Jakob Draminsky Højmark

Bass clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Jakob Draminsky Højmark gained his widest recognition through the graceful phrases he contributed over ten years to the ensembles of French pianist Pascal Comelade. At the same time he has sustained a vigorous practice as a composer working principally in electro-acoustic music, free improvisation, and opera. Resident in Barcelona since 1990, he issues his recordings on the independent label MultiSounds that he founded.

Højmark entered the world in Copenhagen. Largely self-taught on both reeds, he nevertheless took part in numerous workshops led by Danish players during his early development and briefly studied with Pierre Dørge and John Tchicai. A half-year period at Holstebro Music School in 1976 acquainted him with the work of John Cage and kindled an enduring curiosity about experimental forms, yet the young musician first sought commercial opportunities. Between 1977 and 1986 he participated in an array of ensembles—jazz-rock groups, Balkan folk bands, salsa outfits, party ensembles, and studio sessions—that provided steady income. Seeking renewal, he relocated to West Berlin in 1986 and immersed himself in its free-improvisation community, collaborating with Peter Hollinger, Sven-Åke Johansson, and Wolfgang Fuchs, interactions that further refined his command of the bass clarinet.

Upon returning to Copenhagen he established the noise-improv duo Tzarina Q Cut alongside guitarist Jørgen Teller. Active chiefly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the pair performed across Denmark, Germany, and Spain, where Højmark chose to settle permanently. In Barcelona his attention turned toward computer music. Dreamjingles (1990), his debut solo album after two privately issued cassettes, explored computer-processed saxophone and clarinet materials. Around the same period he began composing operas scored for acoustic and electro-acoustic forces. “Turandot” (1993) marked the start of an enduring partnership with librettist Peter Lausegen. En Landsoldats Dagbog (1995) and Memory (1996) appeared on disc in 1997. Since 2000 the large-scale acousmatic opera installation and concert piece “aN eMPTY sPACE?” has been staged in Denmark, Spain, Italy, and Japan.

During the early 1990s Højmark joined the Barcelona iteration of Pascal Comelade’s ensemble, known as the Bel Canto Orquestra, sharing the stage with Mark Cunningham, Pierre Bastien, Oriol Perucho, and Gat. His first appearance on one of Comelade’s recordings occurred in 1993 with Danses et Chants de Syldavia; he subsequently contributed to nearly every album through the 1999 release Live in Lisbon. Although his final concert with Comelade took place in 2000, he maintained ties with several band colleagues, notably through Cunningham’s group RAEO. Most of those musicians appear on For the Birds (2001), the most buoyant of Højmark’s solo projects to date.