Category Archives: saxes

6th November: Johnny Hunter Quartet

This week we’re very happy to host the London date on Manchester-based drummer Johnny Hunter’s UK tour with his quartet.

With a background of both the avant-garde and more mainstream jazz, Johnny has performed with Mick Beck, Nat Birchall, Jamil Sheriff, Corey Mwamba, Steve Beresford, Adam Fairhall and Steve Berry to name a few. As well as leading his quartet, Johnny plays with a multitude of other bands including Marley Chingus, Engine Room Favourites, the Blind Monk Trio, the Dub Jazz Soundsystem and Skamel. He runs the jazz jam night at Matt & Phred’s jazz club, the monthly ‘Brilliant Corners Jazz Club‘ in Sheffield, and is also involved in the Manchester free improv night ‘The Noise Upstairs‘.

Playing Johnny’s original tunes, the quartet playing for us this week formed to explore the freedoms and challenges presented by the absence of a harmony instrument. This year they were one of the bands who appeared at the Jazz On 3 ‘BBC Introducing’ gig at Manchester Jazz Festival, and their first record ‘Approprations’ is out on the excellent Efpi Records.

Ben Watte tenor sax

Graham South trumpet

Stewart Wilson double bass

Johnny Hunter drums

‘Appropriatons’ sleeve artwork by Angela Guyton.

Come and check out this excellent touring band!

‘LUME Presents…’ at the Vortex, Sunday 2nd November: Rachel Musson / Liam Noble / Mark Sanders & Broca Ensemble

It’s another two-LUME week, so we’re back at the Vortex in Dalston this Sunday for a great double bill! The heavyweight improv trio of Rachel Musson, Liam Noble and Mark Sanders are sharing the bill with South East London’s nine-piece acoustic guitar group Broca Ensemble.

Broca Ensemble
Occupying the space somewhere between minimalism, classical and ambient, the
Broca Ensemble play soundscapes for large guitar ensemble. Formed in South East
London in 2010, the group has grown from an original four members to now having,
on occasion, up to ten players. The music is largely improvised and devised from a set
of simple rules; no piece is ever played the same twice. Influenced by the likes of Steve
Reich, Terry Riley and Rhys Chatham, the sound ranges from ambient soundscape to
a multi-guitar wall-of-sound.

Flexible lineup of acoustic guitars, including:

Ian Faragher
Jonathan Wood
Chris Watts
Nigel Bryant
Robin Prime
Victoria Wasley
Allan Seago
Richard Thompson
Matthew Russell

Rachel Musson / Liam Noble / Mark Sanders

The trio of Rachel Musson, Mark Sanders and Liam Noble played together for the first
time at the end of 2010, and since that time they’ve formed a thrilling group identity
with a distinctly original take on freely improvised music. Taken individually, these are
three highly creative musical deep-thinkers. Musson is a saxophonist capable of
switching from free-flowing lyricism to intense multiphonic skronk in the space of a
heartbeat. Sanders is a hugely experienced and in-demand free-drummer who plays
with an impeccable sense of internal swing. Noble is a pianist who brings a highly
original, acerbic intellect to the piano, and who has more recently begun to explore
the infinite possibilities of electronics. As a unit, they are making music that harks
back to the earthy roots of free-jazz while simultaneously gazing outwards into
galactic space. They have released an album, ‘Tatterdemalion’, on Babel Label.

Rachel Musson – tenor saxophone

Liam Noble – piano

Mark Sanders – drums

Tickets are still on sale from the Vortex website at £8, or you can get them on the door for £10. See you there!

30th October: Han-earl Park/Dominic Lash/Mark Sanders & Strikethrough Me and You

A fantastic double bill of experimental improv this week, as not one but TWO touring groups stop off to play for us at Long White Cloud. Guitarist Han-earl Park, based in Ireland, brings his top class new trio with Dominic Lash and Mark Sanders, while Sam Andreae (who you might remember from Trio Riot’s gig at LUME last year) and Rodrigo Constanzo travel down from Manchester to bring us their duo project Strikethrough Me And You. This will be a special night of new music, so make sure you can join us.

Han-earl Park / Dominic Lash / Mark Sanders

Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park has been crossing borders and performing fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, always traditional, open improvised musics for twenty years. He has performed in clubs, theatres, art galleries, concert halls, and (ad-hoc) alternative spaces across Europe and the USA. Park engages a radical, liminal, cyborg virtuosity in which mind, body and artifact collide. He is driven by the social and revolutionary potential of real-time interactive performance in which tradition and practice become creative problematics. As a constructor of musical automata, he is interested in partial, and partially frustrating, context-specific artifacts; artifacts that amplify social relations and corporeal identities and agencies.

Ensembles include Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, Eris 136199 with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora, and Numbers with Richard Barrett. Park is the constructor of the machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++, and instigator of Metis 9, a playbook of improvisative tactics. He has performed with Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Dunmall, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders, Josh Sinton, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, Andrew Drury, Pat Thomas and Franziska Schroeder, and as part of large ensembles led by Wadada Leo Smith, Evan Parker and Pauline Oliveros. Festival appearances include Freedom of the City (London), Sonorities (Belfast), ISIM (New York), dialogues festival (Edinburgh), CEAIT (Los Angeles) and Sonic Acts (Amsterdam). His recordings have been released by labels including Slam Productions, Creative Sources and DUNS Limited Edition.

Dominic Lash is a freely improvising double bassist, although his activities also range much more widely and include playing bass guitar and other instruments; both writing and performing composed music; and writing about music and various other subjects. He has performed with musicians such as Tony Conrad (in duo and quartet formations), Joe Morris (trio and quartet), Evan Parker (duo, quartet and large ensemble) and the late Steve Reid. His main projects include The Dominic Lash Quartet, The Set Ensemble (an experimental music group focused on the work of the Wandelweiser collective) and The Convergence Quartet. Based in Bristol, Lash has performed in the UK, Austria, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and USA. For nearly a decade he was based in Oxford and played a central role in the activities of Oxford Improvisers; much of 2011 was spent living in Manhattan. In 2013 and 2014 he is taking part in Take Five, the professional development programme administered by Serious.

Mark Sanders has played with many renowned musicians from around the world including Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Derek Bailey, Myra Melford, Paul Rogers, Henry Grimes, Roswell Rudd, Okkyung Lee, Barry Guy, Tim Berne, Otomo Yoshihide, Luc Ex, Ken Vandermark, Sidsel Endresen and Jean Francois Pauvrois, in duo and quartets with Wadada Leo Smith and trios with Charles Gayle with Sirone and William Parker. New collaborative projects include ‘Riverloam Trio’ with Mikolaj Trzaska and Olie Brice, ‘Asunder’ with Hasse Poulsen and Paul Dunmall, duos with John Butcher and DJ Sniff, ‘Statics’ with Georg Graewe and John Butcher, and trio with Rachel Musson and Liam Noble.

Mark has performed in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Morrocco, South Africa, Mozambique and Turkey, playing at many major festivals including, Nickelsdorf, Ulrichsburg, Glastonbury, Womad, Vancouver, Isle of Wight, Roskilde, Berlin Jazz days, Mulhouse, Luz, Minniapolis, Banlieue Bleues, Son D’hiver and Hurta Cordel. He has released over 120 CDs.

Photo of Han-earl Park by Seán Kelly.

Strikethrough Me And You

This will be the first London gig for the battle/game pieces duo Strikethrough Me And You. They have devised a system of guided improvisation in which the pieces they explore are ‘not really compositions,’ as ‘modes of interaction may be determined, but the content is improvised’. Armed with their experience as improvisers and composers, the two musicians will be navigating this murky and/or fertile territory between the pre-determined and the spontaneous.

Sam Andreae is a musician active as an improviser and composer in Britain and Scandinavia. Currently living in Manchester, Sam approaches improvisation through the exploration of sound and abstract noise, developing extended uses of the saxophone both acoustically and through electronic augmentation. Originally trained as a classical musician he has developed is own musical voice through varied experiences in improvised, jazz and noise music, with the time he has spent in Scandinavia being a particularly formative period. Sam has had the pleasure of recently performing with Le Quan Ninh, Lisa Ullén, Christian Wolff, Michael
Duch, David Birchall, Mette Rasmussen, Corey Mwamba, Alex Bonney, Olie Brice, Colin Webster, Marlyn Crispell, Trio Riot, Silence Blossoms and Distractfold Ensemble.

Rodrigo Constanzo is a performer and composer living in Manchester. He is an avid improviser and performs regularly using home made electro acoustic, and modified electronic instruments. He is currently working towards a PhD in Composition at the University of Huddersfield and co-runs The Noise Upstairs, an improv collective and label which puts on monthly nights and quarterly workshops in Manchester.

Sam and Rod artwork by Angela Guyton.

16th October: Vole & Olie Brice (solo set)

A really tasty double bill this week, with a rare solo bass set from LUME regular the ever-excellent Olie Brice, and a set from Roland Ramanan’s ‘punk, funk, improv’ outfit Vole.

Vole

Between them, the members of Vole play with Peter Brotzmann, Ingrid Laubrock, Pat Thomas, Steve Noble, Alex Ward etc and are all leading members of the London Improvisors Orchestra. ‘By turns floating, funking and punking out, Vole stuff a range of influences and compositional devices into an improvised funnel and let them splatter all over the audience,’ says a Vortex Jazz Club blurb on their website. Influenced by the likes of Tim Berne and Henry Threadgill, improvisation lies at the heart of the music but it’s always framed within compositions that bring to bear their combined experiences of playing art-rock, groove-improv, punk, funk and jazz.

Roland Ramanan – trumpet

Ricardo Tejero – alto sax

Roberto Sassi – guitar

Tom Greenhalgh – drums

Olie Brice

‘Brice makes the entire body of his bass sing. He has the ability to deliver a fractal line that is as purposeful as any by the great jazz bassists, but to do so within an entirely abstract setting,’ wrote Brian Morton (Point of Departure) about prolific improv/jazz bassist Olie Brice. We’ve been lucky enough to have him appear at LUME in various different projects over the past year, and it’s always a pleasure. Olie is involved in several collaborative groups (Wolf Suit, Riverloam Trio, BABs, Catatumbo) and as a sideman in numerous others (Nick Malcolm Quartet, Mike Fletcher Trio, Alex Bonney Trio, Inner Space Music), but tonight none of these will be in evidence as he’ll be playing solo! A rare opportunity to enjoy an exploration of the double bass as the main focus of the set.

We hope you agree this should be an excellent night of music. Join us….same LUME time, same LUME place…

9th October: The Button Band

During our venue troubles last year, The Button Band played the only LUME gig at the Hanbury Arms in Islington. The Hanbury is a lovely pub with a great upstairs space, but they’d had some neighbour complaints and moved LUME downstairs as a pre-emptive measure. Cue a slightly strange setup, at one end of the massive main pub room! Despite this though, it was a nice night and a good crown turned up to hear The Button Band and Pocket-Size.

When we heard that a Button Band album had been recorded, we had to invite them back! It will be great to hear them again in the cozy setting of Long White Cloud. The band is led by guitarist Andrew Button who, as well as being a busy London musician, is involved in running three (three!) regular nights: the long-running Jazz At The Salisbury in North London, Jazz At The Bell in Walthamstow, and his most recent venture Jazz At The Union Chapel Bar (part of the Sunday Sessions upstairs at Union Chapel, Islington). He assembled the quartet to play his compositions, which have been described as ‘reminiscent of Bill Frisell’s cross-genre explorations’ (London Jazz News). We’re looking forward to welcoming this group of fantastic musicians back to LUME….and checking out the album!

Andrew Button – guitar, composition

Andrew Woolf – tenor saxophone

Dave Manington – bass

Jon Ormston – drums

‘LUME Presents…’ at the Vortex, Sunday 5th October: Quadraceratops (album launch) & Paradox Ensemble

‘LUME Presents…’ at the Vortex is back! This month it’s a double bill of medium sized ensembles from the roster of our favourite Manchester contemporary jazz/improv/experimental music label Efpi Records, to celebrate the launch of the debut album from Cath’s band Quadraceratops! The album is coming out on Monday 6th October, and the band will head up to Manchester on Tuesday 7th for the northern leg of the album launch. At the Vortex they are joined by trumpeter Nick Walters’ excellent Paradox Ensemble….this will be a great night!

Paradox Ensemble

Manchester and London-based nonet led by trumpet player Nick Walters (Riot Jazz,
Beats & Pieces Big Band). Bringing together many strands of his musical experience,
Nick has taken inspiration from jazz composers such as Gil Evans, electronic artists
such as Aphex Twin, and from artists who blur the lines between the two, such as Jaga
Jazzist and Tortoise. The result is, as Manchester Jazz Festival put it ahead of the
groupʼs live debut in 2013, ‘a coherent synthesis of electronics, live effects and
samples but retaining an earthy groove.ʼ Paradox Ensemble released ‘Entanglement’
in August 2013 on Efpi Records.

Nick Walters – trumpet + electronics
Tim Cox – trombone
Sam Healey – Alto sax
Ed Cawthorne – tenor sax + bass clarinet
Ben Kelly – sousaphone
Rebecca Nash – keys
Aidan Shepherd – accordian
Anton Hunter – guitar
Paul Michael – bass
Yussef Dayes – drums

Quadraceratops

Cath Roberts leads this septet playing her original compositions, described by Jazz On
3′s Jez Nelson as ‘suitably psychotic!’ Formed in 2011, the band have played at
numerous jazz nights around London as well as appearing at the London Jazz Festival
and ‘Jazz In The Round’ at the Cockpit Theatre. In Spring 2014 they recorded a
selection of music inspired by insects, fairground rides, underground tunnelling
machines and fictional serial killers. The result is their debut album ‘Quadraceratops’,
released on 6th October by Efpi Records and launched this evening at The Vortex.

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

Come down to the Vortex and check out these two bands playing great new music! Plus, Cath’s album will be on sale….just sayin’…

Doors 8pm, music 8.30pm and it’s £10 on the door, but £8 if you book tickets now on the Vortex website.

2nd October: Emma Jean Thackray Quintet

This week we look forward to welcoming Emma-Jean Thackray, an award winning composer, trumpeter and educator. She recently received the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s emerging excellence award, the Daryl Runswick Composition Prize and several scholarship awards. Ensembles have performed her work across the UK with several notable performances at the QEH South Bank Centre, the London Ear Festival, and recent commissions from art collectives Bastard Assignments and Filthy Lucre.

Having studied at several conservatoires around the UK specialising in jazz, receiving tuition from internationally acclaimed jazz musicians and composers at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, she still continues to play trumpet frequently, having led the brass sections of renowned ensembles across England and Wales, directed and performed in her own devised ensembles, and played in a variety of sessions.

This Thursday Emma-Jean will be bringing her quintet, which features members of London’s acclaimed Chaos Collective.

Emma-Jean Thackray – trumpet
Will Scott – alto sax/clarinet
James Kitchman – guitar
Louis Thomas – double bass
Liz Exell – drums/percussion

Doors 8pm, music starts at 8.30pm. £5 entry.

Long White Cloud,
151 Hackney Road,
E2 8JL.
Nearest station: Hoxton Overground (less than 5 mins’ walk)

25th September: Madwort Sax Quartet & Julie Kjær/Tori Handsley/Ruth Goller

This week we have a saxophone-heavy double bill (the best kind, no?). Julie Kjær returns to LUME with an exciting trio, and the Madwort Sax Quartet make their first appearance at Long White Cloud.

Madwort Sax Quartet

Tom Ward assembled the Madwort Sax Quartet in 2011 to play his own compositions and explore 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.

Said LondonJazz blog about the band’s first gig: “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 made for a perfect opening sortie, and suggested that we may well be hearing much more from them.”

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

(And in the rabbit head: Dave O’Brien, who produced the sax quartet’s 2012 recording)

Julie Kjær/Tori Handsley (plus special guest Ruth Goller!)

New duo collaboration comprising harpist Tori Handsley and saxophonist and flautist Julie Kjær exploring angular grooves and captivating improvisations. This evening they will be inviting the excellent Ruth Goller to join them on bass.

Tori Handsley started playing the piano at the age of 3 and the harp at the age of 6. Originally classically trained, she grew up listening to the music of Miles Davis, Bird, Dizzy, Keith Jarrett and many more, and was drawn to the freedom of jazz and improvisation. One of the highlights of her career was touring with her childhood hero Nigel Kennedy in 2010, after being invited to be a part of his band for his Duke Ellington tour. Tori has since performed with other notable artists including: Orphy Robinson, Cleveland Watkiss, Pat Thomas, Claude Deppa, Shabaka Hutchings, Doug Boyle, Adam Waldmann and more.

Julie Kjær’s edgy and thoughtful playing and ‘dark, otherworldly imagery’ (Jazzwise) has become incerasingly evident around Europe, inhabiting ground between composition and free improv. She has recorded and toured internationally with Django Bates and his band StoRMChaser, as well as with the Danish big-band “Blood Sweat Drum ’n’ Bass” where she has played with amongst others: Dave Douglas, Arve Henriksen and Palle Mikkelborg. She plays with the London Improvisers Orchestra and is a leader and sidewoman of several other English and Danish ensembles. Julie was recently chosen to be a Sound and Music “New Voice” artist and will be a part of the ‘Portfolio’ artist development program for improvisers.

Join us for a night of exciting new music! Doors 8pm, music at 8.30pm…

18th September: Jon Desbruslais Quintet

Another two set gig this week, with a fantastic band of Guildhall graduates making their mark on the London scene. The quintet formed in 2013, to play the compositions of bandleader and drummer Jon. His style of writing and form of improvising is influenced by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Brian Blade Fellowship, Wayne Shorter Quartet, Terence Blanchard and Chucho Valdes. The music focuses on lyrical melodies, warm and descriptive harmonies and strong rhythms.

Jon Desbruslais – drums
Tommy Andrews – alto sax
Henry Spencer – trumpet
Dougie Freeman – keys
Flo Moore – bass

Come down to Long White Cloud for a great night of original music!

4th September: The Static Memories & duck-rabbit

We’re back! For our first gig at Long White Cloud after the summer break, we have a double bill of acoustic/electronic improvised music from London and Brighton. duck-rabbit brings together some musicians who have appeared at LUME with different projects, while The Static Memories is a duo of two top improvisers and our first band from the Brighton scene.

duck-rabbit

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

The Static Memories

Dan Powell and Gus Garside have been working together on improv project The Static Memories since 2007. Their new album ‘The bloudy vision of John Farley’ came out in June on The Slightly Off-Kilter Label.

Dan Powell (laptop/guitar/sampler/effects) began making sound for installation works in London in the mid 90’s and was involved in live arts group OMSK. Since moving to Brighton in 2000 he has concentrated on experimental and improvised music. He is a member of Brighton based collective The Spirit of Gravity and has performed across the UK. Dan is also a member of free improv duo Nil with Chris Parfitt.

Gus Garside (double bass/electronics) has worked in a variety of musical settings – jazz, contemporary music, pop, cabaret, dance, theatre and, most importantly, improvised music where he has performed with many leading players. Gus formed arc in 1988 and their third album “the pursuit of happiness” was released on Emanem Records in 2009. He formed In Sand in 2004 and their first album “Whatever” came out mid 2008. Gus is part of the Brighton Safehouse collective, and has collaborated with a wide range of improvising and contemporary music players and dancers and frequently works with laptop musicians and also performs solo.

+ Special guest dancer Mirei Yazawa

This will be a fascinating evening of new music – come and join us as we kick off the next season of Long White Cloud gigs. Don’t forget that this is a double LUME week too, as our second ‘LUME Presents…’ gig at the Vortex, with Corey Mwamba and Deemer, is this Sunday!