Freedom Principle is proud to present and multi-national quartet at the cutting edge of jazz and improvisation.
Bagpipes For Pluto
“Rolling, squealing, creeping sounds from outer space. Reeds, strings, bags and pans aiming for the unexpected. ”
A Danish/Finnish/Italian/Norwegian quartet which improvises forms and transforms sounds in a visionary, but straightforward manner, with references such as Django Bates, Peter Brötzmann, Mark Sanders and Jim Black.
Francesco Bigoni (ITA) – tenor sax, clarinet
Markus Pesonen (FIN) – guitar
Adam Pultz Melbye (DEN) – double bass
Håkon Berre (NOR) – drums
Two support acts for the first time at Freedom Principle…
Sam Andreae & Andrew Cheetham
Exploratory saxophone and drums duo making their live debut.
Anton Hunter
Rare solo set from HAQ and Beats & Pieces guitarist.
KroBar
325 Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PG
www.kro.co.uk
£5/£3 entry
8:30pm doors, music 9pm
Feels a little weird to be announcing our ‘spring’ season whilst its snowing outside, but hopefully by the time February comes around there’ll be birds and daffodils and everything! And we’ll be kicking off our short but sweet Spring season with some really exciting gigs… As well as Manchester bands Johnny Hunter Quartet, Badger the Hermit and A Greater Horror, we’ll be welcoming saxophonist Pete Lyons over from Sheffield and the much talked about Shatner’s Bassoon from the always innovative Leeds scene.
Also really exciting is is a series of one-off “project” commissions that will be performed as the first set on some nights. This is something that we’re introducing for the first time this season with projects led by Efpi co-founders Sam Andreae and Anton Hunter, and we’re all pretty eager to see what will happen with these first two projects and beyond! The premise is that we ask different musicians/composers to be in charge of putting together a set of music in collaboration with some/all of the featured act, with the likely possibility of involving local musicians too. By the nature of these commissions (sometimes the musicians will have never met before the night itself, and have very little rehearsal time) the results will be spontaneous and often somewhat a work in progress, which we think will be fascinating for audiences to be a part of. Each featured artist will have to develop a workable composition or concept for this situation, and we’re really excited about hearing the results!
Dates are as follows:
5th February – Pete Lyons LX:V Quintet + Johnny Hunter Quartet
19th February – Shatner’s Bassoon + Sam Andreae project
5th March – Badger the Hermit + Anton Hunter project
19th March – A Greater Horror + Sam Andreae (solo)
Full details and descriptions of all bands over on the Freedom Principle page, along with all the info for timings, location etc. As ever, all of this will cost you £3 to enjoy – remember that 100% of that money goes directly to the musicians, in many cases just to pay for their travel rather than as any sort of fee. Thanks in anticipation for your continued support, we wouldn’t be able to keep doing this without people like YOU coming along to Sandbar.
The past couple of Freedom Principle gigs in October have probably been two of my favourite ones ever… At the beginning of the month we had three of the country’s leading improvising musicians in Corey Mwamba and Dave Kane (top picture) alongside Chris Sharkey, and then continuing with the series of ‘Anton’s favourite guitarists’ we then had an incredible double bill of Mike Walker and Stuart McCallum (bottom picture) a couple of weeks later.
Next month promises to continue the awesomeness of the gigs – first up on November 6th we have a new project from Beats & Pieces saxophonist Ben Watte, combining elements of jazz with dubstep and other electronic music, alongside a new trio from guitarist Dan Brew. Then on November 20th we have Efpi co-founder Sam Andreae who brings his band Silence Blossoms all the way from Sweden to play their second ever UK show and launch their brand new collection of live recordings available on Efpi; alongside Freedom Principle favourite Alice Zawadzki, here stripped down in a duo with the returning Stuart McCallum.
Apologies to anyone who was hoping to see Roller Trio on November 6th – unfortunately due to other commitments thrust upon them by their recent Mercury nomination they are now unable to perform, but send their apologies… Thanks though to Dan and his trio for stepping in at short notice!
Our final gig of the season and of the year sees our very own Anton Hunter presenting his new trio following their performance supporting Sons of Kemet at Band on the Wall during the Manchester Jazz Festival earlier this year. If you caught them then you’ll know what to expect; if not, I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions from his extensive background in free improvisation, experimental music, reggae and dub, rock and roll and Beats & Pieces – basically anything thats weird and wonderful.
We’re also delighted to welcome saxophonist Tom Ward back to Manchester following his appearance at Freedom Principle with Cath Roberts’ Quadraceratops in June this year. His brand new saxophone quartet Madwort features Tom on alto alongside Cath herself on baritone, Andy Woolf on tenor and Led Bib’s Chris Williams on soprano and alto. A recent review of their first ever gig recalled ‘strong echoes of Moondog’s spiky, unyielding structures and the mathematical syncopations of Reich and Glass, as well as the joyous intensity of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble’ which sounds like a good mix to me.
Reprising the programme from an Efpi-presented gig at The Forge in Camden during the London Jazz Festival, tonight sees two bands that both draw heavily from stories and poems in their performances – literature and music combine to intensely powerful effect.
Freedom Principle favourite Alice Zawadzki returns with her songs of life, love and people, told through languages deeply rooted in jazz, folk, free improvisation and more. As the always excellent LondonJazz blog’s Sebastien Scotney described a recent gig – “Olivier Messiaen meets Jimmy McGriff. Hell yes. Chill-out lounge to dance floor. Walk this way…”. Also appearing are Stockholm-based Silence Blossoms, on their first set of UK gigs and launching a collection of live recordings on Efpi Records taken from recent tours of Scandinavia. They take contemporary poetry and mix it with their own blend of free improvisation and electronic-twinged folk to create something of immense beauty and power.
2012 has been an incredible year for Leeds’ Roller Trio – they’ve been all over the UK jazz press and radio, championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson and Jez Nelson, and to cap it all off their self titled debut album (released on the F-IRE label) has just been named as a Mercury Prize album of the year! Just a few days before this gig the band will be appearing live on national TV during the Mercury awards ceremony, make sure you make it down to Sandbar to catch them cos they won’t be playing in rooms of this size for much longer!
Apologies to anyone who was hoping to see Roller Trio on November 6th – unfortunately due to other commitments thrust upon them by their recent Mercury nomination they are now unable to perform, but send their apologies…
Appearing instead will be Three. – a new trio led by guitarist Dan Brew alongside Xavier Winton on drums and Jamie Brewster on electric bass. Their sound ranges from delicate to powerful exploring different textures and combining various influences from a range of musical styles.
Tonight also sees the first performance of a new band from saxophonist Ben Watte, who you will have seen with Beats & Pieces Big Band and who also leads a double musical life as electronic producer Miiato. Inspired by the creation of a dubstep concerto for his final degree recital, this new project combines these two seemingly very different musical worlds into something completely original and unique… An evening not to be missed.
Two of the UK’s finest guitarists, both proud Mancunians, and both an incredible attraction in their own right – tonight they’ll each be appearing solo before joining forces in an unmissable duo.
Mike Walker has performed with some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians over an incredible career, including Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland and Vince Mendoza. You’ll also have seen him countless times at the Manchester Jazz Festival, including his Ropes commission in 2008, and co-leading The Impossible Gentlemen alongside Gwilym Simcock, Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum.
Stuart McCallum describes his sound as ‘alternative jazz’, taking influences from jazz, electronica, rock, contemporary classical and everything in between. He performs all over the world as a member of the Cinematic Orchestra and has remixed Radiohead, as well as releasing his own critically acclaimed albums.
Derby-born Corey Mwamba is a fascinating multi-instrumentalist but is mainly to be found behind his vibraphone. Here he brings his trio with bassist Dave Kane (Matthew Bourne, LIMA) and drummer Joshua Blackmore (Troyka, Curios). Expect bebop, free jazz, folk, African music, drum ‘n’ bass, funk and chamber music all mixed up together to make something different – can’t wait.
Alongside the trio we’re delighted to present a solo set from Leeds based guitarist Chris Sharkey. You will know Chris from his work with Trio VD, Acoustic Ladyland or his latest project Collider – his solo set has also recently been recorded for broadcast by BBC Jazz on 3.
French guitarist Hugo Corbin has been an important addition to the Manchester jazz scene since his relocation to England. A graduate of two of the most prestigious jazz institutions in Paris, he brings his trio to Sandbar presenting his own compositions. Hugo will be joined by The Horizon Experiment (Jim Molyneux on drums, Stewart Wilson on bass, Dan Brew on guitar and Ben Watte on saxophone) for their first ever gig. All four musicians are active over a huge range of musical styles – again presenting an all-original set of music, expect anything and everything…
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