For this year’s London Jazz Festival we’re presenting a special three night series of our own current projects, featuring some of the UK’s most exciting improvising musicians aka the LUME usual suspects…
Tuesday 18th November: Ripsaw Catfish ‘Shoaling’
Ripsaw Catfish is Anton Hunter (guitar) and Cath Roberts (baritone saxophone). The Manchester and London-based duo formed in 2013 to explore improvised and composed music, and whatever lies between those things. They employ a collection of pre-composed elements which can be drawn upon, or not, during the course of an improvisation. Tonight they launch ‘Shoaling’, a UK tour with a collaborative focus, with support from Sound And Music. The duo will assemble ad hoc ensembles (‘shoals’) of improvising musicians at each location to play spontaneous sets of new music informed by, incorporating or ignoring the Ripsaw Catfish composed material. For this performance they are joined by improvising vibes player Corey Mwamba and his trio.
Anton Hunter guitar
Cath Roberts baritone sax
Corey Mwamba vibraphone, small instruments
Dave Kane bass
Joshua Blackmore drums
Wednesday 19th November: Deemer & duck-rabbit
The brain-child of Merijn Royaards and Dee Byrne, Deemer started life in 2006 as a weekly improvisation/electronics session in a warehouse in Hackney Wick. The project has since evolved into an installation/performance based electro-acoustic ‘two-piece’ orchestra, whose aural narratives are created within fluid frameworks that map a trajectory in time, but leave the sonic textures and compositions entirely free and undetermined. Deemer employ, among other things, alto saxophone, drums, analogue electronics, tape, transducer microphones/speakers to instantly compose, activate space, and blur the boundaries between free jazz and sound installation.
Merijn Royaards electronics/percussion
Dee Byrne alto saxophone/electronics
This new improvising trio explores two contrasting and overlapping personalities; one acoustic, one electronic. Using unique electronic instruments, they interact with their acoustic improvisations to form a rich and varied dialogue. Their interaction creates an absorbing interplay between past and present, a constant re-imagining of ideas within an expanded sonic terrain. Two releases, ‘Path To Field’ and ‘Scattered Voices: Part 1’ came out in early 2014.
Joe Wright – saxophone/electronics
Tom Taylor – piano/electronics
James Opstad – double bass/electronics
Thursday 20th November: Entropi & Quadraceratops
Led by Dee Byrne, Entropi started life in 2010 as a vehicle for composition and improvisation. Dee’s compositions deal with the inconsistent nature of time, the transience of life, exploration of the unknown, pivotal moments of decision making, journeys in outer space and the unlikely symmetry of seemingly unrelated events.
Dee Byrne alto saxophone
Andre Canniere trumpet
Rebecca Nash keyboards
Olie Brice bass
Matt Fisher drums
Quadraceratops
Cath Roberts leads this septet playing her compositions, described by Jez Nelson as ‘suitably psychotic!’ The current set of music is inspired by insects, fairground rides, underground tunnelling machines and fictional serial killers. The first Quadraceratops album was released on Efpi Records in October.
Cath Roberts alto saxophone, compositions
Tom Ward tenor saxophone
Henry Spencer trumpet
Magnus Dearness trombone
Dave O’Brien keyboards
Jason Simpson bass
Olly Blackman drums
On all three nights it will be doors 8pm, music 8.30pm at Long White Cloud. We hope you can join us for three festive nights at LUME!