Category Archives: saxes

10th April: The Stolen Project

Back at Hundred Crows Rising last July, we had a lot of fun putting on Paulo Dias Duarte and his excellent band Overground Collective. They played in a double bill with On The Roof, and it was one of our most popular gigs of the year. We’re very happy to welcome Paulo back to LUME again this week, when he’ll be presenting two sets of new music with another of his ensembles: The Stolen Project. Come down and check out some great new compositions with an exciting line-up…

Paulo Dias Duarte – Guitar/Composition
Chris Williams – Saxophones
Danny Keane – Cello
Kit Massey – Violin
Olie Brice – Bass
Rob Pennel – Drums

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

27th March: Julie Kjaer/Steve Beresford & Ripsaw Catfish

Another double bill week to round things off for March: this time Ripsaw Catfish are stopping in on their mini-tour of the UK to share the bill with an amazing duo of Julie Kjaer and Steve Beresford.

Jule Kjaer/Steve Beresford

Steve Beresford is internationally renowned as a free improviser on piano and electronics. He plays with and conducts the London Improvisers Orchestra and has worked with hundreds of musicians, including Derek Bailey, Han Bennink, Evan Parker, Otomo Yoshihide and John Zorn. Saxophonist and flautist Julie Kjær’s edgy and thoughtful playing and ‘dark, otherworldly imagery’ (Jazzwise) has become increasingly evident around Europe, inhabiting ground between composition and free improv.

Ripsaw Catfish

Ripsaw Catfish is Anton Hunter (guitar) and Cath Roberts (baritone saxophone). The Manchester and London-based duo started meeting in September 2013 to explore improvised and composed music, and whatever lies between those things. The music employs a collection of pre-composed elements which can then be drawn upon, or not, during the course of an improvisation. Sometimes one of these acts as a starting point that is then deconstructed; other times one or more might emerge from the music, or else they might be omitted in favour of a fully improvised piece..

Doors 8pm, music starts 8.30pm, £5 entry. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL. Nearest station: Hoxton. See you there….

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.

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.

13th February @ Long White Cloud: Pickpocket

We are looking forward to welcoming Ian Bumstead and his quintet Pickpocket to LUME next week. We saw them play at the Amersham Arms last Autumn and really enjoyed Ian’s compositions played by such a killing line up of London’s finest players! We’re in for a treat – but watch your belongings!

Pickpocket

Surreptitiously pilfering through the musical baggage, the fast-fingered SE-London quintet Pickpocket combine edgy grooves and sinuous lines amid sonorous free-improv with an almost criminal abandon. More artful than the Artful Dodger, structured simplicity brushes against anarchic freedom, where dissonant vamps casually disappear into distant harmonious sequences. With a veiled nod in the directions of Dave Holland, Mark Turner and David Binney, dexterous misdirection is the name of the game, no matter how deep the pocket.

Ian Bumstead – Tenor Saxophone

Tom White – Trombone

Steve Pringle – Fender Rhodes

Fergus Ireland – Double Bass

Pete Ibbetson – Drums

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!

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.

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!