We had a fantastic night at the last LUME of 2022. A lovely busy gig to finish off our year! Watch this space for more…
Cath Roberts and Bill Thompson
Matt Fisher and Dee Byrne
Olie Brice ‘From The Mouths of Lions’ string project
Organisers’ end-of-year selfie
We’re back this autumn with a fresh crop of new gigs! Three evenings of improvised music at our regular haunt Hundred Years Gallery in Hoxton…
Continuing our three-set format, each month LUME founders Dee Byrne and Cath Roberts will bring a project, and the third ‘guest’ set will feature some more of our favourite artists. There will be a solo set each month; from Cath Roberts in October, Will Glaser in November and Hannah Marshall in December. Multiple ‘first meeting’ duo sets will be played: Cath will play with Ruth Goller for the first time, while Dee will collaborate with Chris Williams (October) and Elliot Galvin (November).
New releases are also a theme. Our Swiss friends Oli Kuster and Cyrill Ferrari will play a set with Dee in November as part of the trio’s UK mini-tour to celebrate the release of their new album ‘Motherboard Pinball’ (Efpi Records). And in December, LUME will host the album release concert for ‘Hold Music’ by cr-ow-tr-io (Cath Roberts, Otto Willberg and Tullis Rennie), which will be out that month on Luminous.
Join us!
The second LUME Festival is taking place at IKLECTIK on the weekend of 24th/25th June. This year’s event will be a two-dayer, with a host of LUME’s favourite artists on the bill. Join us for two days of spontaneous musical explorations, collaborations old and new, live painting from Gina Southgate and all round good times!
Saturday: The Hat Speaks // Alex Bonney solo // Ma/ti/om // Archipelago // Sloth Racket // Corey Mwamba (LUME Lab Festival Special) // Gina Southgate
Sunday: The Hat Speaks // Tullis Rennie solo // Birchall/Cheetham/Webster/Willberg // Entropi // Metamorphic // LUMEkestra //Gina Southgate
Food // drinks // merch
2pm – midnight (live sets 3pm – 10.30pm)
Buy your tickets now from the Luminous Bandcamp site.
Praise for last year’s inaugural festival:
‘A glimpse of the kind of self-generated, mutually supportive communities we’re going to need if we’re to survive the years ahead.’ – Daniel Spicer, The Wire
‘Like all the best family get togethers LUME Festival should be an annual event. This debut was outstanding.’ – Thomas Rees, Jazzwise
Dee Byrne (alto sax), Cath Roberts (baritone sax), Seth Bennett (bass), Johnny Hunter (drums)
Word Of Moth is a collaborative quartet set up by LUME founders Dee and Cath: we needed something musical to offset all the admin work we do together! The band has just got a new drummer, Johnny Hunter, and so we’ve used our LUME Lab slot to develop the new lineup, taking existing material in new directions as well as working on some brand new music together. The band is recording its debut album this month, and heading to Switzerland to play at the Jazzwerkstatt collective’s tenth anniversary festival, so this LUME Lab date is the start of some exciting moth times. A few words about what we’ve been doing before you join us on 8th February…
Dee writes:
We had a good rehearsal yesterday [25th January], working on some new material, which we’ll perform at IKLECTIK on 8th February and will also be recording on 16th February. The line-up in Word of Moth (drums, double bass, baritone sax and alto sax) is a new challenge for me to compose for; the absence of a chordal instrument encourages me to take a new approach and look more creatively at the specific roles of each instrument. The horns can comp a bass or drum solo as well as play melodies and improvise, which is a fun extra element.
The new compositions I brought to the rehearsal were not polished arrangements, but instead took the form of a few distinct sections, which we then workshopped and arranged as a group. It’s a fun and collaborative way to work and led to some cool results! Some of the things we looked at were transitions between different sections such as introducing a riff/theme during a solo or half the group moving to the next section resulting in two sections overlapping (that sounded great!)
Cath writes:
For Word Of Moth I’ve found myself taking a different approach to composing than I usually might. My current concerns with my regular band Sloth Racket are about using a combination of graphics and conventional notation to create structures for us to improvise our way through. This involves lots of cutting, sticking and photocopying to create scores as if the computer had never been invented.
For some reason though, for WoM I’ve found myself writing pieces that are more like short rock/pop songs! For the LUME Lab rehearsals I’ve been bringing in simple riffs or hooks, sometimes with an attached melody, but not much in the way of fully developed structures. This has led to some pretty stripped-down sounding music, with a lot of space for us to improvise and develop the tunes together. Plus I get to rock out playing some heavy riffs on bari, or rock out while listening to Seth playing them on bass, which is extremely satisfying.
It will be good to pull the pieces together and try them out at our LUME Lab gig – by which time we should be a step closer to being ready to go into the studio too….
Word Of Moth’s LUME Lab gig is 8th February at IKLECTIK, near Waterloo. Doors at 8pm, music 8.30pm. Tickets are on sale now from the Luminous Bandcamp site, and we’d love to see you there.
LUME is back with something new for 2017: LUME Lab. Making a space for artists to create new work, four evenings of brand new composition and improvised music will be accompanied by the LUME Lab project blog, letting the audience in on the creative process. LUME Lab marks a change of direction for us: we’re moving away from being a platform for guest artists, rolling up our sleeves and getting involved in creating new music with the community of musicians who have gathered around LUME over the past three and a half years.
LUME Lab gigs will take place at IKLECTIK, the South London arts space that played host to our inaugural festival last summer and the LUMEkestra’s debut in November. The series opens in February with a new incarnation of our quartet Word Of Moth, then we settle down for the ride and get ready to enjoy new music from three of the most exciting artists on the UK scene right now. We invite you to join us.
Tickets are available for individual gigs, and for slightly less you can purchase a season ticket for all four, or a ticket to use at two dates of your choice. Buy tickets now from our Luminous Bandcamp page.
8th February: Word Of Moth
Word of Moth’s ‘spontaneous group explorations and tightly-scored, big-booted riffs’ were praised by Daniel Spicer in the Wire magazine after their appearance at LUME Festival. The collaborative quartet explores the intersection of freedom and structure, with LUME founders Dee Byrne (alto sax) and Cath Roberts (baritone sax) joined by Seth Bennett on bass and Johnny Hunter on drums. wordofmoth.co.uk
Photo: Tom Ward
16th March: Julie Kjær
Saxophonist Julie Kjær is firmly established on the European stage. Her acclaimed trio with Steve Noble and John Edwards released its debut recording ‘Doppeltganger’ on the Clean Feed label in 2016, and she tours with Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love’s Large Unit as well as being involved in many other projects in the UK and beyond. juliekjaer.com
Photo: Dawid Laskowski
19th April: Craig Scott
Craig Scott’s music is ‘part human, part machine and revelling the glory and error of both.’ His studio project Craig Scott’s Lobotomy transforms recordings of improvisations by Craig and others using homemade equipment, re-constructing them with digital audio software. He is a member of formidable Leeds quintet Shatner’s Bassoon. craigscottslobotomy.bandcamp.com
Photo: Josh Crocker
24th May: Anton Hunter
Improvisation is at the core of Anton Hunter’s work. His Article XI project incorporates the personalities of eleven improvising musicians into the compositional process, exploring the relationship between composer and large ensemble. He leads his own trio with Seth Bennett and Johnny Hunter, and co-founded the long-running Manchester free improvisation night The Noise Upstairs. antonhunter.com
Photo: Mark Whitaker
LUME Lab is supported by Arts Council England.
Quick post to share Dan Paton’s photo of the LUMEkestra in action last night at IKLECTIK. It was a fantastic night: the venue was packed out, good times were had and new music was made. There will be more…..see you next time!
Regular LUME gigs are on hiatus until 2017, but we’ve coaxed the LUMEfish off its sofa and put together a special one-off show as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Convening at IKLECTIK on Monday 14th November will be the first incarnation of the LUMEkestra, our brand new large ensemble project. Featuring:
Trumpet
Kim Macari
Saxes
Dee Byrne
Cath Roberts
Colin Webster
Julie Kjaer
Oliver Dover
Tom Ward
Trombone
Tullis Rennie
Guitars
Anton Hunter
Paulo Duarte
Keys
Adam Fairhall
Rebecca Nash
Vibes
Martin Pyne
Basses
Dave Kane
Olie Brice
Tim Fairhall
Drums
Johnny Hunter
Matt Fisher
Supporting this behemoth will be our very own Dee Byrne’s space-jazz quintet Entropi and Ripsaw Catfish, the duo of Anton Hunter and Cath Roberts (also our very own).
Doors are at 7.30pm and the music will start at 8pm sharp! Tickets are available now from the Luminous Bandcamp site.
The venue is IKLECTIK, 20 Carlisle Lane, SE1 7LG.
We’re extremely happy to be able to type this: LUME Festival is going ahead! With the support of our awesome 131 Kickstarter backers, Arts Council England and the Austrian Cultural Forum, we’ll be hosting an all-dayer on Sunday 26th June at IKLECTIK.
A lot of tickets were sold through the Kickstarter campaign, but there are a limited number available from our Luminous Bandcamp site. Grab yours now and we’ll see you there for a great day of music!
The line-up, in reverse order of appearance, is:
Article XI (Manchester)
Freewheeling large ensemble led by guitarist Anton Hunter, with: Oliver Dover (alto sax), Tom Ward (tenor sax), Cath Roberts (baritone sax), Johnny Hunter (drums), Seth Bennett (bass), Graham South, Nick Walters (trumpet), Tullis Rennie, Richard Foote (trombone)
Blueblut (Austria)
Coming over from Austria! With Led Bib’s Mark Holub (drums), Pamela Stickney (theremin) and Chris Janka (guitar)
Kjær/Musson/Marshall (London)
Fantastic trio of Julie Kjær (alto sax), Rachel Musson (tenor sax) and Hannah Marshall (cello)
Little Church (Birmingham)
Quintet led by David Austin Grey (nord/synth/FX) playing compositions inspired by Miles Davis electric period featuring Rachael Cohen (alto sax), Chris Mapp (bass/electronics) and Tymek Joswiak (drums).
Hot Beef Three (Leeds)
Trio with some of Leeds’ finest improvisers: Oliver Dover (saxes), Andrew Lisle (drums), Craig Scott (guitar)
Ant Traditions (Manchester)
Top notch Manchester improv from Adam Fairhall (toy pianos) and Dave Birchall (electric guitar)
Word Of Moth (London)
Collaborative quartet from the founders of LUME: Dee Byrne (alto sax), Cath Roberts (baritone sax), Seth Bennett (bass), Tom Greenhalgh (drums)
We’ll also have artist Gina Southgate capturing the day on canvas!
Doors 1pm, music 1.30pm-10.30pm, with late bar afterwards.
IKLECTIK, Old Paradise Yard, 20 Carlisle Lane, SE1 7LG.
The festival is generously supported by Arts Council England, the Austrian Cultural Forum and 131 Kickstarter backers.
This month we return to Hundred Year’s Gallery to host a fantastic touring double bill of improvised music. It’s great to have Sam Andreae back at LUME after his appearance last year with Rodrigo Constanzo, and more recently of course as part of Sloth Racket. Doors are 8pm, music 8.30pm, and tickets are available in advance from the Luminous Bandcamp site.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, E2 8JD. Nearest station: Hoxton overground.
Richard Scott’s Lightning Ensemble
The Lighting Ensemble is Richard Scott’s UK-based hyper-interactive free improvising group with longtime collaborators Phillip Marks and David Birchall. Intricate, intimate, dynamic, molecular and often explosive music.
The ensemble focuses on a highly interactive, conversational post-free jazz form of free music that Scott calls ‘molecular improvisation’, influenced by disciplines originally pioneered by John Stevens and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Scott’s approach to electronics is fast and visceral and the group’s sound reflects his interest in speed, intensity and collective musical communication.
The Lightning Ensemble itself has been in existence for five years but the individual players in the group have a much longer history of playing together. Scott and Marks have been working together for over two decades in groups such as Grew Trio and Bark! Marks and Birchall, separated in age by 30 years, nonetheless discovered their absolutely compatible natural musical affinity over the past five years via the improvising scene in the north of England. In 2016 there are 3 new albums prepared for release: one is the trio alone, one featuring Sam Andreae on saxophone and one with Jon Rose on violin.
Sam Andreae
Sam’s music explores ideas of stasis through chaos, concrete gestures vs abstraction, subversion of learned behaviours/actions, extremes of attack or sustain and spontaneity. All the audible possibilities of the saxophone are approached with a concept of sound equality – one language formed from many contrasting parts – informed by playing with many percussion and electronic musicians and driven by a desire to blend with these instruments in order to form a cohesive ensemble sound. His composition work focuses on exploiting behavioural/interaction based elements through sound and gesture, these ideas also mix into his improvised performances. However deeply thought out a concert or work might be, Sam believes keeping a lightness and fragility in any performance situation is essential in order to achieve an engaging and truly spontaneous musical experience.
“Andreae delves into an impressive vocabulary of skilfully controlled overtones, rapid keypad flutters and fragile harmonics, glistening like filaments held up to the light”
– Daniel Spicer, The Wire (2015)
For our last gig of 2015 we return to Hundred Years Gallery in Hoxton, for the second edition of our dice-and-hat improvised music night. We held the first one in July to celebrate our second birthday, and it was so much fun we decided to do it again. As before, a nebulous ensemble of UK improvisers will gather to make spontaneous music together. This time the list looks like this:
Alison Blunt
Alex Bonney
Dee Byrne
Tim Fairhall
Tom Greenhalgh
Anton Hunter
Andrew Lisle
Percy Pursglove
Martin Pyne
Tullis Rennie
Ed Riches
Cath Roberts
Tom Ward
Colin Webster
….plus new additions Seth Bennett and Tori Handsley!
Taking inspiration from long-running Manchester night The Noise Upstairs (founded by Anton Hunter and Tullis Rennie no less), we will put all the players’ names into a hat, throw the dice to determine how many musicians will play, and then draw out the names. The result is lots of mini- sets from often completely new combinations of people! Some groups from last time have decided to carry on playing together too: Tom Ward and Adam Fairhall are now collaborating on a new quartet for 2016 after their hat encounter in the Summer!
Do join us for this last gig of the year – it’s been a blast, so let’s see it off in style! Entry, as usual, is one Bank of England note of your choice. Doors 7.30pm, first roll of the dice 8pm.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, London E2 8JD.
