Wednesday November 19th 2025 7.30pm £9 / £6 members + concs @ TheFolklore Rooms, The Quadrant, 12 North St, Brighton
Ken Vandermark + Paal Nilssen-Love
The high impact duo of Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) and Ken Vandermark (reeds) has been working together at an accelerated rate since 2002, and they have put out seven albums of exceptional and wide ranging improvised music since then. Though they have both worked in many critically acclaimed groups- from the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Lean Left (with Terrie Hessels and Andy Moor of The Ex) to Double Tandem (with Dutch saxophonist, Ab Baars)- they have continued to return to their duo for more than a dozen years because it remains crucial to their creative output.
“one of the most powerful improvisational duos around” – Derek Stone, freejazzblog.
Neil Metcalfe + Barry Edwards + Colin Somervell
Formed in 2024 and having performed and recorded regularly since then, this trio combines lyricism and textural improvisation in a chamber-like setting. Flautist Neil Metcalfe is an esteemed veteran of the improv scene since the 1970s while Barry Edwards (electric guitar) and Colin Somervell (double bass) have been collaborating together since the early 2000s.
Thursday December 18th 2025 7pm £9 / £6 members + concs @ The Rose Hill
Hill Collective have garnered a reputation as one of the most exciting jazz ensembles in Brighton, combining tight playing and swinging compositions with a willingness to embrace chance and improvisation that takes them to places few others dare to go to!
A high-spirited final Safehouse gig of the year – come and celebrate the Saturnalian period with us, with maybe a few tunes from Saturn thrown in… !
+ support TBA soon + Wildcard Quartet + DJ Fiery Biscuits
Wednesday January 28th 2026
7.30pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Coach House, Kemptown, Brighton
Image: Agata Urbaniak
“English saxophonist John Butcher may be among the world’s most influential musicians, operating at the cutting-edge of improvisatory practice since the ‘80s. Whenever an acoustic musician starts to sound like a bank of oscillators, a tropical forest, a brook or an insect factory, Butcher’s influence is likely nearby.” – New York City Jazz Record.
John Butcher is well known as a saxophonist who attempts to engage with the uniqueness of time and place. His music ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and unusual acoustics. Since the early 80s he has collaborated with hundreds of musicians – including Derek Bailey, Rhodri Davies, Andy Moor (EX), Phil Minton, Christian Marclay, Eddie Prevost, John Stevens’ SME, Mark Sanders and Okkyung Lee.
Support from Adrian Southby, John Hurn and Iain Paxon.
Thursday February 26th 2026
7.30pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Coach House, Kemptown, Brighton
Sylvia & I
Sylvia & I is the duo collaboration of Sylvia Hallett and Chris Dowding, from London and Norwich respectively.
Dreamy soundscapes made from overlapping loops evolving out of a meeting place between folk and jazz backgrounds.
Violins, trumpets, bowed saw, bicycle wheel, pedals, electronics and more….
Sylvia Hallett is a multi-instrumentalist and composer moving between violin, bowed bicycle wheel, saw, hurdy-gurdy, electronics and found objects. David Toop, The Heliocentrics and Clive Bell among many others.
http://sylviahallett.co.uk/index.htm
Chris Dowding is a trumpeter and workshop leader based in Norwich. He performs regularly around the UK with Natural Causes and Rude 2.0 (with the trombonist Annie Whitehead), and leads the Moonrise Trio.
Incus, Malleus and Stapes
Improv trio utilising some aleatoric methods:
Alan Jackson— plays the “Electric Bullroarer” – part homemade electronics, part modular synthesizer, it is a kit of parts for exploring feedback and resonance. It uses pressure, tilt, motion, microphones and string to control its sound, usually shaping some kind of feedback process.
Marc Muir likes to use his mouth to explore the more disconcerting facets of his mind.
Simon Mclennan uses guitar and electronics to explore harmony and resonance.
Thursday April 23rd 2026
7.00pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Rose Hill
Resonance is an immersive solo bass performance that explores the legacy of Eberhard Weber through improvisation, innovation, and the use of modern looping and processing technologies. The program bridges the worlds of jazz, experimental, and electro-acoustic music, drawing listeners into evolving soundscapes that balance structure and spontaneity.
Over the course of the performance, audiences experience a dialogue between tradition and innovation—a re-imagining of Weber’s influence alongside Jair-Rohm’s own improvisational voice, honed over five decades of creative music-making. This is music that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Jair-Rohm Parker Wells is a bassist, composer, and sound artist with over fifty years of international experience. A pioneer of electro-acoustic and improvisational bass, he has collaborated with artists such as Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie, The Cure), Jonathan Kane (Swans), Eugene Chadbourne, and Elliott Sharp. He is a founding member of the trios Ripplewood, Dead Solstice, FlowSonic, and Gabrels, Kane,Parker Wells, and has released numerous recordings across genres from free improvisation to contemporary composition.
His solo work integrates looping, extended techniques, and electronics to push the boundaries of the bass as a solo instrument.
“A meditative journey that feels both timeless and urgent.” – Gina Renzi, The Rotunda
“Jair-Rohm creates entire worlds with his instrument.” – Mark Forman, audience member
“All of the pieces performed fit the bill for satisfying the audience, and as evidenced by the people who stayed after the show to converse with him—they all wanted more!” – Elizabeth Millar, All About Jazz
“ Jair-Rohm Parker Wells has been one of my bass heroes ever since I saw him play Zappanale #19 in 2008. His range is awesome…” – Ben Watson, The Wire
Matt Clark
Solo electric guitar
Matt Clark is an improvising guitarist and composer based in Brighton.
His work sidesteps traditional notions of harmony and melody, instead exploring the random and unexpected within improvisation around twelve tones, and the sonic possibilities of unorthodox techniques.
Long standing projects Simian Carbuncle (with Adrian Southby) and MC3 (with Charlotte Keeffe and James Edmunds) have proved fertile breeding grounds for experimentation, whilst recent collaborations with Annie Kerr and Toma Sapir as Larker, and a duo with Gus Garside (Arc, with Sylvia Hallett and Danny Kingshill, and the Ron Caines/Martin Archer Axis project) have led to ideas for frameworks, leading to more structured improvisations.
He regularly performs in Brighton and London with a number of collaborators and ensembles, and is a regular participant and member of Brighton’s Safehouse collective and London’s Mopomoso Improvised Music series. His music has been played on both local and national radio stations, including Resonance FM and BBC Radio 3
Wednesday May 27th 2026
7.30pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Coach House, 22 Walpole Road
Brighton, BN2 0EA
Richard Scott and Tapiwa Svosve have been playing as a duo since they met in 2014 and have collaborated with a wide variety of musicians, individually and together, including Hannah Marshall, Angharad Davies, Phil Durrant, Mark Sanders, Rachel Musson, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Silvan Schmid and Samuel Rodgers.
Luigi Marino is a Bristol-based musician whose work explores emergent phenomena involving people, objects, and whatever lies in between their shifting definitions. An active improviser, he performs on electronic media and percussion, focusing on the zarb, the computer as an instrument mediating human decision-making, and custom cymbals played with bows and extended through DIY portable circuits.
Cath Roberts & Olie Brice
Cath and Olie released their first album ‘Conduits’ in 2022, and have a new one out this year – hopefully in time for this gig!
Tuesday June 2nd 2026
7.30pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Bees Mouth
Brighton, BN3 1AE
No Pancake is the trio of Toronto based drummer Mike Gennaro, Phil Durrant and Alex Ward. They have an album – Apollonia – out on Silver Set Records.
Canadian drummer Mike Gennaro burst into improvised music circles in 1999 with the release Port Huron Picnic (Spool), a disc with lauded Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Then still in his early twenties, Gennaro also made two appearances at the Toronto Jazz Festival, duetting with trailblazing saxophonist John Butcher. Subsequent concert collaborations have included internationally acclaimed improvisers such as Juini Booth, Wilbert de Joode, Veryan Weston, Trevor Watts and Tobi Delius.
Born near London in 1957, Phil Durrant is a multi-instrumentalist improviser/composer/sound artist who currently performs solo and group concerts. As a violinist (and member of the Butcher/Russell/ Durrant trio), he was one of the key exponents of the “group voice approach” style of improvised music. In the late 90s, his trio with Radu Malfatti and Thomas Lehn represented a shift to a more “reductionist” approach. Recently, he has been performing solo and duo concerts with Bill Thompson and Gaudenz Badrutt using a semi-modular synth system.
Alex Ward is a composer, improviser, and performing musician, working primarily with clarinet and guitar. His involvement in freely improvised music dates back to 1986, when he met the guitarist Derek Bailey. He subsequently took part regularly in Bailey’s Company events, and has gone on to become a major figure in British improvised music.
His current work includes the avant-rock duo Dead Days Beyond Help in which he plays guitar, sings and co-writes the material; various groups which perform his compositions-for-improvisers including Forebrace, the Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet and improvising collaborations both regular and ad-hoc with musicians including Steve Noble, Dominic Lash, Kay Grant, Joe Morris and Weasel Walter.
Fault Thrower
Fault Thrower is a duo of James Parsons on drums and Al Strachan on electronics and cornet, playing music that leans on the fast and wild side of improv.
Thursday July 23rd 2026
7.30pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
At The Coach House
22 Walpole Road
Brighton, BN2 0EA
Marey
Marey is an Icelandic duo that plays improvised experimental music mixed with electronics and poetry, where contemporary classical music, sound art, spoken word, and folk music meet.
They are two sisters: Anna Sóley and Lilja María. Anna Sóley plays the violin and sings, exploring soundscapes and extended techniques, using her voice at times between spoken words and singing. Lilja plays an instrument she designed called Hulda. They both design the electronics. For that, Anna mainly uses samples from Hulda, while Lilja works on a conceptual basis, taking inspiration from the poems and prose.
Lilja María is a composer, performer, and visual artist based in Iceland. She completed a PhD in composition from City, University of London. Her works have for example been performed at the festival eavesdropping in London, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Donaueschinger Musiktage in Germany, Dark Music Days in Iceland, and New Music Dublin in Ireland. She is a member of the group Hlökk, and their album Hulduhljóð (2019) won the Kraumur Awards and was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards. Lilja María released the audio-visual album Internal Human in 2022 in collaboration with dancer Inês Zinho Pinheiro.
Anna Sóley studied music and literature in Iceland and the Netherlands, graduating with a BA in jazz & pop vocal performance from the ArtEZ Conservatory in Arnhem and a Master’s degree in literature from Utrecht University. She released her debut album, Modern Age Ophelia, in 2022. Anna has performed around Europe both as a vocalist and violinist.“Composer of the repertoire, she sings in English and Icelandic, and leaves space for moments of improvisation and poetic-lyrical flights.” Matthieu Jouan for Citizen Jazz, writing about Anna Sóley’s Modern Age Ophelia Concert at the Reykjavík Jazz Festival.
Matt Clark
Matt Clark is a guitarist and improviser based in Brighton.
His work sidesteps traditional notions of harmony and melody, instead exploring the random and unexpected within improvisation around twelve tones, and the sonic possibilities of unorthodox techniques.
Long standing projects Simian Carbuncle (with Adrian Southby) and MC3 (with Charlotte Keeffe and James Edmunds) have proved fertile breeding grounds for experimentation, whilst recent collaborations with Annie Kerr and Toma Sapir as Larker, Gus Garside and Mark Wastell have led to ideas for frameworks, leading to more structured improvisations.
Image: Agata Urbaniak
He regularly performs in Brighton and London with a number of collaborators and ensembles, and is a regular participant and member of Brighton’s Safehouse collective and London’s Mopomoso Improvised Music series. His music has been played on both local and national radio stations, including Resonance FM and BBC Radio 3
“Brave and experimental as if the boundaries have shifted somehow – anything is allowed, and as long as it makes sense – which this album does totally – it is okay.” – Sammy Stein (Review of Sounds of The City) on Free Jazz Collective
“This trio produces a version of free playing which uses familiar traces of music to give a frame to its more radical elements . This brings an appealing warmth and humor to the work, and is a far cry from the usual forbidding stereotypes given to free music...” – Jerome Wilson (review of Sounds Of The City) on allaboutjazz.com
