Zanana is a collaborative duo featuring Kristin Norderval, voice and Monique Buzzarté, trombone, performing improvised music blending acoustic sounds, electronics and live processing. They compose and perform collaboratively using improvisation as the foundation of their compositional process. Some works are free improvisations, some are structured improvisations, and some are composed with aleatoric elements. Zanana’s intent is to create sonic transformations of both their acoustic playing and unusual ambient/industrial/site-specific sounds.
1. Gasholder Duet (Buzzarté / Norderval)
2. Doorjam (Buzzarté / Norderval)
3. Ghost Dog (Buzzarté / Norderval)
4. Flags (Buzzarté / Norderval, with Barbara Barg, spoken word)
5. Title X (Buzzarté / Norderval)
6. What a Pretty Dog (Buzzarté / Norderval, with Barbara Barg, spoken word)
“This collaboration between cutting-edge trombonist Monique Buzzarté and classically trained vocalist Kristin Norderval is as elegant as it is boundary-pushing. Laptop wizardry transforms Buzzarté’s horn into a fragmented death knell and twists Norderval’s voice into a Diamanda Galas-like tortured echo, but the acoustic in-between spaces play like shapely minimalist chamber work…”
Phillip Buchan, Splendid Magazine 12/6/2005 review of Holding Patterns (Deep Listening 30)
“Each selection displays a unique ethereal quality and textural complexity….Buzzarté’s improvisations throughout the recording showcase not only her creativity but her incredible pitch and dynamic ranges and her extensive palette of tonal colors. The same is true for Norderval’s vocal improvisations, highlighted by soaring vowels, interesting explosive consonants, and, in Flags, a powerful dramatic interpretation.”
Brian French, International Trombone Association Journal Volume 32,
Number 2 (April 2006) review of Holding Patterns (Deep Listening 30)
“…Zanana exemplifies the relationship two human beings can have with the aural environment.”
Hsiao-Lan Wang, International Alliance for Women in Music Journal Volume 12,
No. 1 (2006) review of Holding Patterns (Deep Listening 30)
“This versatile collection of improvised performances is a brilliant beginning for Zanana, and a highly recommended listening experience.”
from “Brilliant Improv Début” review of Holding Patterns (Deep Listening 30)
by D. Raylene Campbell in MusicWorks (#93, Fall 2005)
