Category Archives: improv

20th March: Colin Webster & Andrew Lisle

After a few single-band gigs, this week we have a double-header of top improvising musicians. Baritone/tenor monster Colin Webster will share the bill with Shatner’s Bassoon drummer Andrew Lisle. Both will play solo sets, then they’ll play together as a duo.

Colin Webster

Colin Webster is a saxophonist/improvisor from London who has performed with some of the key figures in free jazz and improvised music, including Archie Shepp, Joe Bowie, Steve Noble and Alex Ward. Colin has recorded four albums and toured extensively with poet Anthony Joseph, and also recorded four albums of improvised music with drummer Mark Holub. Colin is also involved in other projects and collaborations with like-minded souls from all over the world.

Colin’s solo work focuses on the extremities of the saxophone sound, often exploring strict sonic palettes. His debut solo album ‘Antennae’ was released on cassette by Gaffer Records in October 2013. The album is a series of close-miked improvisations with an emphasis on minimal saxophone sounds such as breath, resonance, mechanical sounds (key/pad noise), and so on. Colin is currently working on a second solo album exploring the other end of the sonic spectrum, focusing on loudness and abrasiveness.

Andrew Lisle

Andrew Lisle is a drummer in the early stage of making his mark on the London improv scene. After graduating from Leeds College of Music in 2011 he moved to Lisbon, Portugal where he performed and recorded with local and international improvisers. Since moving to London in September 2013 he has started a number of projects including; duos with Alex Ward and Daniel Thompson, collaborations and live performances with Tom Wheatley, Seymour Wright, Thomas Lumley, Ricardo Tejero and Roberto Sassi. His style blends fast, dry, dynamic playing with dark, cinematic sounds.

Should be a lovely night! Doors 8pm, music 8.30pm. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL. £5 entry.

6th March: Dave O’Brien Electric Trio

This week we’re hosting the first performance of a brand new trio project from F-IRE Collective member Dave O’Brien. Dave’s other group Porpoise Corpus is one of Cath’s favourite bands, and you should definitely check out their eponymous first album. It’s quite hard to describe Dave’s music for the Porpoise, but Mike Flynn (Time Out London) said of one gig that it ‘lurch[ed] between Jarrettish piano interludes and funky schlock-horror jazz-rock’! So there you have it. Come along and hear his new venture…

Dave O’Brien Electric Trio

Dave O’Brien – keyboards

Kevin Glasgow – bass

Nick Smalley – drums

Winner of the Peter Whittingham Award in 2006, Dave is a musician who has always had an itching desire to explore the unfamiliar and likes to invite audiences and band-mates to join the quest. In demand as a double bassist, bass guitarist and pianist, he works with many other groups in London playing jazz, rock, funk, m-base, samba, son-montuno, and various fusions involving other influences such as south-Indian music, flamenco and cabaret. He has been on musical field trips to Cuba, the Gambia and New York, where he attended a course at the School for Improvised Music.

Doors 8pm, music starts 8.30pm, £5 entry. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL.

27th February @ Long White Cloud: Wolf Suit

We’re really looking forward to welcoming this high calibre trio this week. Get down to Long White Cloud early to make sure you get a seat!

Wolf Suit

Freely improvised jazz from this new trio, featuring award-winning reedsman James Allsopp, sought-after bassist Olie Brice and and the ever-impressive Tim Giles. Between them the members of Wolf Suit have worked with leading musicians as diverse as Paul Dunmall, Django Bates, Ingrid Laubrock, Jeff Williams, Mark Sanders,Tom Rainey, Mark Lockheart, Julian Arguelles and Stan Sulzmann, among many others…

James Allsopp – reeds
Olie Brice – double bass
Tim Giles – drums

Doors 8pm, music starts 8.30pm, £5 entry. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL.

20th February @ Long White Cloud: Deemer & Tom McCredie/Matt Herd Duo

This week we’ve got an exciting double bill of two improvising duos: Deemer, a collaboration between LUME’s own Dee Byrne and sound artist Merijn Royaards, and sax/bass duo Tom McCredie/Matt Herd. Come and sip a coffee, beer or glass of wine in our fantastic new venue and experience these complementary yet contrasting bands…

Deemer

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-manned’ 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.

Tom McCredie/Matt Herd duo

Tom McCredie (bass) and Matt Herd (alto saxophone) are graduates of the Royal Academy of Music, up and coming on the London jazz scene. Through improvisation they explore moods and atmospheres drawing on their varied musical influences, from jazz to classical to folk and so on. They have been performing together for three years now and are hoping to release an EP by the end of this year.

Doors 8pm, music starts 8.30pm, £5 entry. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL.

6th February @ Long White Cloud: Corey Mwamba/Martin Pyne Duo + Cath Roberts

Happy New Year! After a two month Winter break, we’re looking forward to starting things up again. The first gig of the new season features not one but two vibraphones, played by our friends the exciting improvisers Corey Mwamba and Martin Pyne. They will be joined in the second set by LUME’s own Cath Roberts on baritone sax. This should be an enjoyable evening, and our first at Long White Cloud. We’re hoping to make this space our new home, so do come along, check it out and help us settle in.

MWAMBA / PYNE DUO

Corey Mwamba – vibes, small instruments
Martin Pyne – vibes/electronics/percussion/toy piano

Vibes players Corey Mwamba and Martin Pyne initially stumbled upon each other’s work in cyberspace. Once they met in the flesh they began discussing the unlikely project of an improvising vibraphone duo. This remained an idea for a long time, until choreographer Sheron Wray called Martin and asked him to provide music for a project for improvising dancers. This provided the perfect opportunity to road test the duo format, and musicians and dancers were all smiling happily after the first rehearsal so it was all systems go!

Expect to hear a surprising range of textures and colours. Corey is one of the most fluent and inventive improvisers you will ever hear, dragging an extraordinary array of sounds from his instrument. In his work with his own band Busnoys, Martin has made a point of extending the sonic scope of the vibes with a range of subtle electronic processing, as well as triggering a variety of specially made sampled loops and drones. And expect a few other instrumental flavours thrown into the pot as the music simmers as well.

The gigs will start a bit earlier this season, i.e the music will *actually* begin at 8.30pm. Doors at 8pm, £5 entry. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL. Nearest station: Hoxton. See you there!

New gigs!

We’re happy to announce our first batch of gigs for 2014. LUME will start up again in February and we look forward to hosting this exciting array of musicians:

6th February Corey Mwamba / Martin Pyne

13th February Pickpocket

20th February Deemer & Tom McCredie / Matt Herd

27th February Wolf Suit

6th March Dave O’Brien Trio

13th March Vitor Pereira Quintet

20th March Colin Webster & Alex Bonney / Simon Roth

27th March Steve Beresford/Julie Kjaer & Ripsaw Catfish

We will also find ourselves in new surroundings once again, this time over in Hoxton at Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL. This friendly cafe venue is about three minutes’ walk from Hoxton overground station and all the buses of Kingsland Road, just around the corner from the Premises Studios. They regularly host art events and are looking forward to getting into live music too. It will be interesting to see how the gigs work in the space, and we’d love to know what you think.

As usual, more detailed posts about each gig to follow. In the mean time, get the dates in your diary and we’ll see you at Long White Cloud in Feb!

See you in 2014!

Just a quick post to say thanks to everyone who has supported and played at LUME over the past 5 months. We’ve had a blast….

Plans are underway for the new season in early 2014, so watch this space for news on that.

See you next year!

Cath and Dee

Trio Riot & Kjaer/Marshall/Musson: Thursday 14th November @ Hundred Crows Rising

Coming up this week we’ve got a touring band stopping off for their only London date, plus an exciting group of improvisers from closer to home. This will be a lovely night. Here comes the blurb…

TRIO RIOT

Mette Rasmussen – alto saxophone
Sam Andreae – tenor saxophone
David Meier – drums

Trio Riot formed in Helsinki in 2009, since the they have performed across Europe including dates in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and England. Stylistically, the band relate their sense of energy to the 1980s British punk scene, their approach to sound is inspired by Ornette Coleman and other free jazz pioneers and in their compositional style the group draws inspiration from 20th century contemporary music. With pure performance energy they manage to pull these disparate influences together into a compact and hard hitting musical concept.

http://efpirecords.com/artists/trio-riot/

KJAER/MARSHALL/MUSSON

Julie/Hannah/Rachel

alto saxophone/cello/tenor saxophone

ethereal/sublime/restless

otherworldly/unique/spontaneous

surreal/esoteric/ruminative

together

http://www.rachelmusson.com/

http://www.hannahmarshall.net/

http://www.juliekjaer.com/

As usual, doors at 8pm, music about 8.30/8.45pm, and it’s £5. Join us for an evening of improvised music at Hundred Crows Rising!

Thursday 26th September @ The Harrison: Madwort Sax Quartet

This week at LUME we’re heading back to The Harrison, and inviting Tom Ward to take the stage once again following last month’s debut of his other group Madwort’s Mechanical Mindset.

MADWORT SAX QUARTET

The Madwort Sax Quartet formed in 2011 to play compositions by Tom Ward and guided group improvisation. Tom’s influences include numerology and the movement of the planet earth through space, Steve Coleman, pioneering saxophone quartet Rova, Tim Berne, and transcriptions of bird song. Of technical interest was exploring contemporary techniques such as complex time signatures and metric modulations without the presence of a dedicated drummer or percussionist, and exploring harmony without a chordal instrument.

All the members bring their own individual, contrasting voices to the saxophone: Andy’s warm-toned, mellifluous tenor; Chris’s assertive, energetic alto familiar to fans of Led Bib; Tom’s lyrical, passionate but more reserved alto; and Cath’s fluid, assured baritone. When required, though, the ensemble manages to blend beautifully into a homogenous whole that belies these contrasts.

The group has been very well received (“a significantly distinctive musical proposition” – LondonJazz blog, September 2012), has recorded an EP’s worth of material (slated for release late 2013), and has played gigs in London, Manchester (hosted by Efpi Records) and Derby (hosted by Corey Mwamba).

The line-up is:

Tom Ward: alto saxophone & composition
Chris Williams: soprano & alto saxophones
Andy Woolf: tenor saxophone
Cath Roberts: baritone saxophone

More about the quartet and Tom’s other projects at his Madwort website. See you at the gig!