Sunday 1 November 2020, 6pm
Very pleased to welcome back one of our favourite pianists for two sets live in the Cafe!
Alexander Hawkins’ solo performances have been described as ‘intensely intricate…powerful, technically brilliant and melodically inventive.’ First documented on his 2014 album ‘Song Singular’, they often range across whole swathes of his musical obsessions, all the while forging these into something coherent and personal
‘Hawkins improvises with the strength and conviction that come from combining an advanced technique with a teeming imagination…[i]t isn't always cosy, but this is state-of-the-art contemporary piano’ - The Guardian
‘Hawkins draws favorable comparisons to some of the great innovative pianists of our time’ - All About Jazz
We'd love to see you. In order to keep things safe we will be running the bar with dedicated seating and table service only; with a maximum of 6 people in each group and no standing. Tables will be on a first come, first served basis - please bear with us if we can't seat you straight away. Visitors will be asked to scan a QR code at the door when they arrive, using the NHS COVID-19 app. We will be providing hand sanitiser - and note that we will only be accepting card payments.
Alexander Hawkins’ work ranges from his acclaimed solo performances (‘intensely intricate…powerful, technically brilliant and melodically inventive’) through to works on a much larger canvas, such as his Togetherness Music ('[a] masterpiece that can stand next to the best works of Mitchell, Braxton or Parker’). He collaborates regularly with all generations of creative musicians, including the likes of Anthony Braxton, Marshall Allen, Evan Parker, John Surman, Joe McPhee, Hamid Drake, Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, Sofia Jernberg, Shabaka Hutchings, and many others. Further creative associations, with two very different icons of African music, Louis Moholo-Moholo and Mulatu Astatke, stretch back for well over a decade. He has been widely commissioned as a composer, including by the likes of the BBC, Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, and numerous festivals. His performance schedule takes him to club, concert hall, and festival stages worldwide.
"Sounds like all the future jazz you might imagine without ever being able to conceive of the details" – The Guardian
