Note: this show is not at our usual venue, it is at Mad Hatters cafe (in the basement), 35 Montpelier Road, Brighton BN1 3BA

Armorel Weston: voice
Kay Grant: voice
Jim Dvorak: trumpet
Guillaume Viltard: double bass

Armorel Weston began singing in London jazz clubs in the ’60s and went on to play an integral part in its burgeoning free jazz scene (it was her that founded the Little Theatre Club that became the hub for the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and many other improvisers). After a long break from music she formed the group The Children with John Gibbens, and recorded seven albums with them, and is now exploring improvisation again with Lalulla.

Brooklyn-born Kay Grant is a renowned vocalist and free improviser. She has traversed many paths as a musician – playing in bands across Europe, experimenting with tape and electronics – but it is as an adventurous voice artist that she is best known, collaborating with musicians such as Alex Ward, Hannah Marshall, Steve Noble, Gail Brand and (the late great) Lol Coxhill.

Trumpet player Jim Dvorak, also from Brooklyn, has worked with a vast array of musicians from the late ’60s onwards, including Keith Tippett, Chris MacGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath and Maggie Nichols, and has also worked extensively in the theatre and dance world.

Guillaume Viltard moved to London from France in late 2007, and has worked with many of the UK’s best improvisers since, forming strong associations with the circle of musicians centred on Eddie Prevost’s experimental workshop, and becoming a mainstay of the London Improvisers Orchestra.

Plus:

I’m Dr Buoyant and Ron Caines

I’m Dr Buoyant provides a mesmeric and subtle accompaniment for Ron Caines’ lyrical and melodic saxophone improvisations, using live treated loops of his own playing. Following the release of their download EP “Processes of Uncertainty” on the Spirit of Gravity netlabel in September 2014, the duo are now promoting their new 7″ vinyl single Biography of an Exile.

http://spiritofgravity.bandcamp.com/album/biography-of-an-exile-7-single

Plus:

The Wildcard Quartet

Woven Entity
Lascelle Gordon: percussion, electronics
Patrick Dawes: percussion
Paul May: drums
Peter Marsh: bass

Woven Entity began life in 2010 after percussionist, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Lascelle Gordon crossed paths with percussionist Patrick Dawes and drummer Paul May and suggested the three try playing together. Soon the trio were organically evolving a freewheeling improvised music that wasn’t afraid to groove a bit.

With assistance from a regular pool of guests such as Led Bib’s Chris Williams, Snorkel keyboardist Ben Cowen, bassist Peter Marsh, trumpeter Andy Knight and saxophonist Alan Wilkinson, they began playing the usual leftfeld London hotspots on a semi-regular basis. Audiences were enthusiastic, warming to the band’s unpredictable and unforced stew of spiritual afro jazz, dubby post punk, lo-f electronics and eccentric ethnological forgeries.

The band’s self titled debut album (featuring contributions from Alan Wilkinson, Ben Cowen and alto saxophonist/fautist Julie Kjær) was released on the Babel Label in December 2014. It’s picked up airplay on 6 Music (Gilles Peterson and Stuart Maconie) and Radio 3 (Jazz on 3), and came in at no 2 in ukvibe’s Best Jazz Albums of 2014.

‘Stunning in its simplicity, it’s an album that reveals new depths with each fresh listen’ (Daniel Spicer, Jazzwise)

‘Even by the standards of the increasingly improvisational Babel Label, the self-titled Woven Entity is an unusual release’ (Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz)

‘The group seem studiously determined neither to succumb wholesale to the infuences of Art Ensemble- or Arkestra-style ethnofuturism, nor to get carried away by any impulse to blustery improv machismo’ (Dalston Sound)

Plus

Bolide

Plus

The Wildcard Quartet
At the end of every Safehouse open session four members are picked at random to form a one-off quartet to play at the show at the end of the month. This is them.

Colin Webster is known for his duos with drummer Mark Holub, and turntablist Graham Dunning, as well as performing with the Dutch free jazz/noise trio Dead Neanderthals.

Alex Ward has collaborated with Derek Bailey, he has his own powerhouse trio N.E.W. with Steve Noble and John Edwards and his duo with Jem Doulton.

Andrew Lisle has worked with improvisors Daniel Thompson and Seymour Wright, and plays in Roland Ramanan’s Tentet and punk-improv band Shatner’s Bassoon.

“a ridiculous but very listenable conversation…” – Something Else

Plus:

Kev Nickells: violin
Chris Parfitt: sax, flute
Alistair Strachan: cornet, electronics

Plus:

Wildcard Quartet:
Sara Jane Glendinning: clarinet
Z*qhygoem: guitar, fx
Ron Caines: sax
Monty Oxymoron: keyboards

We usually take a break for August but the feeling was ‘let’s do another’ – so we’ll be at the wonderful Coach House in Kemptown.

Note the earlier start and finish time: 7pm – 10pm

See you there!

Sound Quartet
Thomas Bjelkeborn: electronics
Paul Pignon: saxophone / electronics

A continually shifting gathering of musicians, the Anglo-Swedish group SQ (aka Sound Quartet) deal in imaginary soundscapes, electronic experimentalism and composed improv. On their debut album Penguin Silhouette, SQ comprise multi-instrumentalists Thomas Bjelkeborn and Paul Pignon, and it is this duo that will be coming to Safehouse. They recently featured on a Wire Tapper CD with Wire magazine.

This event was made possible thanks to the SWEDISH ARTS COUNCIL.

Nadav Masel

Solo double bass, from Tel Aviv, Israel. Nadav mixes song form with improvisation – take a look….

Plus:

The Wildcard Quartet

Foils
Mark Sanders: drums
John Edwards: double bass
Frank Paul Schubert: soprano sax
Matthias Muller: trombone

“This avalanche in the canyon of free jazz comes from a musical liaison between Germany and UK, the favourable meeting between the excellent wind Berlin-based duo by Frank Paul Schubert, whose empathy with his soprano saxophone and the other elements of the band has a dynamite shape on this record, and Matthias Muller on trombone, and John Edwards (bass) and Mark Sanders (a real octopus on drums!), two brilliant improvisers from the vibrant English scene.

This fourtet gave rise to two impressive sessions of so instinctively head-banging and constantly spinning free-jazz that you might wonder what kind of power pill they swallowed to blast their musical energy: the two impressive sessions on ‘The Jersey lily’… sometimes sound like a proper battle between the two duets (Bass Vs Drums and Trombone Vs Soprano Saxophone!), which scrambled their instruments by means of an overwhelming roller coaster of sounds, techniques and musical scuffles for more than 75 incendiary minutes….” from Creative Sources website.

Aeolipile

Full-throttle free-jazz head rush from Jason Williams (Hysteresis) on sax, Tom Roberts (Bolide/Infinite Gaaah) on bass and Andy Pyne (Kellar/Map 71/Medicine & Duty et al) on drums.

Plus – the Wildcard Quartet

Weavels
Mick Beck: bassoon
Chris Cundy: bass clarinet
Alex Ward: electric guitar

A rare and special treat for fans of deep reeds – veteran improvisor Mick Beck lays down bassoon, Chris Cundy flies around him on bass clarinet, while Alex Ward shreds away on guitar. They have a new album out called ‘The Living Puzzle’ – highly acclaimed, as you can see below:

“The bassoon appeared in 1920s jazz recordings but bass clarinet had a deeper impact on the music. Inspired by Eric Dolphy, Cundy took it up, developing extended techniques such as multiphonics, circular breathing and micro-harmonics. Like Beck, his work shows the dividends of fighting against instrumental constraints, and they engage in agile, deep-toned dialogue, with Alex Ward’s scrabblings mostly less prominent in the mix….. The playing is garrulous and, tonally, this is very ugly beauty. “

– JULIAN COWLEY, WIRE

“There’s something quintessentially English about this music: as absurd as Monty Python or The Goons and as quietly subversive as the films of Lindsay Anderson, while never drawing unnecessary attention to the diffident brilliance of its three protagonists. It’s true that the whole set fizzes with a surreal humour … but it’s directed and kept aloft by some devilishly accomplished musicianship. Hear how Alex Ward digs into frenzied shredding of the electric guitar, while Chris Cundy’s clarinet swoops and shrieks like an angry peregrine falcon, and Beck’s bassoon pokes around in the undergrowth – while all three investigate different aspects of the same puzzle.”

– DANIEL SPICER, WIRE

Rothko Veil

Ron Caines: tenor and soprano sax
Alice Eldridge: cello

Their recent debut set at Spirit of Gravity went down a storm:

“They recorded the album in 2011, and this may have been the first time they’d played together since and it really felt like something special right from the start. They started with “Sukran” one of the themes off the album, and it was a really good choice . Alice’s thrummed cello almost a bass part circling loop like while Ron’s lyrical playing really set the mood for the rest of their set and gave him a great starting point to work from… Alice going through chamber music sonorities and rhythmic parts to drones and over the bridge harshness, while Ron really let fly as the evening progressed.”
– SPIRITOFGRAVITY.COM

Listen to the album below:

Plus: The Wildcard Quartet

Cath Roberts: baritone saxophone
Anton Hunter: guitar

This Manchester and London-based duo formed in 2013 to explore improvised and composed music, and whatever lies between those things. They employ a collection of pre-composed elements which can be drawn upon, or not, during the course of an improvisation.

Static Memories

Dan Powell & Gus Garside have been working together on improv project The Static Memories since 2007. 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.

They will be joined by Alistair Strachan on cornet and electronics for this performance.

Plus

Wildcard Quartet

PLEASE NOTE: This show is at the Coach House, 22 Walpole Rd, Brighton BN2 0EA

Adrian Northover (saxophones) and Daniel Thompson (acoustic guitar)

A duo combining both close listening and an intense dialogue, Adrian and Daniel are like two weavers working on a single musical carpet. While instrumental expectations are challenged by a constant ‘push and pull’ between the pair they never lose the thread that binds them as patterns emerge and submerge in an ever changing music.

Collectively they have performed throughout the UK and Europe and have played and recorded with Evan Parker, Steve Noble, Adam Bohman, John Edwards, Billy Bang, The London Improvisers Orchestra, Simon Rose, John Russell, Jean-Michel Von Schouwberg, Lol Coxhill, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Neil Metcalfe, Alex Ward and Pat Thomas, to name but a few.

For this gig they will perform as a duo, and will then be joined by Gus Garside and James Parsons on double bass and drums.

Plus

Support TBA

and

Wildcard Quartet

PLEASE NOTE: This show is at The Verdict, 159 Edward St, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 0JB – www.verdictjazz.co.uk/

Tickets on sale now: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/350674

Since the 1960s Trevor Watts has been at the forefront of many innovations as a saxophone player, percussionist and composer. He is the only founder member of The Spontaneous Music Ensemble still left – other founder members were John Stevens & Paul Rutherford, and later members included Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, Evan Parker and Derek Bailey. His Amalgam group began in 1967 with bassist Barry Guy and trombonist Paul Rutherford, and he was a founder member of Barry Guy’s London Jazz Composers Orchestra. He was the instigator behind the Moire Music Group and The Drum Orchestra, which involved musicians from North and South Africa and Latin America. He has played with many great US jazz musicians, including Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, Kent Carter, Rashied Ali, Steve Swallow and Bobby Bradford. http://www.trevorwatts.co.uk

Stephen Grew is a pianist and electronic keyboard player based in Lancaster UK. He is in several bands, Grutronic, an electronic improvising quartet, Grew quartet, an acoustic 4 piece, and also plays with violinist Graham Clark, drummer Tony Bianco and saxophonist Evan Parker.

West Hill Blast Quartet

Ron Caines: saxes
Gus Garside: double bass
Andy Pyne: drums
Dan Spicer: reeds/trumpet/percussion

Ron Caines was, in the late 1960s, a founder member of pioneering UK Prog-psych group East of Eden, and has been a key member of improvising collectives in both Bristol and Brighton. Gus Garside has been active as a musician since the 1970s. He is a mainstay of Safehouse, and is a member of the long-running string trio, Arc, with Sylvia Hallett and Danny Kingshill and of the electro-acoustic duo, Static Memories. Andy Pyne has played drums in a wide variety of contexts, including a duo with Thurston Moore, freak-Improv with The Black Neck Band Of The Common Loon, No-Wave with Medicine and Duty, and punk poetry with Map 71. Dan Spicer is a member of the chaotic improvising sextet, Bolide, one third of the trio In Threads, and a performer of solo spoken word, poetry and improvisation.


West Hill Blast Quartet is where these four individuals come together to make improvised statements informed by a shared love of free jazz and influenced by the spirits of masters such as Art Ensemble of Chicago, Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.They have released two CDs on Foolproof Projects, ‘Blast #1’ and ‘Blast #2.’

Plus

Wildcard Quartet

PLEASE NOTE: This show is at The Verdict, 159 Edward St, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 0JB – www.verdictjazz.co.uk/

Tickets on sale now: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/354271

Roger Turner is best introduced by this quote from Eugene Chadbourne: “a master drummer who plays modern improvised music with the panache of a classic swing drummer”.

Roger has been playing in areas of music related to, but not always part of, jazz since the 1960s and has an astounding set of credits. Here are just a few: Elton Dean, Alan Silva, Annette Peacock, Lol Coxhill, Toshinoro Kondo, Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor.
www.roger-turner.com

Chris Biscoe’s career has included work with many leading composers such as George Russell, Mike Westbrook, Hermeto Pascoal, Chris McGregor, collaborations as diverse as those with Alan Barnes and Evan Parker, bebop, freebop, hardbop, fusion, contemporary, improv and some jazz. Currently leading the Profiles Quartet with Tony Kofi, Disorder at the Border with Ben Davis and members of Chaos collective, and several other projects.


Plus:

In Threads

James Parsons: drums
Verity Spott: cello
Daniel Spicer: trumpet, blowy things and percussion

In Threads features members of Paniak, Bolide, Four Manatees, Binnsclagg and West Hill Blast Quartet. They have an album out on Beartown records.

Plus:

The Wildcard Quartet