5th February 2025
7pm
£3 / £2 members

Sunday 16th February 2025
12pm-4pm
The Con Club, 139 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XS
£3 

“We will be STARTING/FINISHING earlier, as there is a band in that night, so will need to clear out by 4pm.

Timings for this sessions are as follows:

Get in 12pm
Start 12.30pm
Finish 3.30pm
Out by 4pm”

5th March 2025
7pm
£3 / £2 members

Sunday 16th March 2025
1pm-4.30pm
The Con Club, 139 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XS
£3 

Tuesday April 1st
8pm
£8 / £6 members + concs
@ The Cowley Club, Brighton

PLEASE NOTE! Different venue to usual: The Cowley Club!

Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid

Safehouse are very happy to welcome two key members of the Glasgow Improvisors Orchestra – the main hub for improvisation in Scotland!  Saxophonist Raymond MacDonald and electric guitarist Jer Reid met through the GIO.  They’ve been touring the UK and recording together since 2017, have released several CDs together over the last few years.

Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist and composer who has released over 60 records and toured and broadcast worldwide. His work explores the boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition.

Much of his recent performing work has been in collaborative free improvisation contexts, however his roots in jazz and pop music are always evident in his playing and writing. MacDonald collaborates widely and has worked with visual artists, dancers, writers and filmmakers and has produced music for film, television, theatre and the concert hall.

MacDonald has worked internationally with many of the current pioneers in avant-garde music including David Byrne, Damo Suzuki, Nurse with Wound, German trumpeter Axel Dorner, the sublime US pianist Marilyn Crispell,  US trombonist and educator George Lewis, The Necks and ex-Sonic Youth guitarist Jim O’Rourke .

His album Buddy was also named in top CDs of year in Wire magazine, Jazzwise and All about Jazz.

Jer Reid is an electric guitarist with a very raw and dynamic approach.  He has spent a lifetime engaged with live and recorded music in a whole gamut of forms:  from working with dancers, to sound design, dramaturgy and film composition. He has improvised with poets, played music or sound teched in about 30 countries; facilitated improvising workshops and sessions;  released records and had his music played on Radio 1, 3, 4 and 6.

Andrew Clare & Iain Paxon

Andrew Clare is mostly known as the singer, guitarist and founder of the band I’m Being Good,  but he’s also had a hand in many experimental and improvised projects over the years, going all the way back to an early collaboration with Thurston Moore and Derek Bailey called ‘The Thirteen Ghosts’.  His label Infinite Chug has been releasing records for over 30 years.

“slinging deliriously woozy lead guitars over tightly wound, angular art-rock foundations.” Stewart Lee, The Sunday Times.

Iain Paxon  has made 20 albums with the group Hamilton Yarns, as well as numerous solo projects, such as his bicycle-based album Inside the Wheel.  Regular Safehousers will of course know him as the host of the monthly Safehouse Lewes sessions!

+ Wildcard Quartet

+ DJ Fiery Biscuits

2nd April 2025
7pm
£3 / £2 members

Sunday 20th April 2025
1pm-4.30pm
The Con Club, 139 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XS
£3 

Thursday April 24th
7pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Rose Hill

John Butcher, Dominic Lash & Emil Karlsen

John Butcher – saxophones
Dominic Lash – double bass
Emil Karlsen – drums

A trio of three acclaimed improvisors, who released their debut album ‘Here and How’ on Bead Records in 2023.

“Dominic Lash brought this trio together for a recording session at the end of 2022, reasoning that there is only ever one chance of capturing the first time a group plays together. Not that the trio was starting from nothing – although the session that resulted in the album Here and How represents the first time John Butcher and Emil Karlsen had ever played together, Lash and Butcher have a collaborative history going back about fifteen years, while Lash and Karlsen have worked together with increasing frequency.

There is also the heritage of the sax/bass/drums trio format, which this band treats as a resource to be drawn upon rather than a template to be limited by. This allows the music to move seamlessly from pure sonic exploration to dynamic momentum and back again. The album garnered positive reviews and the group has since been featured on BBC Radio 3 and performed regularly. ”

“A master class in closely attentive group playing… anticipation and responsiveness become indistinguishable.” – Julian Cowley, The Wire

“The technical skill on display is incredible, giving these wild, angular jaunts an undercurrent of precision that elevates them to new heights.” – Foxy Digitalis

+ In Threads

James Parsons – drums, percussion
Daniel Spicer – piano, voice, percussion
Verity Spott – cello

In Threads have been playing for over 10 years, with slots at Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival, the Verdict jazz club, Safehouse, the Hi-Zero series of contemporary poetry readings, and at various other events and happenings, including a poetry/music event curated by Dan Spicer at Café OTO in London.

Their first full-length record ‘Orange Justice’ came out on Eyeless records in 2020 and features live and studio recordings that draw on their their light-footed, fun and informal approach to spontaneous composition.

+ Wildcard Quartet
+ DJ Fiery Biscuits

7th May 2025
7pm
£3 / £2 members

Thursday May 22nd
7pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Rose Hill

Caroline Kraabel + Khabat Abas

Caroline Kraabel is a saxophonist, artist, conductor, and composer who has been a key part of London’s improv scene for at least 25 years.

She is the founder of the large improvising group ONe_Orchestra New, made up of women, non-binary, and transgender improvisers. She regularly plays live in duos and trios with John Edwards, Zhuyang Liu, Bex Burch, Charlotte Hug, Maggie Nicols and Pat Thomas among many others. Over the years she has also recorded with the likes of Robert Wyatt , Louis Moholo, Cleveland Watkiss, Hyelim Kim, Annie Lewandowski, Susan Alcorn, Mark Sanders, Veryan Weston , Mariá Portugal, Neil Metcalfe, Charlotte Keeffe, Alex Ward, Cath Roberts, Dee Byrne, Damsel Elysium and Chris Corsano.

Kraabel’s soundfilm, London 26 and 28 March 2020: imitation: inversion won the 2021 Ivor Novello Award for Best Sound Art Composer.

Khabat Abas is a cellist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist from Kurdistan-Iraq. Her work explores time, space, and memory through music, everyday sounds, and noises. She delves deeply into how we experience sound, particularly in various geopolitical contexts. Abas uses her instrument beyond traditional norms—improvising, composing, creating videos and sound installations, crafting cellos from diverse materials, and incorporating her body into performances. Through this approach, her work merges politics with personal expression, challenging conventional values and control.

Khabat has performed with various ensembles, including the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, Sulaymaniyah string orchestra, Gothenburg Academic Symphony Orchestra, and the Non-Ensemble for experimental music in Sweden, London Improvisation Orchestra and ONe_Orchestra New, Noise women. 

Simian Carbuncle

Simian Carbuncle are a guitar duo exploring the sonic possibilities of unorthodox techniques. Matt Clark and regular collaborator Ade Southby (Dragons of Disgust, Cosmic Transmissions Collective) are two likeminded and exploratory improvisors regularly performing and partaking of the heady improvised music scenes of Brighton and London.

+ Wildcard Quartet

+ DJ Fiery Biscuits

4th June 2025
7pm
£3 / £2 members

Thursday June 5th
7pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Rose Hill

Geoff Hearn – tenor sax
Olie Brice – double bass
Spike Wells – drums

Geoff Hearn has been playing tenor and soprano saxophones and flutes for many years in a wide range of genres and now mainly free improvisation. For the last 20 years he has been playing shakuhachi in a meditative mood in sharp contrast to his more energetic free jazz. One of his main interests is improvisational ‘sonic sculptures’ which is most evident in his work with his trio TORQUE with legendary drummer the late Steve Harris and extaordinary Canadian guitarist Jim Black and the ground breaking ‘shape shifting’ ensemble ZAUM.  He was also one of the co-founders of Safehouse!

Olie Brice leads and composes for two groups, a trio with Tom Challenger & Will Glaser and an Octet with Alex Bonney, Kim Macari, Jason Yarde, Rachel Musson, George Crowley, Cath Roberts & Johnny Hunter. Both of these groups were featured on the critically acclaimed double album ‘Fire Hills’.   Frequent collaborators include Mark Sanders, Paul Dunmall, Rachel Musson, Tobias Delius, Cath Roberts and Luis Vicente, and he has also appeared with the likes of Evan Parker, Tony Malaby, John Butcher, Ingrid Laubrock, Ken Vandermark, Eddie Prevost and Louis Moholo.

Spike Wells is a phenomenal sympatico drummer who has played with the best of British and American jazz exponents during his career. He played as a regular member of Tubby Hayes’ quartet and big band from 1968 to Tubby’s death in 1973. As well as playing with Hayes, in both his quartet and his big band, Spike spent a year in Humphrey Lyttelton’s band, and also worked with many visiting soloists at Ronnie Scott’s, including Stan Getz (with whom he also toured Scandinavia), Roland Kirk, Art Farmer, Johnny Griffin and James Moody.  He’s currently part of QOW Trio, a saxophone-double bass-drums trio who continue to explore the territory Sonny Rollins first mapped out on Way Out West.

Ron Caines Trio

Ron Caines – saxophones
Gus Garside – double bass
James Parsons – drums

Saxophonist Ron Caines co-founded the ground breaking experimental prog rock group East of Eden. After becoming disillusioned with commercial music he moved to Bristol and became involved in progressive jazz playing with Keith Tippett, Larry Stabbins, Paul Dunmall, Julie Tippetts, Steve Lacy and others.  His string of albums released in the last decade on the Discus label have been met with great acclaim:
“This is outstanding! Record of the week!!” Matt Parker, British Progressive Jazz
“An impressive and original collection – one of the most worthwhile CDs I’ve heard this year” London Jazz News

Gus Garside is a double bassist mainly concentrating on improvised music, free jazz and contemporary music. Gus plays in several different groupings including his longstanding string trio Arc (with Sylvia Hallett and Danny Kingshill). He has worked on three highly acclaimed albums as part of the Ron Caines/Martin Archer Axis and a duo album with the French saxophone player Hervé Perez released on the New York 577 label in 2021. He has created structured improvisations for performance in the UK and Canada featuring leading players in both countries and is on a new collaboration with dancer Mim King. He is also founding member of the Brighton Safehouse collective.

“…where he differs from the average jazz bassist is in the range of sonorities he conjures from his instrument” Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD.

James Parsons is a drummer with an affinity for free, improvised playing, and has performed in a wide range of groups over the years including Bolide, Ron Caines Trio, Bare Springs, God’s Teeth and the Interstellar Tropics, The Burbling Mind and Grass Balloon.

+ Wildcard Quartet

+ DJ Fiery Biscuits

Sunday 15th June 2025
1pm-4.30pm
The Con Club, 139 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XS
£3 

Thursday 26th June 2025
Doors open: 7pm
Session: 7:30 – 10pm
@ Anne Street Social Cafe, 3 Ann St, Worthing BN11 1NX
£5

Safehouse Worthing returns this week after a 6 month hiatus!  Also note the new venue – Anne Street Social Cafe. Come along for an evening of spontaneous music-making.  It will cost a bit more on the door (£5), but it’s bring-your-own-booze.

2nd July 2025
7pm
£3 / £2 members

Sunday 6th July 2025
1pm-4.30pm
The Con Club, 139 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XS
£3 

Wednesday July 23rd 2025
7.00pm
£9 / £6 members + concs
@ The Rose Hill

Mark Wastell is a versatile improvising musician who has played a central role in the British improvised music scene for over a quarter of a century. He has performed and recorded extensively and his varied resume includes projects with Derek Bailey, Phil Durrant, John Butcher, Evan Parker, John Zorn, David Toop, Stewart Lee, Maggie Nicols, Thurston Moore and David Sylvian among many others.

Tansy Spinks is an artist, sound artist, and performer. She has been a regular member of The London Improvisers Orchestra, the weekly London Improvisation Workshop (with Eddie Prevost) and has performed in many alternative venues such as Café Oto, Iklectik, Hundred Years Gallery and many more, playing alongside many notable performers of live improvisation, on violin, objects and with voice.

Gus Garside is a double bassist mainly concentrating on improvised music, free jazz and contemporary music. He plays in several different groups including his longstanding string trio Arc. He has worked on three highly acclaimed albums as part of the Ron Caines/Martin Archer Axis, and has created structured improvisations for performance in the UK and Canada featuring leading players in both countries and is on a new collaboration with dancer Mim King. He is also founding member of the Brighton Safehouse collective.

Adrian Southby plays in the prepared electric guitar duo Simian Carbuncle with Matt Clark, a duo with Daniel Spicer – Fettucini Spicer – and is a long-standing improvisor at Safehouse. He has also released numerous solo albums, including the recent The Parasitologists’ Songbook, a musical homage to parasitic creatures. He plays with The Golgis, and leads the avant prog jazz metal power trio Dragons of Disgust.

+ Wildcard Quartet

+ DJ Fiery Biscuits