In the Shadow of Kafka: Blue-Eyed Hawk in Session
For Radio 3's In the Shadow of Kafka season, Jez Nelzon presents British band Blue-Eyed Hawk performing in session, premiering new music inspired by the Czech writer's stories.
British band Blue-Eyed Hawk perform in session, premiering new music inspired by the celebrated Czech writer Franz Kafka.
Now 100 years since the publication of his seminal work The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung), Franz Kafka remains one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, inspiring generations with his novels and short stories, themes of alienation, authority and mythical transformation. To coincide with a series of programmes across Radio 3 celebrating his life, Jazz on 3 invited Blue-Eyed Hawk - a quartet born from the fascination between improvisation and literature - to write new music inspired by Kafka's short stories.
As their namesake line from W.B. Yeats's poem Under the Moon suggests, Blue-Eyed Hawk's first projects have focused mainly on the musicality found in poetry, powered by vocalist Lauren Kinsella's impressive ability to reimagine the rhythms and twists of verse. However Kafka's prose poses a different sort of challenge and it's a focus on his characters and themes that come to the fore in this session. The band members, including acclaimed young trumpeter Laura Jurd, guitarist Alex Roth and drummer Corrie Dick, share composition duties and bring their own individual sound to the world of Kafka.
Presenter: Jez Nelson
Producer: Miranda Hinkley.
Last on
More episodes
![]()
In the Shadow of Kafka
Leading writers explore the breadth of Czech author Franz Kafka's thinking
![]()
Mr Rainbow
Kafka-inspired drama about a young man seeking advice from a series of self-help experts.
![]()
The Process
A new adaptation of Franz Kafka's classic The Trial. What has Joseph Kay been accused of?
Clip
-
![]()
In The Shadow Of Kafka: Blue-Eyed Hawk In Session
Duration: 01:34
Music Played
-
Blue-Eyed Hawk in session for Jazz on 3 at Livingston Studios, London on 29 March 2015
-
![]()
Blue-Eyed Hawk
Metamorphosis
Composer: Laura Jurd
-
![]()
Blue-Eyed Hawk
All Sorts
Composer: Lauren Kinsella
-
![]()
Blue-Eyed Hawk
The Machine
Composer: Laura Jurd
-
![]()
Blue-Eyed Hawk
If It Shatters
Composer: Corrie Dick
-
-
Bassist Jarom铆r Honz谩k selects tracks from the Czech jazz scene
-
![]()
Vertigo Quintet
Jul i Galhus
- Taj.
- Animal Records.
-
![]()
Lubos Soukup Ensemble
Street
- Through the Mirror.
- Animal Records.
-
![]()
Jarom铆r Honz谩k
Smell of Change
- Uncertainty.
- Animal Records.
-
![]()
European Jazz Orchestra
Charles Mingus Suite: Mvt 2: Sostenuto
-
-
Blue-Eyed Hawk in session for Jazz on 3 at Livingston Studios, London on 29 March 2015
-
![]()
Blue-Eyed Hawk
Strange Animal
Composer: Alex Roth
-
![]()
Blue-Eyed Hawk
Message from the Emperor
Composer: Alex Roth
-
![]()
Blue-Eyed Hawk
The Trees
Composer: Lauren Kinsella / Laura Jurd / Alex Roth / Corrie Dick
-
-
New music from Keith Jarrett
-
Archive Interview: Keith Jarrett in conversation with Ethan Iverson (2009)
![]()
Keith Jarrett
Part III
- Creation.
- ECM.
-
Line up:
Broadcast
- Mon 11 May 2015 23:00麻豆社 Radio 3
Kafka and Co
Texts and music exploring the themes in Kafka. Readers: Rory Kinnear and Juliet Stevenson.
In the Shadow of Kafka: Prophet of Prague
Misha Glenny traces the footsteps of Franz Kafka in his native city.
Jazz Now
The new home of contemporary jazz on 麻豆社 Radio 3
Related Content