Category Archives: trumpets

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!

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…

‘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.

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!

11th September: Flea Circus

This week we’re hosting the first gig in a while from Flea Circus, the acclaimed quartet led by trumpet player Jack Davies.

Their dark, nocturnal sound draws on the canon of European jazz and contemporary music, and in 2012 they released their debut album on Davies’ own label V&V Music. In an impressive burst of productivity that year, he simultaneously released three albums by his own projects: the Flea Circus album, a big band record, and an album by his quartet Southbound. London Jazz News described the Flea Circus debut as ‘a thoroughly absorbing, thoughtful and lively set from a subtly interactive and accomplished band’. After a brief hiatus, the band are back and we look forward to having them at Long White Cloud.

Jack Davies trumpet

Rob Cope bass clarinet

Aidan Shepherd accordion

James Opstad bass

Not long until ‘LUME Presents…’ at the Vortex!

Our ‘LUME Presents…’ series at the Vortex kicks off on August 3rd with a double bill of Overground Collective and Madwort’s Menagerie. It’s all very exciting and advance tickets are available now from the Vortex website! Here’s some background on the two bands…

Overground Collective

Paulo Dias Duarte is an award-winning Portuguese composer, based in London since
2003. Paulo’s compositions mix styles and frame musical clichés in very unusual way,
guiding audiences through rarely-visited musical fields. The Overground Collective is
an unorthodox big band composed of some of the wildest improvisers on the London
jazz scene. The combination of Paulo’s music and these improvisers makes each
concert a unique experience….as you can see from this video!

Guitar/composition – Paulo Dias Duarte

Alto saxophone/soprano/flute – Chris Williams
Alto saxophone/flute/piccolo – Julie Kjaer
Tenor saxophone – Rachel Musson
Tenor saxophone – Dan Mays
Bass clarinet – Tom Ward
Baritone saxophone – Joseph Stout

Trumpet – Noel Langley
Trumpet – Yazmeen Ahmed
Trumpet – Andre Canniere
Trumpet – Henry Spencer

Trombone – Paul Taylor
Trombone – Ed Reiband
Trombone – Raph Clarkson
Bass Trombone – Olivir Haylett
Tuba – Ben Kelly

Bass – Ben Bastin
Keyboards – Danny Keane
Drums – Jon Scott

Madwort’s Menagerie
After a momentary glimpse in a misfiring big band rehearsal, Tom Ward has been
bugged by an overheard snippet of a weird quartet comprising bass clarinet, flute,
trumpet and trombone. Transmogrifying some of his compositions for sax quartet,
hybridising this with his free improv duo Ti/om and finally balancing woodwind, brass
and strings with the addition of a cello, Tom is proud to present Madwort’s
Menagerie. Featuring some incredible improvising musicians with a full spectrum of
credits ranging from the London Improvisers Orchestra through Brass Mask, the
Overground Collective, Quadraceratops and The Imaginary Delta to Sinfonia Cymru
and the London Tango Orchestra.

Tom Ward – bass clarinet, flute, composition
Julie Kjaer – flute, alto flute
Alex Bonney – trumpet
Magnus Dearness – trombone
Adam Spiers – cello
Tim Fairhall – double bass

We hope you’ll agree it’s going to be a fantastic night of new music. Join us as we venture into a new chapter of LUME with these amazing musicians!

Artwork by the ever-awesome Peter Beatty…

‘LUME Presents…’ at the Vortex

We’re very excited to announce a new venture for late Summer and Autumn 2014: ‘LUME Presents…’ at the Vortex in Dalston! We will be hosting monthly double bills of our favourite musicians every first Sunday of the month starting on August 3rd. Join us for an extra dose of great original and improvised music…and a great excuse for some brand new artwork from the amazing Peter Beatty! Tickets are on sale from the Vortex website.

19th June: Stories

For this week’s gig we’re looking forward to presenting Stories. Most of the band members have played at LUME before in different projects, so it will be great to hear them in this configuration. The ensemble plays the compositions of drummer Simon Roth, who writes:

Stories is an outlet for new music, uniting five of London’s most exciting improvising musicians. Their combined force creates an emotionally charged music, full of nifty melodies, fruity harmony and propulsive grooves.

Have a listen to a live recording on their Bandcamp page.

“An overflow of creative juices, with each musician allowed the freedom to express their personality through a selection of finely tuned angular grooves and intricate melodic writing” – Jazz UK

Joe Murgatroyd clarinets

Laura Jurd trumpet

Joe Wright tenor sax

James Opstad bass

Simon Roth drums

Doors 8pm, with the music starting at 8.30pm at Long White Cloud. £5 entry as usual. It promises to be a great gig!

29th May: Lauren Kinsella Quintet

Award-winning vocalist Lauren Kinsella and her band bring us an evening of new music and improvisation.

Lauren Kinsella Quintet

Lauren Kinsella is a contemporary vocalist and composer based in London. Hailed as ‘a completely down to earth and exquisitely vivacious young Irish singer’ (Katie Bull The New York City Jazz Record), she has performed in venues across Ireland, the UK, Switzerland, Hungary, France, Germany, Portugal, Norway and India. She is the 2013 Kenny Wheeler Prize winner and performs in many groups including Thought-Fox, Blue-Eyed Hawk, The Bears and Alex Huber / Lauren Kinsella Duo . Her music regularly appears on BBC Radio 3, Jazz FM, RTE Lyric FM and BBC Radio Scotland and she has released albums on WideEar Records and Diatribe to critical acclaim.

Lauren Kinsella – vocals

Laura Jurd – trumpet

Dan Nicholls – keyboard

Conor Chaplin – bass

Simon Roth – drums

As usual it’s doors at 8pm, with the music starting at 8.30pm, and £5 entry. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL…just around the corner from Hoxton overground station.

22nd May: Nightjar & Andre Canniere’s Freeway

This week we have a great double bill: Joe Wright brings his quartet Nightjar, and Andre Canniere presents his new band Freeway. Both projects feature acclaimed vocalist Alice Zawadzki.

Nightjar

Saxophonist and composer Joe Wright’s totally hypnotic and individual band plays brooding, atmospheric songs. Nightjar creates a totally unique world of sound and colour, from blissed out, dreamy, ambient soundscapes to dark and dirty grooves, all tied together by Wright’s intense and lyrical improvising.

Joe Wright saxophone / compositions / electronics

Alice Zawadzki voice / violin

Jeff Spencer bass

James Maddren drums

Andre Canniere’s Freeway

Andre Canniere is an acclaimed trumpet player, composer and educator currently based in London. Originally from rural Pennsylvania (USA), Canniere spent the first five years of his career in New York City where he worked with artists such as Maria Schneider, Bjorkestra, Ted Poor, Ingrid Jensen, Donny McCaslin and Darcy James Argue. He has toured widely throughout the United States and Europe with performances at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, the London Jazz Festival, The Hague Jazz Festival and the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Andre’s second album ‘Coalescence’ was released on Whirlwind Recordings in October 2013.

For this gig, Andre will bring his new ensemble ‘Freeway’, featuring a stella lineup of top London musicians.

Andre Canniere trumpet, compositions

Alice Zawadzki voice

Hannes Riepler guitar

Max Luthert bass

Ollie Howell drums

As usual it’s doors at 8pm, with the music starting at 8.30pm, and £5 entry. Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, E2 8JL…just around the corner from Hoxton overground station.