This was a very successful programme which we have played from June 2007 to December 2009, in France, Belgium, Germany, Norway, NL.
Songs, improvisations, texts, noise, on hazards and life as a whole.

Luc Houtkamp – computer, sax, electronics
Han Buhrs – voice, electronics, texts
Guy Harries – computer, electronics, flute
Jacqueline Hamelink – cello (repl. Nina Hitz)
Wolter Wierbos – trombone (repl. Joseph Bowie)

Buy our CD to have a live impression of this music!

Programme text:

In Western society it seems that security is God Almighty. Any hazard, coincidence, instability or even doubt is banned from our horizon. There is a strong collective urge to believe that modern technology will free us from peril – our prehistorical aspect of life.
This is of course profoundly questionable. Not only because, in the process, we are confronted with the limits of this technology (it crashes all over the place!) but because we also realise that in urging for technical security, we are cut off from something far more essential: our ability to deal with reality as it arises. We lose our talent to improvise, to deal with insecurity, to make decisions based on instinct. We will never again take a train without knowing where it’s going.
At the same time, we also know that it is often fun to deal with the unexpected, to sharpen our brains by dealing with situations that occur accidentally, to improvise our way out of an uncontrolled momentum. Why? Because it appeals to our basic instinct.

This is precisely the thought that unites the POW-musicians: they pursue hazard, uncertainty and instability as a given fact. They regard doubt and instinct as useful colours to paint with. They never take anything for granted, and create a song out of any question mark.
The POW Ensemble does not deny technology, but explores its failures and insecurities involving these aspects in the music.
In this Homage to Hazard programme, the POW Ensemble plays songs of insecurity – songs that might create unease, but don’t deny reality!