Category Archives: black metal

16th April @ Hundred Years Gallery: Madwort Sax Quartet (live album recording)

We’re very happy to welcome Madwort Sax Quartet to Hundred Years Gallery for an important event in the group’s life: the making of their debut album. This gig will be recorded by Alex Bonney for a future release. Having played a sold-out gig at Manchester Jazz Festival in the summer – ably assisted at the last minute by LUME’s own Dee Byrne – the quartet are now back on home turf for this special performance.

Playing Tom Ward’s compositions, the band explores irregular grooves and unusual harmonies inspired by mathematics and numerology, framed by the intuitive expressionism of free improvisation. This is a challenging line-up that allows for beautifully blended harmonies, intricate polyrhythms and abrasive dissonances. Inspirations include the movement of the planet earth through space, Steve Coleman, pioneering saxophone quartet Rova, Tim Berne, and transcriptions of bird song.

“The group’s sychronisation, the engaging, rounded brass sound and the impressive ease with which the four musicians blended to dish out a significantly distinctive musical proposition” – LondonJazzNews.com

Tom Ward alto sax/compositions
Chris Williams alto/soprano sax
Andy Woolf tenor sax
Cath Roberts bari sax

Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, E2 8JD. Doors 8pm, music 8.30pm. One Bank of England note. Tickets are available in advance from the Luminous Bandcamp site.

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4th December: Splatter & Martin Speake/Malcolm Earle-Smith

A double bill this week with a new duo of Martin Speake and Malcolm Earle-Smith, plus a set from improv quartet Splatter.

Splatter

Splatter play improvised music that is not quite many things. It isn’t quite jazz, it isn’t quite free jazz, it isn’t quite free improvisation, it isn’t quite avant rock or plain old rock, or folk music or contemporary music – it is all of these things, mixed together in the moment – sometimes in the same tune.

Time Out remarked that Splatter  ‘feed shards of rock and black metal into their freeform jazz Soundscapes”. They have released three CD’s to date, the most recent being ‘Cloudseed’ which features a collaboration with Polish bass guitarist, Rafal Mazur.

Rachel Musson tenor sax

Noel Taylor clarinet

Pedro Velasco guitar

Ansuman Biswas drums

splatter

Martin Speake & Malcolm Earle-Smith

Citing Lee Konitz, Charlie Parker, Warne Marsh, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Steve Coleman, Rabi Abou Khalil, and Paul Motian as major influences, Martin has developed a personal musical voice that expresses a deep understanding of the history and language of Jazz with individuality as an improviser that is intelligent, melodic, cool, complex, direct, beautiful and profound. Martin will be performing an improvised duo set with acclaimed trombonist Malcolm Earle-Smith.

Martin Speake