Blog, Projects & Gigs

April – July 2017

Within the next few weeks ‘The Orchestra of The Upper Atmosphere’, Theta 3 album will be released. We are very close to completion now. It’s been two years in the making and will be something pretty special.

Our weekend at Real World studios near Bath went brilliantly, so the latest ‘Engine Room Favourites’ album on Discus will be out soon. More information to follow.

Wednesday the 5th April sees the next Juxtavoices gig, showcasing the latest work. This is in Manchester at 7pm, at an experimental poetry evening, ‘The Other Room’. The King’s Arms, 11, Bloom Street, Salford. M36AN. www.otherroom.org

On May 8 th and 9th I’ll be recording an album under the leadership of Martin Archer at Chairworks Studio, Castleford, Yorkshire. It’ll be a quartet with Laura Cole and Kim Macari on piano and trumpet respectively. The album will be released on Discus.

May 27th I’m doing another gig with ‘Skin & Bone’, this time at the Kunst Gallery, Belper. 7pm. The gallery is at The Old Nail Shed, Campbell Street, Belper DE561AP. Facebook

July 11th will see another new experimental performance of live art / improvisation / sound, with ‘Alchemy / Schmalchemy’. This will be the culmination of new work with musician/artists Gillian Whiteley and Geoff Bright. It’s at Manchester Metropolitan University at 3pm. M156BH.

I’m excited about doing a trio gig with Martin Archer on saxes and Corey Mwamba on vibes in Brighton on July 26th . 8pm. £6 / £5 for members and concessions. It’s at ‘Safehouse’ ( a format for improvisation ). The Verdicts, 159, Edward Street, Brighton, BN2OJB.

January – March 2017

A new year and some new exciting gigs and projects.

January 26th sees the second gig in Derby of ‘Skin & Bone’. This will be at The Bless, Chapel Street at 7-30pm. Entry will be one note. This time the all percussion group I will be playing with is with George Grignon and Greg Rawson.

On March 3rd I will be playing with ‘Murmurists’ in Manchester in the evening. This will be at ‘Home’, a fantastic venue, a new centre for international contemporary art, film and theatre. More details to follow.

March 18th and 19th I will be recording in Martin Archer’s ‘Engine Room Favourites’ for a new album. This will be at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios at Box in Wiltshire. An exciting place to record and an exciting project.

Late March or early April I’ll be playing with Corey Mwamba, Laura Cole, Rachel Musson, Hannah Marshall and other leading improvisers in London. More details will follow. We will be responding to real time painting done by the artist Gina Southgate.

Looking ahead I will be recording at The Chairworks studios in Castleford with an album of Martin Archer, with Laura Cole and Kim Macari Stone-Lonergan.

November-December 2016

I have a gig at The Lescar, Sheffield on Wednesday 16th November. This will be to perform a piece written by Martin Archer, called ‘Abstract, Fugitive, The Silence and A Tree’.

It will be a 5 piece band with Martin Archer, George Murray, Anton Hunter and Geoff Bright. 7-30pm

On December 1st in the afternoon I will be performing with Geoff Bright and Gillian Whiteley in our multi-media project ‘Alchemy / Schmalchemy’. This is to be performed at Nottingham Contemporary as part of an international symposium, ‘InDialogue’. The symposium interrogates how artists and researchers use dialogue in practice.

Juxtavoices is stepping up a gear again. We have rehearsals coming up to produce new work and a new album soon to be released on the Discus label. We have a gig at St. Ann’s church, Manchester on the 9th December. M2 7LF. Time to be announced soon.

Meanwhile the percussion 4 piece ‘Skin and Bone’ are in rehearsal for new gigs and also The Orchestra of The Upper Atmosphere is completing the final stages of our 3rd album, to be released soon.

Next year there are a number of exciting new projects in the offing. More to be announced in the new year.

October-November 2016

I finished off August playing a lovely gig with the Canadian musician Chris Meloche. The band also included Martin Archer, Nick Robinson, Herve Perez, and Chris Bywater.

The big event in October is the festival of contemporary music that I’m involved with in ‘Out Front’. It starts on Oct 22nd and runs to the 26th.

There’ll be a host of exciting bands in Derby. I’ll be playing with WHM on the 26th at the Voicebox (6pm) WHM will have Lorin Halsall and Alan Jenkins as guests within the festival (which is called ‘The Week’) Get all the details on www.outfront-em.co.uk Click on ‘The Week’.

Straight after I’m playing The 3 Cranes in Sheffield on the 27th, as part of Centrifuge, from 7-30pm.

Also part of Centrifuge I’m playing Fizzle, The Lamp, Barford Street, Birmingham on November 15th, from 7pm.

Nov 16th I’m playing The Lescar in Sheffield with Marin Archer, Geoff Bright, Corey Mwamba and Kris T Reeder.

Meanwhile I’ll be rehearsing with the percussion quartet ‘Skin & Bone’ and also with Geoff Bright and Gillian Whiteley in readiness for a Live Art performance at Nottingham Contemporary Gallery in December.

June-July 2016

‘Out Front’ continues to grow and develop, with some great gigs already and a very exciting programme ahead.

Next up is En Bas quartet, an innovative, beautiful string four-piece under the leadership of bass player Seth Bennett. This is on Tuesday, 21st June at 6-30 pm at ‘Baby People’, 3, Forman Street, Derby, DE1 1JQ. www.outfront-em.co.uk

I have some very exciting gigs and projects coming up in June and July, a busy couple of months.

Tuesday, June 7th
A day recording an album with ‘Some Some Unicorn’, run by Shaun Blezard, taking place at Birmingham City University.

Friday, June 10th.
Maida Vale BBC studios, London. A day recording with Juxtavoices in collaboration with ‘Matmos’ duo. We will be making a track that will go out on Radio 3, ‘Late Junction’ at 11pm, date for broadcasting to be confirmed. This will be Juxtavoices second outing on Radio 3.

Tuesday, June 14th.
A continuation of the ongoing project, ‘Developing an aesthetic’, working with Phil Morton and some of the leading improvisers of the Midlands and North. Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire Campus at Crewe.

Thursday, June 16th
Centrifuge. An evening with improvisers from the North.
The 3 Cranes, 74, Queen Street, Sheffield, S1 2DW 7-30pm

Thursday, June 23rd
Gig with Dr. Schwitters’ at Cafe Ort, 500 – 504, Mosely Road, Birmingham, B12 9AH. 7-30pm.

Saturday June, 25th
Juxtavoices at The Golden Lion, Todmorden. Fielden Square, OL14 6LZ.
This is the first Juxtavoices concert since our 6 month sabbatical, but after new rehearsals.

Monday, July 4th
Centrifuge in Birmingham. An evening with improvisers from the Midlands. The Lamp, Barford Street. B5 6AH. 7-45pm.

Saturday, 16th
‘Murmurists’ at Minesweeper, Greenwich, London. Details to be supplied later.

Tuesday, 19th July.
Trio with myself and Bruce Coates ( saxes ) with Han Earl Park ( guitar ).
Fizzle, The Lamp, Barford Street, Birmingham 7-30pm.

Saturday July 23rd.
The Three Cranes, Sheffield.
Duo with Martin Archer, saxes and electronics.
Time to be announced.

Also there will be a gig at Artsmith with Mark Sanders, drums and percussion, myself likewise, Bruce Coates, saxes and Mark Miller trombone. The date is now confirmed for this. It’s 7-30 pm on Wednesday, July 6th at Artsmith, Derby on 109, Monk Street. It’ll be £5 on the door. Looking forward to seeing you there.

I’m also rehearsing with a newly formed percussion quartet. Details to follow soon.

The gig with Dr Schwitters on 23rd June in Birmingham has had to be postponed until further notice.