Category Archives: improv

26th June @ IKLECTIK: LUME Festival

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.

20th May @ Hundred Years Gallery: Richard Scott’s Lightning Ensemble & Sam Andreae solo

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)

8th May @ The Vortex: Sloth Racket (album launch) & ELDA

A double bill of touring bands this month, as Cath Roberts launches her Sloth Racket album ‘Triptych’ and Andrew Woodhead brings his improvising trio ELDA from Birmingham.

Sloth Racket

Sloth Racket is a quintet of UK improvisers led by baritone saxophonist Cath Roberts, with Anton Hunter (Beats & Pieces Big Band, Article XI) on guitar, Sam Andreae (Trio Riot, Silence Blossoms) on tenor saxophone, Seth Bennett (Metamorphic, En Bas Quartet) on bass and Johnny Hunter (Nat Birchall, Johnny Hunter Quartet) on drums. The group play Cath’s compositions, in the form of frameworks for improvisation: combining composed fragments with graphic notation to explore the balance between freedom and structure. In November 2015 they gathered to record at Limefield Studio in Manchester with John Ellis (Cinematic Orchestra) engineering. The resulting session, on a cold and rainy evening fuelled by coffee and pizza, produced three substantial tracks that range across musical territories from fiery free jazz, to minimal improv textures, to deep grooves. The album ‘Triptych’ is released in May 2016 on the Luminous label.

Cath Roberts baritone saxophone
Sam Andreae tenor saxophone
Anton Hunter guitar
Seth Bennett bass
Johnny Hunter drums

ELDA

Andrew Woodhead’s latest project ELDA is a collaboration with Norwegian vocalist Kari Eskild Havenstrøm (Trondheim Voices, Kristoffer Lo) and trumpeter Aaron Diaz (The Destroyers, Sid Peacock), mixing acoustic sounds with live electronics and soundscapes. Andrew and Kari met on a musical exchange between Trondheim and Birmingham at the 2013 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, and formed this trio with Aaron to continue their collaboration and explore their shared musical interests.

Andrew Woodhead keyboard/electronics
Aaron Diaz trumpet/electronics
Kari Eskild Havenstrøm vocals/FX

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.

3rd April @ The Vortex: Dave Kane Quartet & Corey Mwamba/Cath Roberts/Olie Brice

We have a great double bill for you this month: free improvisation and original music from two fantastic UK bands! As usual at The Vortex it’s doors at 7.30pm, with the music starting around 8pm. Advance tickets are £8 from the Vortex website, or it’s £10 on the door.

Dave Kane Quartet

The quartet will be playing music from their forthcoming album, to be released on Two Rivers Records later this year. Dave says:

‘This music is my own personal reflection and dedication to the jazz lineage, all of the music that I have listened to and the music that has influenced me the most. Each track on the record is a dedication to a composer/person that has influenced me greatly throughout my career. There are tracks dedicated to the following people: Charles Mingus, John Zorn, Hamid Drake, Eric Dolphy and Henry Threadgill. For me “The jazz lineage” means the records that are in my collection… my own personal lineage to the tradition, and my resulting music as a composer influenced and shaped by the music. Most people think of the jazz tradition as jazz standards, etc. This is not what I do, or what I am interested in. I have always listened to more adventurous composers & musicians who always pushed the music forward. This is what I have achieved with my new record. Although this music is still on the contemporary/avant garde side of jazz… I would say it is some of the most accessible music I have ever written.’

Dave Kane double bass

James Allsopp saxophones, clarinet

Alex Bonney cornet/trumpet

Joost Hendrickx drums

Corey Mwamba/Cath Roberts/Olie Brice

An improvising trio of vibraphone, baritone sax and bass, this group first played together in 2014 and brings together three musicians active on the UK jazz and improvised music scene. Olie Brice leads his own quartet as well as playing in numerous other collaborations including a trio with Toby Delius and Mark Sanders; BABs with Alex Bonney and James Allsopp; Nick Malcolm Quartet; Loz Speyer’s Inner Space Music; and Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet. Cath Roberts leads two groups playing her compositions, Sloth Racket and Quadraceratops, as well as writing and improvising new music with guitarist Anton Hunter as Ripsaw Catfish. She is a member of the Madwort Sax Quartet, Anton Hunter’s Article XI, the eight-piece improvising saxophone group Saxoctopus and the collaborative quartet Word Of Moth. Corey Mwamba leads his own trio, Yana, and is involved in a variety of other groups including Sonsale; duos with Rachel Musson, Orphy Robinson and Robert Mitchell; Martin Archer’s large ensemble Engine Room Favourites; and Nat Birchall’s quintet. He is recognised as a highly creative improviser and composer working across a wide range of jazz and contemporary music, as well as a programmer of forward-looking music in his home city of Derby.

Corey Mwamba vibraphone

Cath Roberts baritone saxophone

Olie Brice bass

16th March @ IKLECTIK ARTLAB: Schnellertollermeier & Taupe

We’re proud to present a double bill of two cutting edge trios: Schnellertollermeier from Switzerland and Taupe from Newcastle at the super hip IKLECTIK ARTLAB. Join us!

IKLECTIK ARTLAB, Old Paradise Yard, 20 Carlisle Lane ( Royal Street corner, next to Archbishop’s Park), SE1 7LG. Doors 7.30pm, music 8.15pm.

Schnellertollermeier

Schnellertollermeier play music without compromises: ranging between free improvisation, hardcore jazz, modern composition and brute rock music, their style defies genre boundaries with an instrumental power that lets heart beat the head easily.
The idea of a band that sounds like one organism in which each element has its own importance and clear function was worked on intensively and put to effect on their new album „X“. The usual roles of the instruments were extended decisively – what can be perceived is a unified energy with as much explosive force as depth.

Andi Schnellmann Bass
Manuel Troller Guitar
David Meier Drums

Taupe

Taupe are a Newcastle upon Tyne based trio specialising in razor-sharp polyrhythmic play, exploratory improvisation and raw, high energy live performance.
The group’s sound is built of influences drawing from free jazz and math metal to hip-hop grooves and post-bop, with a healthy dollop of skronk, all navigated down a path that seeks to blur the line between carefully constructed rhythmic compositions and explosive group improvisation.
Taupe thrive on the danger of this ambiguity, deconstructing their music in real time to weave fresh and dynamic paths through their material with each performance.

Adam Stapleford Drums
Mike Parr Burman Guitar
Jamie Stockbridge Saxophone

6th March @ The Vortex: Tom Ward/Adam Fairhall/Olie Brice/Andrew Lisle & Øyeblikk

For our next gig at the Vortex we are excited to present two new collaborations! Come and hear some fresh new original and improvised music…

Tom Ward/Adam Fairhall/Olie Brice/Andrew Lisle

The debut performance of a new group featuring four highly creative improvisers who have appeared at LUME in other projects, but have never played all together. Tom Ward and Adam Fairhall had their names drawn out of the hat at our randomised free improvisation night last Summer, and following this initial encounter (a toy piano and bass clarinet duo) they decided to get a band together. The quartet will play new music by the bandmembers, starting from a few common reference points. The band will employ a flexible approach to harmony and form, including investigating negative harmony and stretching out with extended improvisations. Influences include the Greg Osby ‘Banned In New York’ album with Jason Moran, the ‘Monk’s Casino’ album with Alexander von Schlippenbach and Rudi Mahall, and Fieldwork with Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey.

Tom Ward alto sax, bass clarinet, flute
Adam Fairhall piano
Olie Brice double bass
Andrew Lisle drums

Øyeblikk

Dee Byrne and Ed Riches met in 2008 and have collaborated in various projects such as improvising sextet Zonica (Gareth Lockrane, Xantone Blacq, Elliot Galvin, Tom McCredie, Pat Davey) and more recently as an improvising duo using electronics. Tonight they will be joined by drummer/percussionist Matt Fisher who plays in Dee’s band Entropi. Øyeblikk (‘moment’ in Norwegian) describes the ethos of the project: a spontaneous narrative of soundscapes, riffs and themes taking the listener on a cosmic, sonic adventure. The title Øyeblikk is a nod to the fact that both Ed and Dee have a connection with Scandinavia, Dee lived in Stockholm for seven years and Ed spent a part of his childhood in Norway.

Dee Byrne alto saxophone/electronics
Ed Riches guitar/electronics
Matt Fisher drums/percussion

As usual, doors are at 7.30pm and the music will start at around 8pm. Tickets are on sale now from the Vortex website.

18th February @ London Review Bookshop: En Bas Quartet

Our second gig of February is a special one: we are taking LUME to the cosy basement of the London Review Bookshop in Bloomsbury. Part of the bookshop by day, and home to literary events and film screenings, the downstairs room will become our intimate setting for Seth Bennett’s new project En Bas Quartet.

En Bas Quartet is, as the name suggests, a low string quartet, featuring some of the most exciting string improvisers in the U.K. They will be playing Seth’s quartet for improvising low strings, based on the Northumberland folk song tune “Sair Fyeld Hinny”, and exploring various settings and provocations for group and solo improvisation. Inspired by the quartets of Shostakovich, Beethoven and Bartok, as well as more contemporary jazz ensembles like Arcado String Trio, the Masada string trio and contemporary British free improvisation, En Bas Quartet weave their disparate influences into a compelling whole.

Aby Vulliamy viola

Benedict Taylor viola

Alice Eldridge cello

Seth Bennett double bass

This gig is a ticketed event (unusual for us I know!) and the room at LRB has a limited capacity. The ticket includes a drink, and it’s doors at 7pm with the music starting at 7.30pm. Buy your advance tickets HERE.

7th February @ The Vortex: Njanas and Far Reaching Dreams

We’re excited to be back at the Vortex in 2016 with two fresh new ensembles playing their original compositions. This promises to be a great evening of music!

NJANAS

An exciting new collaboration bringing together four creative voices from across the UK scene. In their own words: ‘This is a brand new project of female musician/composers Laura Cole, Filomena Campus, Tori Handsley and Ruth Goller who are all band leaders in their own right. The ensemble, which celebrates women’s art and music, started more than a year ago. We often feel under-represented as women in the worlds of jazz and art, and in this project all compositions are inspired by a female artist (such as Frida Kahlo, Niki de Saint Phalle, Gertrude Stein, Franca Rame and many more) or written by a female composer. The name Njanas is an encounter between the gigantic sculptures called ‘Nanas’, created by painter and sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle, and ‘Janas’, ancient legendary female figures and fairies/witches that relate to the myth of the Sardinian Goddess-Mother.’

Filomena Campus – vocals

Laura Cole – piano

Tori Handsley – harp

Ruth Goller – bass

Percy Pursglove’s Far Reaching Dreams Trio

Following the critically acclaimed success of his ‘Far Reaching Dreams of Mortal Souls’ commission for large scale choir and jazz ensemble, multi-instrumentalist Pursglove debuts his fascinating new trio, featuring Percy on trumpet, Paul Clarvis (drums) and Ivo Neame (piano, accordion), with original music inspired by speeches and works of iconic historical figures.

‘Somehow Percy Pursglove created a completely whole musical world all of his own. That is a rare achievement’ Jazzwise

Percy Pursglove – trumpet

Paul Clarvis – drums

Ivo Neame – piano/accordion

As usual, doors are at 7.30pm and the music will start at around 8pm. Vortex Jazz Club, 11 Gillett Street, N16 8JH.

See you there!

All the best,

Cath and Dee

16th January, 2pm @ Electric Knife: Hannah Marshall & Kordik Lucas

We’re back! Happy New Year everyone. To kick things off for 2016, we’re taking LUME to a new space: the excellent Electric Knife record shop in Kentish Town. Electric Knife specialises in avant garde, noise, and experimental music and its owner Thanasis stocks a fantastic range of CDs, vinyl, cassettes, books and more. The shop occasionally turns into an intimate venue for in-store gigs, and we’re really exciting to be hosting one this January. Be warned: this gig is in the afternoon! The music will start at 2pm, so make sure you leave yourself some time to browse the shelves before we welcome:

Hannah Marshall
Improvising cellist Hannah Marshall is a formidable force on the UK scene and beyond. She regularly collaborates with such (fellow) luminaries of improvised music as Veryan Weston, Alison Blunt, Terry Day, Alex Ward, Rachel Musson and Dominic Lash, and has also played with Evan Parker, Luc Ex and Fred Frith. Hannah has appeared at LUME before in various different groups, but for today’s gig we’re excited to say that she will be performing a solo set.

Kordik Lucas
Last year we were lucky enough to host a set by trombone and analogue synthesiser duo Kordik Lucas, and we couldn’t wait to ask them back. They have been playing together for several years, as well as running Earshots Recordings together, a label releasing improvised music and field recordings. ‘The juicy sounds of the Vostok synth wiggle with squelchy non- classical balls of trombone fluff,’ said the Next Festival in Bratislava, and we have to agree…

Ed Lucas trombone

Daniel Kordik Vostok synthesiser

Please join us for this special afternoon of improvised music in London’s finest tiny record shop! Suggested donation: one Bank of England note of your choice.

Electric Knife Records, 16b Fortress Road, Kentish Town, NW5 2EU.