Australian Will Guthrie returns to Portugal, once again at ZDB, with what is probably his most ambitious creation. A recurring presence in these parts in various guises – solo, duos with Koshiro Hino or Ahmed Ag Kaedy – Guthrie is today one of the most indefatigable names in drums and percussion, with outspoken work on various fronts including electro-acoustic, free improvisation, areas bordering on rock and the bridges between them. With a huge list of collaborations with names such as Oren Ambarchi, David Maranha or Mark Fell, in addition to those mentioned above and many, many others, Guthrie’s ensemble version of his Nist Nah is the catalyst for a very personal but fully informed vision of the Indonesian gamelan. Far from academic dryness or brute force acculturation, Nist Nah’s music draws inspiration not only from the various forms of gamelan, whether they be millenary ones like the Jathilan ritual or the contemporary revision of Dewa Alit and his Gamelan Salukat, but also from a whole myriad of languages from various latitudes: the percussion works of Roscoe Mitchell, the collective improvisation of Henry Treadgill, the crossovers of Trevor Watts or Mike Cooper and a long fascination and research around the timbre and tonality of metal percussion. Born in 2019 and since then with a changing and continuously evolving line-up, Ensemble Nist Nah has had artists from the most diverse backgrounds such as Sarah Hennies or Jennifer Torrence in its ranks, adapting to the drive and interest of its members in a given space-time. Already with a mesmerizing album on Black Truffle – Elders – and a collection of live recordings called ‘Bits’N’Bobs’, Ensemble Nist Nah entered its second phase in 2024, based around young musicians from Nantes, whose input has made this another music, always alive.