About
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John Derek Bishop (alias Tortusa) is a Norwegian-American electronic musician and producer from Stavanger, Norway. He has released three albums on Jazzland Recordings and was nominated for the Spellemann Prize (Norwegian Grammy) for «I Know This Place - The Eivind Aarset Collages». His albums have received good critics from Germany, Norway, Canada and England. Tortusa frequently performs live in Germany, Poland, England and Norway.
A cornerstone in Tortusa´s production is the texture and timbre of sound. He searches for sounds that are out of the ordinary and places the listener in different emotional states. For compositional processes, Tortusa utilizes both hardware equipment and software including retro tape recorders, modular synthesizers, samplers and a diverse array of other tools. On stage Tortusa live samples the musicians he plays with creating an intense and spontaneous experience. For several years, Tortusa has been composing and performing for modern dance and performance art shows in Norway, England and France. He has made music for short films «Limerence», «Hyperspace» and «Across the dreams». Aside from making music he works with photography and has made the cover art for his albums. |
Photo: Inge Schreuder Lindløv
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Contact
E-mail: johnderekbishop (at-tt) gmail.com
Tel: +47 906 24 338
Instagram: instagram.com/tortusa_music
Facebook: facebook.com/tortusamusic
Tel: +47 906 24 338
Instagram: instagram.com/tortusa_music
Facebook: facebook.com/tortusamusic
Selected press:
“Black Mist” is subdued and contemplative, full of dark alleys and winding back roads that introduce new tonal passageways or instrumental lines" - Ryan Hall / Tome to the Weather Machine:
"...this trio of players wields their respective instruments towards the horizon, drawing pictures, albeit blurry and sleepy, into the clouds. Their three pieces included are timeless ambient works of fermented coziness, defying the typical jazz set with elongated drones and lost consciousness." TJ Norris / Toneshift
"Eternal Return kombinerer nyrydning med nyskapning. Det er et helstøpt og overbevisende album." Arild R. Andersen / Jazz i Norge
“The whole album explores the limits of sound design in music, playing with sampling and recording,the final result is just great.”
www.synthsofeden.com
«A wonderful album to relax and discover. Mastery!» 10/10
German: “Ein herrliches album zum entspannen und entdecken. Meisterlich!” 10/10
FAZEmag Germany
"The saxophone and minimal house beat are anything if not strange bedfellows and how they weave in and out of odd tonal modes is puzzling beautiful."
Dan (https://polishdownpour.wordpress.com/)
"Maybe this is what traversing trough the nordic woods of Norway sounds like? Magical and dark, but hopeful."
www.schmutzberlin.com
“Et slående trekk ved «Mind Vessel» er at disse to musikerne kler hverandre.” “ I likhet med en rekke andre artister som har søkt seg til spesielle bygg, har Tortusa – Breistein klart å integrere selve romkvaliteten i uttrykkene sine. «Mind Vessel» er et vellykket album.”
Arild R. Andersen – Jazz i Norge.
"Rarely does it get hectic, only in «Corrosion Is A Natural Process» is electronically feverishly knelt here, and the saxophone is knocked out of the quiet path. This moment shows just how versatile this cooperation can be and that it can also sound bright. But you also have to admit that the quiet parts are implemented very well. Very compact and yet played with a light hand. Very exciting!
German: Selten wird es hektisch, nur bei „Corrosion Is A Natural Process“ wird hier elektronisch fiebrig gewerkelt, und auch das Saxophon wird aus der ruhigen Bahn gestoßen. Dieser Moment zeigt, wie vielseitig diese Kooperation sein kann, und dass sie auch aufgeweckt klingen können. Man muss aber auch gestehen, dass die ruhigen Parts sehr gut umgesetzt werden. Sehr kompakt und dennoch mit leichter Hand gespielt. Sehr spannend!"
Hauke Heesch www.foerdefluesterer.de
"One of the deeper, darker sets we’ve heard from the Jazzland label in recent years – a set that blends the saxophone of Inge Weatherhead Breistein with lots of layered electronics – at a level that takes us back to our favorite records from the early days of the label! Things here are relatively abstract, with the core elements moved into darkly melodic territory that almost feels like a later more mature answer to sonic territory explored by ECM and 4AD in decades past – delivered here also as a statement to the studio talents of Tortusa, who produced the whole record. Titles include «Snow Mold», «Hopes», «Mind Vessel», «Keep Coming Back», «Corrosion Is A Natural Process», and «Ceiling Filled With Water». " www.DustyGroove.com.
"Mind Vessel which is a collaboration between Tortusa and Breistein, is a fitting followup to the critically acclaimed I Know This Place-The Eivind Aarset Collage. There’s not a weak track on this captivating album of carefully crafted collages where musical genres combine.Tortusa and Breistein combine elements of ambient, avant-garde, electronic, free jazz, improv, jazz, Nordic Wave and minimalist music. These musical genres are weaved by Tortusa and Breistein during Mind Vessel, which is carefully crafted genre-melting album from two musical pioneers that is ambitious and innovative" Derek Anderson DEREKSMUSICBLOG.com
Interviews:
mellowtown.de/2017/03/15/on-music-and-nature-a-conversation
aftenbladet.no/kultur/musikk/Gir-ut-Eivind-Aarset-variasjoner-pa-Bugge-Wesseltofts-plateselskap-3886912.html
Album reviews:
https://jazzinorge.no/anmeldelse/nyrydning-i-mykt-terreng/
https://jazzinorge.no/anmeldelse/med-saksofon-pa-spennende-reiser/
https://www.dustygroove.com/item/876832/Tortusa-Inge-Breistein:Mind-Vessel
https://www.jazzthing.de/review/tortusa-i-know-this-place-the-eivind-aarset-collages/
http://ginalovesjazz.com/tortusa-i-know-this-place-the-eivind-aarset-collages/
http://torhammero.blogg.no/1461600509_herlige_tolkninger.html
http://nordische-musik.de/4100-Tortusa-%7C%7C-Breistein.html
http://nordische-musik.de/4784-Tortusa
"...this trio of players wields their respective instruments towards the horizon, drawing pictures, albeit blurry and sleepy, into the clouds. Their three pieces included are timeless ambient works of fermented coziness, defying the typical jazz set with elongated drones and lost consciousness." TJ Norris / Toneshift
"Eternal Return kombinerer nyrydning med nyskapning. Det er et helstøpt og overbevisende album." Arild R. Andersen / Jazz i Norge
“The whole album explores the limits of sound design in music, playing with sampling and recording,the final result is just great.”
www.synthsofeden.com
«A wonderful album to relax and discover. Mastery!» 10/10
German: “Ein herrliches album zum entspannen und entdecken. Meisterlich!” 10/10
FAZEmag Germany
"The saxophone and minimal house beat are anything if not strange bedfellows and how they weave in and out of odd tonal modes is puzzling beautiful."
Dan (https://polishdownpour.wordpress.com/)
"Maybe this is what traversing trough the nordic woods of Norway sounds like? Magical and dark, but hopeful."
www.schmutzberlin.com
“Et slående trekk ved «Mind Vessel» er at disse to musikerne kler hverandre.” “ I likhet med en rekke andre artister som har søkt seg til spesielle bygg, har Tortusa – Breistein klart å integrere selve romkvaliteten i uttrykkene sine. «Mind Vessel» er et vellykket album.”
Arild R. Andersen – Jazz i Norge.
"Rarely does it get hectic, only in «Corrosion Is A Natural Process» is electronically feverishly knelt here, and the saxophone is knocked out of the quiet path. This moment shows just how versatile this cooperation can be and that it can also sound bright. But you also have to admit that the quiet parts are implemented very well. Very compact and yet played with a light hand. Very exciting!
German: Selten wird es hektisch, nur bei „Corrosion Is A Natural Process“ wird hier elektronisch fiebrig gewerkelt, und auch das Saxophon wird aus der ruhigen Bahn gestoßen. Dieser Moment zeigt, wie vielseitig diese Kooperation sein kann, und dass sie auch aufgeweckt klingen können. Man muss aber auch gestehen, dass die ruhigen Parts sehr gut umgesetzt werden. Sehr kompakt und dennoch mit leichter Hand gespielt. Sehr spannend!"
Hauke Heesch www.foerdefluesterer.de
"One of the deeper, darker sets we’ve heard from the Jazzland label in recent years – a set that blends the saxophone of Inge Weatherhead Breistein with lots of layered electronics – at a level that takes us back to our favorite records from the early days of the label! Things here are relatively abstract, with the core elements moved into darkly melodic territory that almost feels like a later more mature answer to sonic territory explored by ECM and 4AD in decades past – delivered here also as a statement to the studio talents of Tortusa, who produced the whole record. Titles include «Snow Mold», «Hopes», «Mind Vessel», «Keep Coming Back», «Corrosion Is A Natural Process», and «Ceiling Filled With Water». " www.DustyGroove.com.
"Mind Vessel which is a collaboration between Tortusa and Breistein, is a fitting followup to the critically acclaimed I Know This Place-The Eivind Aarset Collage. There’s not a weak track on this captivating album of carefully crafted collages where musical genres combine.Tortusa and Breistein combine elements of ambient, avant-garde, electronic, free jazz, improv, jazz, Nordic Wave and minimalist music. These musical genres are weaved by Tortusa and Breistein during Mind Vessel, which is carefully crafted genre-melting album from two musical pioneers that is ambitious and innovative" Derek Anderson DEREKSMUSICBLOG.com
Interviews:
mellowtown.de/2017/03/15/on-music-and-nature-a-conversation
aftenbladet.no/kultur/musikk/Gir-ut-Eivind-Aarset-variasjoner-pa-Bugge-Wesseltofts-plateselskap-3886912.html
Album reviews:
https://jazzinorge.no/anmeldelse/nyrydning-i-mykt-terreng/
https://jazzinorge.no/anmeldelse/med-saksofon-pa-spennende-reiser/
https://www.dustygroove.com/item/876832/Tortusa-Inge-Breistein:Mind-Vessel
https://www.jazzthing.de/review/tortusa-i-know-this-place-the-eivind-aarset-collages/
http://ginalovesjazz.com/tortusa-i-know-this-place-the-eivind-aarset-collages/
http://torhammero.blogg.no/1461600509_herlige_tolkninger.html
http://nordische-musik.de/4100-Tortusa-%7C%7C-Breistein.html
http://nordische-musik.de/4784-Tortusa
