Cornelis William Hendrik Fuhler (3 July 1964 – 19 July 2020) was a Dutch/Australian improvisor, composer, and instrument builder associated with

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

and

acoustic ecology Acoustic ecology, sometimes called ecoacoustics or soundscape studies, is a discipline studying the relationship, mediated through sound, between human beings and their environment. Acoustic ecology studies started in the late 1960s with R. Murr ...

. He played piano by manipulating sound with electromagnetic string stimulators like

Ebow The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...

s and motorized actuators. Fuhler also performed on guitar, turntables and synthesizer. He invented the keyolin, a combination of keyboard and violin. Fuhler was a student of

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

of the

Instant Composers Pool Instant Composers Pool (ICP) is an independent Dutch jazz and improvised music label and orchestra. Founded in 1967, the label takes its name from the notion that improvisation is "instant composition". The ICP label has published more than 50 r ...

. He recorded the album ''Corkestra'' (Data, 2005) with

Ab Baars Ab Baars (born November 21, 1955 in Axel, Netherlands) is a Dutch saxophonist and clarinetist who has had an active performance career since the 1970s. He has recorded several albums for the Geestgronden Records, Atavistic Records, and WIG record ...

, Tony Buck,

Tobias Delius Tobias Delius (born 15 July 1964) is a tenor saxophonist and clarinettist. Early life Delius was born in Oxford, England, on 15 July 1964. His mother was German and his father was Argentine. Delius was brought up largely in England and Germany. ...

, Wilbert de Joode,

Anne La Berge Anne La Berge (born Palo Alto, California, in 1955) is a flutist, composer and improviser, currently residing in Amsterdam. Her performances bring together a virtuosic command of her instrument, use of microtonal textures and melodies, and an ar ...

, Andy Moor, Nora Mulder, and Michael Vatcher. Fuhler played

prepared piano A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Bacchanale' ...

, analog keyboards,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

, and electric

lamellophone A lamellophone (also lamellaphone or linguaphone) is a member of the family of musical instruments that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician ...

. Fuhler played solo prepared piano on his album ''Stengam'' (Potlatch, 2007). In 2016 he attained a PhD in composition at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and in 2017 he published his book ''Disperse and Display'' covering modular composing strategies and extended piano techniques. Fuhler "died unexpectedly" at his home in Australia.

Discography

* 1995 ''7 CC in 10'' (Geestgronden) * 1996 ''The Psychedelic Years'' Palinckx (Vonk) * 1998 ''Bellagram'' (Geestgronden) * 1999 ''DJ Cor Blimey and his Pigeon'' (ConundromCD) * 2001 ''The Flirts'' ( Erstwhile), duo with

Gert-Jan Prins Gert-Jan Prins (born 1961, IJmuiden) is a Dutch musician active in free improvisation. Initially a free jazz percussionist, Prins now focuses on producing and manipulating sound, especially white and pink noise, using a collection of custom-buil ...

* 2002 ''The Hands of Caravaggio'', as part of M.I.M.E.O., featuring

John Tilbury John Tilbury (born 1 February 1936) is a British pianist. He is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Morton Feldman's music, and since 1980 has been a member of the free improvisation group AMM. Early life and education Tilbury s ...

( Erstwhile) * 2003 ''Tinderbox'' (Data) * 2005 ''HHHH'' (Unsounds) * 2005 ''ONJO'' (Doubtmusic) * 2005 ''Corkestra'' (Data) * 2007 ''Stengam'' (Potlatch) * 2007 ''The Culprit'', duo with

Keith Rowe Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

(7hings) * 2011 ''Gas Station Sessions'' (Platenbakerij) * 2014 ''Truancy'' (Splitrec) * 2016 ''Mungo'' (Splitrec) * 2017 ''FAN'' (SoundOut) * 2019 ''Fietstour'' (WhirrbooM! Records)

References

External links

Official site
* Whitehead, Kevin.

' (1998). New York: Billboard Books. .
Disperse and Display
Sydney: Giwalo Press, 2017. . 1964 births 2020 deaths People from Emmen, Netherlands Free improvisation Electroacoustic improvisation Dutch experimental musicians Dutch emigrants to Australia University of Sydney alumni {{Netherlands-musician-stub