly.

This cloud of admiration, however, was not sufficient to make her mind hazy enough not to pick up on information that could be useful to her. 

Magic was something that liked to huddle together in odd places. Spots that were haunted by one type of spirit usually hosted many more of them, which you could find if you knew how to look. And legends were always based on some sort of truth.

Those were things that had been clear to her even as a young scientist who thought logic should always prevail over the mystical, and the years had only confirmed her suspicions that the line between those two wasn’t as solid as most people believed.

She stored those thoughts away for another moment. Right now, just smelling the flowers was enough. Literally, that was, because the Raven Leader had led them to an area with flower beds.

“We used to send our scouts to earn their Friend of the Park badges in actual parks, bringing life back to some area that needed it.” She explained as they walked by a bed of violets. “But last time we did so one of the groups had a bit of a… Vittra problem, let’s say. So we decided to move that activity inside our property to avoid displeasing any more nature spirits. I honestly didn’t expect for it to work so well, but for some months now it seems like everything we plant flourishes. It’s amazing.”

Victoria had to bite her tongue. She wanted to brag, to say that of course nature was blooming, ever since she’d managed to manipulate smaller weather events she’d made sure Trolberg’s crops could thrive under the most favourable weather conditions. Most people were attributing her work to that year’s grandiose appearance of the Great Raven, but she was content knowing that the credit was, in fact, hers. Nothing wrong with taking yourself for something of a messenger of the gods, she thought. To Birgitta, though, she <em>wanted</em> to reveal how it was all her master plan, and hopefully get some points with her in the process.

Not yet, though. There were things that were still missing.

“I forgot to ask, how is your arm?”

Snapped out of her musings, Victoria needed a moment to remember what she was referring to. The same moment that she remembered, she began noticing the pain again.

“Oh, I think I’ll live, don’t worry.” She grimaced, happy when Birgitta chuckled instead of looking down at her for her weakness. It probably would have been more dignified to pretend she wasn’t feeling anything at all, but something told her that Birgitta would see right through her.

“I’m sorry I let you carry all that.” The Raven Leader apologised, beckoning her to walk further away from the building in which she did all her paperwork and held ceremonies for the Scouts, as if she hadn’t been carrying much more than the other woman. “Sorry if this comes across as intrusive, but have you ever tried yoga? It’s a nice way to build strength and take care of your joints. Plus, you look like one of those people who can’t turn their thoughts off. It would do you good, I promise it’s lovely.”

Refraining herself from saying that she wouldn’t be caught dead doing yoga, Victoria let out a hum that she hoped would come across as thoughtful. “Well, do you have any instructor to recommend to me?”

“Every day there’s a collective session at Vine Park at five in the afternoon, whenever I go it’s a good time.” She stopped walking and turned to her with a smile. “We could go together, one day.”

The huff of laughter that came out of Victoria’s lips could mean anything from joy at Birgitta wanting to do something with her to indignation at the mere suggestion.

“Haven’t you seen me embarrassing myself enough, Birgitta?”

She chuckled again, and kept walking through the grass paths, trusting that Victoria would follow her.

“I haven’t seen you embarrass yourself at all. All I saw was you being courteous.”

It would have been very useful, in that moment, if it were possible for someone to high five themselves. That not being the case, however, Victoria was limited to simply looking pleased with her apparently successful plan. Though Birgitta noticed the way she stood up straighter, she didn’t comment on it, and kept on guiding her to the place she wanted her to see the most.

The instruments were placed on a metal table. There were currently no children around it, but every morning a group of Sparrow Scouts was invited to write down their measurements and share them with the rest of their peers, so they could guess how the day would go. Not that it worked with scientific precision, but it was a nice way to make them earn their weather watching badges.

Once they were close enough to the Sparrow Scouts’ makeshift weather station and the shapes of the homemade machines were recognizable, Victoria looked at her with a question mark clearly stamped on her eyes. With a proud smirk, Birgitta gestured for her to go ahead, making Victoria trot the last few metres that separated them from the table.

Upon it were instruments she recognized like old friends, but much less complex than she ever remembered seeing them as. A barometer made with a coffee can, an anemometer of paper cups, a sling psychrometer built from a bottle, a wind vane with a paper plate as the compass and rain gauge that was basically an empty olive jar.

“Birgitta, these are amazing!” They weren’t exactly accurate, but just the fact that they existed filled Victoria with barely contained energy. “Did your kids make these?”

“They did!” She walked to her side, closely observing Van Gale as she filled her eyes with the instruments. “We recently introduced a weather watching badge. Building these is the first part of getting it. The scouts that are aiming to get it also have to take turns to get their measurements for a couple of weeks.”

“How many of them are trying it?”

“Oh, I’d say around fifteen scouts. I think all of the more quiet kids chose this activity.”

“Do you think they’d like to visit the bureau?”

The words had been out of Victoria’s mouth before her brain could process or filter them. Logically, it was a terrible idea. A bunch of kids snooping around a lap where she did her most important and secretive research could not go well, especially not with the containment station being built. But even after she had said it, she couldn’t find it in herself to want to take it back. She loved what she did, and one of her life’s most painful failings was never having had someone to share her passion with. The idea of a group of kids, filled with curious energy as children always were, being willing to learn more about the science of meteorology, and maybe even being inspired by a visit to an actual station, was far too exciting for her to regret.

Birgitta blinked. Funnily enough, she hadn’t seemed to have been expecting that. Which was sweet, Victoria thought, because it meant she had just wanted to show her their instruments to let her know her line of work was valued by her and her scouts, instead of trying to get something out of her.

“Well, I think they’d love that.” She said at last. “But wouldn’t it be too much trouble for you?”

“Nonsense! It has been far too long since I’ve had visitors. I would love to have you and your young aspiring scientists in my lab.”

Since she sounded and looked like she truly meant it, Birgitta smiled.

“In which case, I should probably get your phone. Let’s get back to my office so I can write it down.”

She would have added that it was only for arrangement making purposes that she wanted to get her number, but she’d never been a good liar. Birgitta had simply seen the opportunity and taken it.

As they walked away, she noticed how Victoria kept on gazing happily at the homemade instruments, and smiled. She often felt that this world lacked passion. It had transformed most people into thoughtless machines who just went about their routines without ever being able to dream of more. Not Victoria, though. This woman was brimming with it, and Birgitta hoped nothing was ever able to take it away from her.

“What drew you to science?” She asked, unable to contain herself. At that point, Victoria already knew all about what had made her come to the Sparrow Scouts, and why she didn’t want to leave any time soon, but she still knew very little about the weather woman. Seeming surprised to have been asked that question, her face became wistful as she thought of an answer.

“I think wisdom lies in not denying things simply because you can’t understand them.” She began. “But there’s a beauty in logic, and in the power that it gives to humans, and that has always fascinated me. How we’re able to tame and control even that which is so much bigger and stronger than us through understanding it. I fall in love with it a bit more every time I think about this.”

Leaves crunched under their shoes as they walked, and butterflies fluttered by. It wasn’t the answer Birgitta had been expecting. Something like “career day at school opened my eyes” or “I found an interesting book in the library” were more the line that most people followed. That wasn’t to say that the explanation she got wasn’t much more interesting, though.

“Well, I don’t know.” Her voice was thoughtful, not judgemental. She made sure of it. “I think there’s a lot of beauty in what we can’t control. Whenever it storms I can't help but think how gorgeous it is, that nature is so much more powerful than us and constantly reminding us of that. Makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger.”

Victoria remained in contemplative silence, fidgeting with the hem of her lab coat. She made an interesting figure, a serious academic in her research clothes strolling around on the grounds of a children’s scouts unit. Figuring she had nothing to lose, Birgitta continued.

“Take the heart, too. Where would the fun be if we could actually take its reins and place our feelings where we want them? The unexpectedness is one of the most exciting parts of the journey, don’t you think?”

Unbeknown to the Raven Leader, Victoria’s own heart did a somersault in her thorax. Maybe, just maybe, she could see the credit in that philosophy.

                                                    ………

On the day they had chosen for the Sparrows Scouts visit to Trolberg’s Meteorological Bureau, the sun rose early and brightly. Victoria, for once, woke up before her alarm even rang - or rather, before it splashed water all over her - filled with excited energy that made it impossible for her to linger in bed.

It had been ages since she’d had people there. Ever since she’d begun tinkering with weather manipulation, visitations had been closed and she’d always make up an excuse or another when people asked her to go in (“Sorry, miss Hallgrim, a class full of children near my delicate equipments isn’t something I can allow” and “Forgive me, deputy, but the Town Hall has declared that my research wouldn’t need to be supervised by the Patrol. Will we need to take this to the mayor?” had both become her classics). It was only now, on the verge of opening her doors again, that she had realised how much she’d missed it. The presence of other people in her lab, the opportunity to share a bit about what made her get up every morning, the faces people made when they realised that something they had thought was boring could be cool, actually. 

She missed being listened to.

There was a large cardboard box on the entrance corridor, and as soon as she’d set the coffee machine on, she put it on a taller cupboard and out of a small person’s reach. In the past, when school buses would frequently park by the foothill and release dozens of children into the station, she’d had a small gift shop with trinkets for them to take home if they wanted to. This time, she had ordered the same gifts she used to, but she knew damn well she wouldn’t charge for them. She wanted Birgitta’s kids to have something to remember that afternoon by.

She spent the morning in a lovely mood, making sure to check all of her machines and to lock everything that shouldn’t be seen by anyone but her out in the garage. She used very little equipment nowadays, since most of her predictions came from the weather she conjured up herself, but she’d be damned if those kids didn’t leave there feeling like they knew exactly how each of a meteorologist’s tools worked. 

When the time they had agreed on came, Victoria was waiting for them on the other side of the cable car. She had asked Birgitta to advise the children to bring coats, since no matter the weather in town, the Bureau was high enough in the hill it sat on that its surroundings were always snowy, and visitors tended to get chilly halfway through the climb in the cable car. It wasn’t something she even noticed anymore; after she had started wearing her thermal jumpsuit, the only moments she paid any attention to temperature were when she was studying it, but she didn’t want her guests to feel any discomfort. Sure enough, the kids that were coming out of the bus which had just parked near her were all leaving with warm pieces of clothing in their hands, if not already on their bodies.

With each child that left the bus, Victoria tried to look more welcoming. She wasn’t exactly used to children, but she did really like them. Children were curious, and didn’t allow people’s opinions stop them from doing what they enjoyed, and those were things she held the highest respect for. It felt important to cause a good impression and to leave a positive mark on them. Maybe she could be a positive memory in their lives, maybe even push them towards an interest in the sciences, and it all depended on how she carried herself. 

The fact that Birgitta cared about the opinion of those children in particular didn’t hurt either, of course. 

“Welcome, everyone!” She exclaimed once the last child climbed down, noticing how they stared in awe first at her, and then at the Bureau, which was for the moment being only a blur in the distance. “I’m so glad to have you all here. I heard you lot took an interest in meteorology, is that right?”

Birgitta climbed out of the bus just as the children were making a chorus of affirmation.

“Victoria!” The children stepped out of the way so that their leader could walk towards their host. “Thank you so much for having us here. The children were so excited that some of the scouts that hadn’t even been working on the badge wanted to come. I thought it might be better to leave it for a later date, though.”

“Nonsense, the pleasure is all mine!” Victoria kept her eyes firmly on the other woman as she walked closer, reigning her surprise in when she hugged her in greeting. She hoped her cheeks weren’t pink enough that it couldn’t be attributed to the cool air. “But yes, probably better to bring more children when we have more time to organise this. We’ll already have to split up to get them all there as it is.”

She gestured towards the cable car with her head, and Birgitta’s mouth parted in surprise. When she’d been warned that that was the only way up to where Victoria lived, she hadn’t imagined the ravine that separated the hill they were in from the mountain which held the lab at its peak.

“Okay. How do you suggest we do this?”

The cable car could safely hold about five people, so Victoria’s suggestion was four rides to get them all up. On the first ride, the Raven Leader came along, leaving the bus driver to watch over the rest of the children, and stayed waiting with them on top of the mountain, just outside the Bureau. Victoria remained in the car during all the rides, in order to be an adult presence on them and so she could already begin introducing the kids to her work. Once the last batch had been safely dropped off at the top, Victoria climbed down with them and took the lead of the group, guiding them to the front door.

“Welcome all!” She exclaimed, her voice filling the room as the children behind her began to poke their heads inside and gasp. “To the Greater Trolberg Meteorological Bureau!”

She’d had her forecasts for the day previously recorded and had scheduled them to be aired at the right times, so that upon her guests’ arrival she could give them her full attention, and that was what she did. Even though there were clearly a few kids in the bunch that didn’t really care about being there and probably had only been working on the badge because they thought it would be an easy one, the excitement and curiosity of most of them more than made up for it. Even the more quiet kids, who seemed to be of the ‘likes to sit quietly and read in the back of the classroom’ sort grew comfortable enough to interact with her through the course of the visit.

And then there was Birgitta. The woman tended to stay behind the group so she could watch over all of them, but Victoria was proud to realise she seemed to be enjoying her monologues as well. With each instrument whose utility she explained, Birgitta seemed to join in on the children’s interest in them. She made a mental note to ask her later about which part had been her favourite. Judging by her face though, Victoria guessed it would be the history of Meteorology, which she had introduced them to as soon as they were all safely inside the lab.

Truth be told, the Raven Leader was impressed with Victoria’s effortlessly articulate speech. Since she had asked her to talk about herself every time they had been together so far, Birgitta had assumed she simply didn’t like to talk all that much, but it seemed like she’d been completely wrong. Whether it was because she had home field advantage, or because of knowing an absurd lot about that topic, or simply because she had a gift, she didn’t know, but she for one couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scientist as she went on about her work, and it seemed like most of the children couldn’t either. 

Their questions were another thing she handled beautifully. Birgitta had experience with taking her kids to meet professionals, since she thought it gave them good resources to make a well informed choice when they grew up and had to choose their careers. Many of said experts seemed to have no idea of who their target audience was, and only left the kids with even more doubts. Victoria, on the other hand, was well aware that she was talking to children, and took that into consideration without ever acting condescendingly. Birgitta had always thought that being able to explain something to someone who knew nothing about the subject was the true sign that you had a good grasp of it, and she stood corrected.

The last thing she had shown them had been the recording booth, and after that, they were heading towards the exit again. Victoria was just wondering if it would be selfish of her to offer them coffee just so she could stay near Birgitta for a while longer, and if she even could offer caffeine to children that young - she’d started at five years old herself, but on hindsight that maybe was why she’d turned out like that - when one of the kids sighed.

“Finally.” Either he thought he was whispering and had poor control over his voice, or he simply didn’t care about people overhearing. “That was boring.”

Everyone turned to him with a chastening glare, and the Raven Leader called his name warningly. He was one of the kids that had spent the entire visit with his arms crossed, either talking to his friends or looking around with annoyance. Another kid by his side, one who had spent their time there similarly, looked like they wanted to agree, but thought better of it when they noticed the stare everyone was giving him.

Birgitta had already begun telling him how that was impolite and inappropriate behaviour, and Victoria had to give it to her, those kids must really respect her if even the more difficult ones looked regretful to have been scolded. Without needing to raise her voice or be anything other than kindly stern, she’d managed to get him to blush and look down at his feet. It was when she was about to tell him to apologise that Victoria put a thankful hand on her shoulder. She stopped talking and looked at the scientist, who gave her a lopsided smile.

“That’s okay.” She assured, turning to the kids. “I know meteorology isn’t for everyone. Nothing ever is! Maybe our young friend will find an interest in some other science, or in something outside of it! I’ll agree with your Leader that you probably shouldn’t go around saying that the things people love are boring when they can hear you, but I’m grateful that you took the time to be here and hear what I had to say anyway. At least now you know your passions lie elsewhere! Isn’t that right?”

The children agreed, especially those that had been the most interested, nodding enthusiastically. Gosh, Victoria thought, talking to children is so much better than to adults.

“I do have something that I think you’ll all find interesting!” She declared, walking towards the shelf where she’d left the box with gifts, missing how Birgitta was still looking at her with a baffled expression as she did so. Even though she had had her ego hurt a little by how she hadn't been able to capture some of those kids’ attention, the collective cheer when she presented them with a roll of stickers was the most validation she’d gotten in recent years.

She cut a piece of parchment paper containing two stickers with the Bureau’s symbol for each kid, watching how some of them stored them away like precious things while others rushed to glue them to notebooks or water bottles they had brought with them, or to their friends’ foreheads.

Birgitta approached her when the last kid had received their gift, her hands clasped in front of her. The soft smile that was on her face as she  looked at the kids’ happiness remained when she looked over at Victoria, sitting on the floor with the cardboard box by her side.

“I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Anyone who has that many stickers is to be trusted.”

Chuckling and secretly thanking her past self for remembering to order the gifts, Victoria cut two more stickers from the roll, offering them up to Birgitta.

“Well, I truly hope you’re right!”

Birgitta blinked when Victoria held up the piece of paper at her, and then huffed out a small snicker as she picked it up. Immediately, she glued one of the stickers to her shirt, just above the Sparrow Scouts symbol. She smoothed it over as best as she could, but a couple of creases remained. No matter. She’d stick the extra one to a more regular surface when she got home, so she could keep a reminder of that day.

“Thank you.” Victoria had still been looking at her, and she met her gaze with as much open honesty as she could. Not only had her kids learned a ton of new things, but they were also going to leave with a joyful memory and a happy feeling, and that was exactly what she loved about that job; nothing was worth more than giving that to the children, and Victoria had really gone out of her way to make that happen. It would be a lie if she said she hadn’t enjoyed herself as well. “You really didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to.” The scientist shrugged. Birgitta offered her a hand to get up from the floor, which Victoria gladly accepted. Her job offered constant workout for the brain, but not really for the muscles, after all. When she managed to stand up, they were standing directly in front of each other, just one or two inches of height difference between them. They smiled, and Birgitta decided to call for the scouts before she did something stupid, like ask Victoria out in front of a bunch of loose lipped kids. 

There was no chance after that for Victoria to distribute the other types of gift she’d ordered, and she had come to the conclusion that doing so would be too much, anyway. But she stood by the back of the group as they left, and before the boy who had been called out could leave, she tapped his shoulder, making him turn to look at her with surprise. 

“For you.” She whispered, handing him a pencil with the rainy cloud logo on it. “So you can write your own story.”

The child was speechless for a moment, holding the pencil like it was precious. Smiling to herself, she was glad she’d decided to give him that; she could never know what was going on in those kids’ lives, so it would never be her place to make any judgements. She herself hadn’t been an easy child to handle, but what adults had labelled as flaws of character had been the very characteristics that had enabled her to get as far as she did. Though it was rare that she had contact with any people at all, let alone children, she had long ago vowed to herself to be the sort of adult she wished to have met as a child.

Snapping her out of her thoughts and making her gasp, the child threw his arms around her neck, hugging her for just a moment before he realised what he was doing.

“Thank you, Miss Van Gale.” He said when he drew back, even though Victoria had not yet fully processed what had happened. “I promise I will.”

He walked away with quick strides to catch up with the rest of the group. From the doorway, Birgitta observed in silent wonder as one of the most hard headed kids in the Scouts passed by her while cradling a pencil delicately in his hands, leaving behind a stunned scientist.

                                                     ………

Much later, well into the evening, Victoria found herself reading in the room that doubled as her office and her personal library. In a hidden corner of the Bureau, there was a metal ladder that granted access to the upstairs area. When she took over the weather station, it had been a space reserved for storage, but she’d long since then transformed it into her home. Apparently, meteorologists of the past made a point of going home every day, but Victoria truly didn’t see the point in taking the cable car every morning and every night, not to mention the short road to the city. By staying there, she could work more and be closer to her lab, with the bonus of avoiding the commuting. It wasn’t like she had anything waiting for her in Trolberg, anyway.

The most complete book on Weather Spirits she owned was open on the desk in front of her, and she sighed as her focus on the tiny letters wavered. She would kill for a warm beverage just then, but she knew she’d regret it deeply if she drank a cup of coffee that late, and she had run out of cocoa mix.

Screw it. She didn’t want to go to bed at that moment, so her only option was coffee if she wanted to be productive at all while she remained awake. Her current chore was finding any more meaningful information in that book that could help her know how to create an efficient containment station for a weather spirit, but so far she’d been luckless. No one had tried what she was about to, ever, which meant that her task would involve a lot of trial and error.

As soon as she found a spirit to begin with, that was.

When she straightened her spine, since she’d been hunching over her desk, leaning on her elbows, a few vertebrae popped. It reminded her that she’d have to climb down the ladder, and then come back up holding a cup, since she’d installed the coffee machine downstairs to be closer to it while she worked, and she groaned.

While she was having trouble summoning strength to do the trip, her cellphone began ringing in her pocket, startling her. The scientist rarely even got any calls, let alone that late at night. Fearing that it was someone from the City Hall wanting to discuss funding cuts to the Bureau, she peaked at the caller with suspicion, but let out a pleased sight when she realised it was, in fact, Birgitta on the other line.

“Hello there!”

“Hi, Victoria.” Her voice on the other side was soft and low, making her picture the woman getting ready to go to sleep. She imagined that by that time most people were, anyway, if not already deep in slumber. “Sorry for calling you so late. I hope I’m not disturbing.”

“Oh, not at all! You don’t need to worry about that, it’s a pleasure.”

Okay, that was too much. It was too much, right? Or was that just polite? Victoria wasn’t really sure, but she knew her palms were getting sweaty for no reason. Thankfully, Birgitta chuckled.

“Well, good to know. I just needed to call you before I lost the nerve. I was wondering, would it be alright if I went to your place again some day soon? Or we can do this somewhere else, if you’d rather.”

“Oh, that’s okay!” Victoria said, still paying enough attention to the book in front of her that the true meaning of what she’d been asked went completely over her head. “Better to wait a few weeks so I can organise myself to receive more children here, but I’m not averse to another tour.”

There was a beat of silence in the call, during which Birgitta was rubbing at the space between her eyebrows and seriously rethinking her opinions on how fun it was to not be able to pick who you’d fall for.

“I actually meant just the two of us… maybe we could have some coffee? I still owe you for helping me with the bags.”

After opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, Victoria figured it would probably be a lot more useful if she could actually make it so words came from it, and tried to assemble her thoughts into something vaguely coherent. She was a scientist, for goodness’ sake, she could say yes to a date.

“Of course!” She managed to answer at last, instantly making the Raven Leader release the tension that had been on her shoulders. She hadn’t misinterpreted things, after all. “I’d love that. I… I’ll probably go down to the city for groceries tomorrow. Are you free?”

“I get out of work at five tomorrow, is that good for you? You could meet me in my office and I’ll take us to a coffee place I like, how’s that?”

Victoria’s smile was brighter than the rays of sun she’d learned to conjure. “That sounds perfect! See you?”

“You definitely will. Goodnight, Victoria.”

[spektral-raumohr]

Trio Hesamizadeh | Hoppe | Flick

Mo., 02.09.2024, 20:30 - 22:30

© Mehdi Hesamizadeh

Dieses neugegründete Trio erkundet improvisierend die Klangwelten, die sich aus dem Aufeinandertreffen diverser musikalischer Arbeitsfelder eröffnen, wie z.B. Mehdi Hesamizadehs Vertiefung in folkloristische mikrotonale Musik und die frühe Musik des Nahen Ostens, Birgitta Flicks Interesse für alte schwedische Choräle und Lisa Hoppes und Birgitta Flicks Jazz-Hintergrund.

Das Konzert ist Teil des Monats der zeitgenössischen Musik Berlin der initiative neue musik e.V. / field notes berlin

[dovilesermokas]

Some of the photos that landed on the album covers.

- Jonas Shoen - saxophone, composition, arrangement - Stefan Schultze - pianist & composer - Birgitta Flick - saxophonist & composer - Fabia Mantwill - saxophonist, composer, conductor

[playgrimoire]

It’s been a while since the GRIMOIRE blog was updated, so I thought I’d dust it off with a short story I recently wrote about Keiran and Birgitta! Enjoy ❤✨🔮

“Are you coming inside, Birgitta?”

Birgitta shut her heavy leather book and placed it at the top of her backpack before zipping it shut. She didn’t look up to answer.

“…Soon.” 

Her response was muffled as the dusk fell heavily over Cerridwen Manor. The other newcomers to this quiet corner of the world found the sudden coming of the evening eerie - it was as if the warm sun had been wrestled away. But by the second or third week, few of the new acolytes noticed it; some  even relied on it to reach the dinner hall first, for the best seat and the hottest food. 

Birgitta didn’t realise she was different from those she arrived with. Her new friends mostly stayed indoors, fascinated by the architecture of the recently restored Manor and drawn to the heat of old fireplaces. Birgitta chose to stay outdoors as long as possible. To her, the creaking halls felt claustrophobic. The mist shrouding the lower, gnarled trunks of trees and the calls of nocturnal birds was more alluring to her than the company of people – and even a hot meal. She twirled a finger around a lock of short brown hair and tugged on it absentmindedly as she thought of home. She’d been away from her family farm for a little while now, but she still felt that nagging need to complete her evening chores.

“I hope Dad is managing the work without me,” she mumbled. A bird sang what Birgitta hoped was affirmation, bringing a small smile to her face as she shrugged on her heavy backpack. The night bird’s song was a welcome one; she’d always felt more connected to the animals around her than people. 

She turned to leave the clearing, walking towards the Manor. The night’s ritual had left some soot on her glasses – she was still annoyed about that random burst of flame. Her hands were usually sure and steady, and a small campfire was nothing she hadn’t handled before. Of all the acolytes gathered, Keiran laughed the loudest. Birgitta removed her glasses and wiped them a little harder than was needed, thinking of that smug face cackling away at her shocked one. 

“Stupid Keiran. I bet he did something to make the fire blow up like that.”

“Hmm? What have I done now, Birgitta?” 

She hadn’t noticed Keiran leaning against one of the last trees before the clearing ended. He took a drag of his cigarette while eyeing her, waiting for an answer. Birgitta’s throat turned to dust under his gaze; she hadn’t realised anyone was there. His dark clothes and hair camouflaged him almost perfectly.

“Well. If you’re talking about the fire that singed your eyebrows, I didn’t tamper with it.” Keiran took another drag and turned his face back towards the Manor and the light glowing from its windows. “Your shirt pocket is full of ingredients. You leant forward and they fell out. That’s why I laughed.” He chuckled. “Your face… so funny!” 

Birgitta always took pride in being calm, but now she felt like a boiling kettle. Keiran had pranked her in the past, and she hated it. But he was right – she did have a pocket full of various herbs. 

“Oh.” 

Keiran flicked his cigarette to the ground and smeared it against the grass with the heel of his sneaker. “Apology accepted.”

“But I didn’t– “

“It’s a joke, Birgitta. Lighten up. It wouldn’t kill you.”

She’d reached boiling point. 

“I like jokes, and I like to laugh. But your jokes are bad, and you don’t make me laugh!”

It was dark enough now that Birgitta couldn’t see his face. She hoped he was pouting and crying. Stupid Keiran. She decided she’d had enough and began power walking towards the Manor. 

“Oh!” She twirled back to face him. “One more thing. Pick up your cigarette butt. You might not respect this place, but I do!”

She heard him snicker, and the groan of his leather jacket as he leant forward to do what she asked. 

“You know, Bitty, you’re cute when you’re angry.”

Back to boiling again. It was going to be a long spring. 

---------------

Keiran closed the door of his room and sighed, leaning back against the recently painted wood . Birgitta had glared at him for the entire dinner as he chatted and laughed with their mutual friends. He wondered how two people who were so different could find friendship in the same circle. He shuffled towards his bed, peeled off his clothes, adding them to the pile on his floor, and snuggled underneath the covers; he wasn’t intending on going to sleep, he simply needed the comfort of bed and its warmth to lift his heavy heart.

He closed his eyes and tried to visualise his grandmother’s face. She’d only been gone for a year, but he was fast forgetting what she looked like. She’d been a witch; or as they were more commonly known in his homeland, a bruja. Keiran had spent his childhood years by his grandmothers’ side, learning all that he could. She’d been happy to pass her art down to him. The story wasn’t uncommon, since Cerridwen Manor and the coven that resided  there was full of people just like Keiran. But he didn’t want to be practising his craft alongside them, he wanted the gentle guiding hand and dry laugh of his grandmother. 

A knock at his door shook him out of his sad reverie and irritated him.

“What!”, Keiran snapped in the direction of his door.

“It’s Birgitta. Can I please come in for a moment?”

Keiran nearly barked out a laugh, but his curiousity won over. What was she doing now?

“Certainly, Birgitta.”

He sat upright in his bed as Birgitta slowly opened the door. Her pale, owlish face poked through the gap, and she slowly stepped in.

“I wanted to apologise. For assuming you’d pranked me.”

Keiran shifted uncomfortably in his bed. He’d never really had someone apologise to him before.

“Er… it’s fine? Thanks.”

She didn’t budge. She continued staring at him through her big, round glasses.

“Are you okay?”

“What? Yes! I’m great. Birgitta, you can leave now.”

She walked over to the bed. He wanted to scream out of how uncomfortable he felt within this awkward situation.

“You don’t look okay.”

Magic or not, Keiran knew that Birgitta was good at reading people. Creepily so. He felt those green eyes analysing his hazel ones, searching for the truth he wasn’t ready to give her.

“I miss my family too.”

“Birgitta, what are you– “

She plopped down onto the bed next to him, head only just reaching past his shoulders.

“You’re annoying, but no one deserves to be sad.” She smiled up at him, little crow's feet forming around the corners of her eyes. 

“Tell me about your grandmother.”

[jazzworldquest-blog]

GERMANY: Agustin Strizzi-Agustin Strizzi & Pornogroove, Vol. 1 (2019)

Imagine you could shrink yourself to fit in an old clock and see the precise mechanism at work. Pornogroove is a similar experience: a perfectly tuned system that sucks you in with shameless grooves, chews you up and spits you out again!

The main concept of the album is a journey through rhythm, where each musician plays his role with a high degree of authenticity and beauty. This music was written between Buenos Aires and Berlin ... and each song is related to a story ... an anecdote or even an image. * Flor, I wrote this melody imagining that a Flower could dance to it. * Harina, It's Sunday morning ... the sun shines through the window ... The coffee is freshly made and the bread has just come out of the oven ... and your partner smiles at you. * Knutschfleck, is the translation into German of passion mark ... and all the naughtiness that implies. * Figuritas, just like when we were children and exchanged figurines, this song was born of the curiosity of exchanging the sound colors of different musical scales. * Ambulance, it's a musical joke! ... An exercise of imagination dedicated to the siren of Berlin ambulances. I had the honor of making this record with - not only - excellent musicians and artists, but also incredible people. Birgitta Flick plays the tenor saxophone and has the ability to transform everything she touches into music. Nico Lohmann plays the soprano saxophone and everything he plays, he does it with an enormous sense of responsibility and commitment. Thibault Falk plays the piano and the Fender Rhodes and has a great sense of beauty. Martin Lillich plays his Bassello and for me, represents the fatherly voice of the experience. Volker Greve in his Greve Studio, is the master behind the sound of this recording. Meri Ortiz, Andrés Cordova and Cristóbal Rey, are responsable for the exquisite Video, Design and Photography of this project. I´d also like to thank Swantje Buddensiek, for her patience writing the Texts, Natalia Arbelo for the Web Design and Joe Weinberg and his great "Camera Eye".

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[lazyvaprod]

Zik Jazz : "Carol Liebowitz & Birgitta Flick " https://t.co/Rm4TTL1nFI via #zyvaradio : https://t.co/Rm4TTL1nFI

[ib2se]

The Elvis15-Playlist 2017-04-24 @ Radio Vättervåg 98,5 Mhz

2.02

New Orleans

RCA 07863 67454 2 11   7:23

Merry Christmas Baby (Edited Master)

RCA 07863 67938 2 10 2:31

Goin' Home

RCA 07863 66362 2 23  

The B:sides-Playlist 2017-04-24 @ Radio Vättervåg 98,5 Mhz

This week: Guldvingen

  1. 'B:zväng' TextMix & reading af MrZ Komposition & Produktion af SkåneJokke Lütz [0:41] 2. 'Kuwaala' from Swing-LPn af Correction [7:11] 3. 'Karola Kalinka' from Te berga blå-CDn af Ulrika Bodén [3:09] 4. 'Lomjansvalsen' from Lomjansguten-CDn af Magnus Stinnerbom [4:26] 5. 'Islands and Seas' from Minsta Gemensamma Nämnare-CDn af Filip Augustson (Trio) [5:28] 6. 'Gibrish' from self titled CDn af Bjäran [3:17] 7. 'Polska efter Nils Bernhard Ljunggren' from Nittonbunda-CDn af Anders Löfberg [2:37] 8. 'Narinkka' from In Strange Lands-CDn af Sampo Lassila Narinkka [4:23] 9. 'Guldvingen' från Guldvingen-CDn af MP3 [3:08] 10. 'Den Signade Dag' from Dalarna-CDn af Birgitta Flick Quartet [6:23] 11. 'Svetlobni prelaz čez vrnitev / A Passage of Light on Return' from I.-CDn af Širom [15:31] 1 jingle incl tune from Kmag #107 af Loopmasters Samples & 2 jingles from B:sides on Spotify & the poem 14 April af from Fåglar kring människor och tankar

This weeks BibleVers: “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit." ~ Mark 13:9-11 Drink Espresso - God bless U! /MrZ :)

www.ib2.se Soli Deo Gloria

  Pix: MrZ ~ Wättern.se

Join Generation XYZ @ gen.xyz 

Z

[jazzworldquest-blog]

USA: New Release "Malita-Malika" by Carol Liebowitz & Birgitta Flick

Carol Liebowitz Birgitta Flick MALITA-MALIKA  New Release Leo Records  

LEO RECORDS LR 838

Carol Liebowitz, piano, voice Birgitta Flick, tenor saxophone

1.   Moon  5:19 2.   Portrait  4:30 3.   Visions  5:14 4.   Malita-Malika (for Johanna)  6:46 (Birgitta Flick, GEMA) 5.   Hummingbird  4:25 6.   Marionette (Billy Bauer) / September in the Rain* (Harry Warren & Al Dubin)   5:04 7.  Jasmine  2:15 8.   You Don’t Know What Love Is*  8:15 (Gene de Paul & Don Raye) 9.   Sehnsucht  2:45 10. Crossed Lines  4:52 11. Reflections  4:24 Total time 53:49   (*tracks 6, 8 with voice) All tracks by Carol Liebowitz and Birgitta Flick (GEMA), except where noted. Published by Alissa Publishing / PRS Recorded November 4 & 6, 2017 by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY Mixed by Brian Montgomery Mastered by Jim Clouse, Park West Studios, Bklyn, NY Photography by Kate Koenig Produced by Birgitta Flick, Carol Liebowitz & Leo Feigin Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe  

Carol Liebowitz and Birgitta Flick originally met at a Berlin jazz club in 2010. When their paths crossed again in New York in 2014 they had the opportunity to play intensively for several months and since then have toured together frequently in Europe and the New York area.

Their playing creates an extraordinary soundscape  —  where freedom of expression connects with an intense lyricism in original compositions, spontaneous improvisations, and inspiring explorations into the Great American songbook.

Photo © Kate Koenig

Birgitta Flick, tenor saxophone 

Birgitta Flick is a saxophonist and composer and lives in Berlin. She studied saxophone and Jazz at the Jazz-Institut Berlin (UdK) and the Royal College of Music, Stockholm. Current projects—besides her Duo with Carol Liebowitz—are her Berlin-based quartet and the German-Swedish-Finnish band Flickstick, with whom she won the 2012 Jazz Baltica Förderpreis and released the 2nd album in January 2018. Ms. Flick’s other work includes playing in the Nico Lohmann Quintet, and in drummer Sebastian Voegler’s Stockholm-based band Fluxmaschine and the German Women’s Jazz Orchestra.

In 2011–12 her research and composition project on traditional Swedish music was sponsored by the Elsa Neumann Scholarship of the state of Berlin. The resulting suite for the Swedish singer Lina Nyberg, Silke Eberhard (bass clarinet), Nico Lohmann (alto saxophone, flute) and the Birgitta Flick Quartet was released in April 2016 by Double Moon Records. The quartet’s debut CD, “Yingying” was released in 2013 by Jazz thing Next Generation. In autumn 2018 the new CD “Color Studies” will be published by Double Moon Records/Challenge, supported by the Initiative Musik gGmbH. Further CD productions include those with the Nico Lohmann quintet, Esther Kaiser and Z’lil schel bet Haskala, amongst others. 

Her concert tours have taken her to several European countries, the USA and the Middle East, and in winter 2014–15, to New York for a three month stay including private studies with Connie Crothers. Festival concert appearances include XJazz Berlin, Elbjazz in Hamburg, JazzBaltica, Jazzwoche Burghausen, Jazzahead German Jazz Meeting and Cairo Jazz Festival. Since 2013 Birgitta also contributes to the monthly Psalmton Jazz Pop Services at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche in Berlin—both as a performer, composer and coordinator. Since 2015 she also serves as the artistic director of the summer concert series “InSpirit“ at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis- Kirche.

In 2017 she received a scholarship of the City of Berlin to realize a new improvisation project and the CD recording for “Malita-Malika" together with Carol Liebowitz. 

“An excellent tenor-saxophonist based in Berlin, Birgitta Flick has an original sound on her horn, not sounding like any of her historical predecessors.” —Scott Yanow

“The large scale of Flick’s music is testimony to her rich orchestral experience, and this album first of all surprises the listener with her outstanding talent as a composer.” —Kayo Fushiya, JazzTokyo

Carol Liebowitz, piano/voice

Pianist Carol Liebowitz brings a uniquely expressive and personal sound to the jazz and free improvisation scene. After focusing on classical repertoire at the High School of Performing Arts and NYU, her musical direction turned to improvisation and she began studying with Connie Crothers. Other influential teachers have included Sal Mosca, Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan. She has performed in Europe and throughout the New York City metropolitan area in venues such as Roulette, The Stone, Cornelia Street Cafe, IBeam, The Firehouse Space, Arts for Art, Spectrum, and Birdland. In addition to frequent solo concert appearances, Carol has worked in various groups with musicians including Tom Blancarte, Adam Caine, Daniel Carter, Claire de Brunner, Maryanne de Prophetis, Andrew Drury, Ken Filiano, Andy Fite, Birgitta Flick, Ratzo Harris, Ron Horton, Louise D.E. Jensen, Adam Lane, Eva Lindal, Nick Lyons, Ryan Messina, Kevin Norton, Bill Payne, John Pietaro, Lorenzo Sanguedolce, John Wagner, Michael Wimberly, and Andrea Wolper.  

Her CD “Payne Lindal Liebowitz” on Line Art Records with clarinetist Bill Payne and violinist Eva Lindal was voted one of the Top Ten Jazz CDs in the 2015 NPR Jazz Critics Poll by Art Lange. Also on Line Art Records are “First Set” (a duo with alto saxophonist Nick Lyons), “Poetry from the Future” (To Be Continued, a quartet with Claire de Brunner, Daniel Carter, and Kevin Norton), and most recently in 2018, “Spiderwebmandala,” a duo with Bill Payne, featuring poet Mark Weber. Carol has two releases on the New Artists label: “Waves of Blue Intensities,” a duo with tenor saxophonist Bob Field, and “Time on My Hands,” a voice/guitar duo with Andy Fite.

“...three-dimensional kaleidoscopic displays.” —Mel Minter (musically speaking),melminter.com

“...chords that brim with ardent energy and hypnotic beauty.” — All About Jazz

Malita-Malika is available from leorecords.com, cdbaby, carolliebowitz.com For more information: carolliebowitz.com birgittaflick.com

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[jazzworldquest-blog]

USA: New Release "Poetry from the Future" from TO BE CONTINUED on Line Art Records

   Poetry from the Future a New Release from TO BE CONTINUED (Carol Liebowitz, Claire de Brunner, Daniel Carter, Kevin Norton)  Listen on Soundcloud Artists: TO BE CONTINUED—Carol Liebowitz (piano), Claire de Brunner (bassoon), Daniel Carter (alto, tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, trumpet, clarinet), Kevin Norton (vibraphone, drums, percussion) CD Title: Poetry from the Future Label: Line Art Records (LA1003) Artist Websites: carolliebowitz.com, morebassoonplease.com, kevinnorton.com, https://en.http://ift.tt/2tA18xqCarter_(musician) Release Date: August 4, 2017 UPC: 888295599023 All tracks by Carol Liebowitz, Claire de Brunner, Daniel Carter and Kevin Norton (Enduring Heart, ASCAP) Recorded March 18, 2017 by Tom Tedesco, Tedesco Studios, NJ CD Mastering: Jim Clouse, Park West Studios, Brooklyn, NY 1. Invisible Colors  (4:21) 2. Poetry from the Future  (1:03) 3. Every Which Way  (6:38) 4. Blue Daniel  (4:43) 5. Cascadeascope  (5:39) 6. Sonic Mirage  (4:14) 7. Beautiful Outcast  (4:35) 8. For All Times  (3:58) 9. Ringing Circles  (6:24) 10. River Run  (4:08) Total time 45:43 A quartet with unusual instrumentation and a translucent sound, TO BE CONTINUED improvises music freely, without boundaries, in each unfolding moment. Every one of the four members has a significant history in the New York City (and international) improvised music scene. Carol Liebowitz (piano) brings a uniquely expressive and personal sound to the jazz and free improvisation scene. After focusing on classical repertoire at the High School of Performing Arts and NYU, her musical direction turned to improvisation and she began studying with Connie Crothers. Other influential teachers have included Sal Mosca, Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan. She has performed in Europe and various NYC venues such as Roulette, The Stone, Cornelia Street Cafe, IBeam, The Firehouse Space, Arts for Art, Spectrum, and Birdland. Carol has worked as a soloist, and with musicians including Adam Caine, Maryanne de Prophetis, Andrew Drury, Ken Filiano, Birgitta Flick, Ratzo Harris, Ron Horton, Adam Lane, John Pietaro, and Michael Wimberly. She has 2 CDs on Line Art Records, the latest, First Set, a duo with alto saxophonist Nick Lyons, and Payne Lindal Liebowitz, a trio with clarinetist Bill Payne and violinist Eva Lindal (chosen by Art Lange as one of the Top Ten Jazz CDs in the NPR 2015 Jazz Critics Poll). Carol also has two releases on New Artists Records. Claire de Brunner (bassoon) won a scholarship to study with the principal bassoonist of the NY Philharmonic when she was 14. After attending the High School of Music and Art, and North Carolina School of the Arts, she studied at Manhattan School of Music and played in various ensembles before venturing beyond classical music. In 1982 she became a founding member of 101 Crustaceans, an integral band of the post-punk era in NYC. She later joined Church of Betty, another seminal band at that time and has recorded CDs with each band. Venues included Knitting Factory, Pyramid, Dixon Place, CBGB, Limelight, etc. In the early 90s, she studied jazz improvisation with saxophonist Lee Konitz and pianist Connie Crothers. Prominent among her numerous collaborators are Chris Rael, Ras Moshe, Ed Pastorini, Cheryl Richards, Oren Bloedow, Ken Filiano, Blaise Siwula, Connie Crothers, Virg Dzurinko, Mara Rosenbloom and Nick Lyons. She co-produced the CD Macroscopia (2010), released on the Metier label featuring a quartet comprising New York free jazz musicians. She’s appeared at The Firehouse Space, BAMcafe, IBeam, Barbes, Scholes St. Studio, The Stone and Roulette. Her music is varied; it reflects the ongoing pursuit of her deepest passion. Daniel Carter (alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, flute, trumpet, clarinet) — multi-instrumentalist and writer, has performed, recorded, and/or toured with many musicians through the decades since the mid-60s, including TEST, Other Dimensions in Music, Reuben Radding, Federico Ughi, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers, Alan Silva, Ras Moshe, Jeffrey Shurdut, Sabir Mateen, David Miller, Billy Bang, Earl Freeman, Karl Berger, Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono, William Parker, David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp, Hamiet Bluiett, Nate Wooley, Hamid Drake, Billy Bang, John Blum, Tom Bruno, Demian Richardson, David Moss, Adam Lane, D.J. Logic, LP, Medeski, Martin, & Wood, Ed Schuller, Margaret Beals, Patricia Nicholson Parker, Warren Smith, Larry Roland, Mike Wimberly, Ted Daniels, Thurston Moore, Roy Campbell, Earl Cross, Vernon Reid, Wilber Morris, Eri Yamamoto, Matt Lavelle, The No Neck Blues Band, Yo La Tengo, Raphe Malik, Okkyung Lee, Denis Charles, Steve Swell, Gunter Hampel, Alan Silva, Susie Ibarra, Butch Morris and many others. His writings appear in The Tinker: Innovative Arts and Literature Magazine, 50 Miles of Elbow Room, Dyed-in-the-Wool, Intervalsss: The Poems and Words of Musicians and many other publications. Kevin Norton (vibraphone, percussion) is one of the few percussionists in the jazz and improvised music scene that is a virtuoso on both the drum-set and mallet instruments (vibes, marimba, etc.). After earning his Master’s Degree (in Orchestral Percussion) from the Manhattan School of Music, Kevin began to gig around NYC: playing classical, jazz and rock, but eventually falling into what became known as the Downtown Scene, a scene that was fusing all styles into a unique and explosive hybrid musical language. He has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe with Anthony Braxton, David Krakauer, Fred Frith, James Emery, Frode Gjerstad as well as groups under his own leadership. Kevin frequently performs as a leader/solist but has also collaborated with exceptional musicians including Milt Hinton, Joëlle Léandre, John Lindberg, Tony Malaby, Dave Ballou, Connie Crothers, Scott Robinson, Nick Didkovsky, Paul Dunmall, Paul Rodgers, Marshall Allen and Henry Grimes. He can be heard on well over 100 recordings, the latest, Staten Island: All that is solid melts into air, is available on Bandcamp and features his Breakfast of Champignon(s) group.  

Available from CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes Carol Liebowitz Claire de Brunner Daniel Carter Kevin Norton www.lineartrecords.com

  Media Contact Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services Ph: 845-986-1677 / jim@jazzpromoservices.com http://ift.tt/1dvRi4z "Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”  via Blogger http://ift.tt/2sCfxMu