Thursday 14 April 2016, 6pm, OTO Project Space
An early evening celebrating improvised music. Saxophonist Julie Kjær has gathered a strong team
of some of the most inventive and fearless improvisers from the London and UK improv scene. At this concert the bass instruments are in focus.
Seth Bennett / double bass
Olie Brice / double bass
Dominic Lash / double bass
Thodoris Ziarkas / double bass
Julie Kjær / bass clarinet, alto flute & alto sax
Olie Brice is a double bassist, improviser and composer. Raised in London and Jerusalem, he now lives by the sea in Hastings.
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’. Previously Brice lead a quintet – “one of the most interesting and satisfying bands on the current UK scene” – which released two albums, ‘Immune to Clockwork’ and ‘Day After Day’. He has also composed a piece for improvising string quartet, ‘From the Mouths of Lions’, which will be released in 2024.
Brice is a committed free improviser, who has performed, toured and recorded with many of the leading names in the music. 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. He is part of several ongoing improvising ensembles including Somersaults (with Tobias Delius & Mark Sanders) and The Acrylic Rib (with Albert Cirera & Nicolas Field).
Brice is also in demand as a bass player in creative ensembles led by many artists, including Dee Byrne’s Outlines and Out Front (Nick Malcolm’s quintet playing the music of Andrew Hill and Booker Little). He regularly performs at venues and festivals across Europe. Brice has been the recipient of Arts Council England funding multiple times and in 2021 received a composition commission from Jazz South.
“Brice makes the entire body of his bass sing. He has the ability to deliver a fractal line that is as purposeful as any by the great jazz bassists, but to do so within an entirely abstract setting” - Brian Morton, Point of Departure
A double bassist based in Dundee, Seth Bennett came up through punk music, spending his twenties playing in a roster of different bands. On the side, he was improvising, exploring speculative sound through the lens of jazz music, as well as in more formless, functionless set-ups. As a self-taught musician with no formal training, Seth’s development as a performer and composer came largely through seeking out any collaborative opportunity he could find, be it working with English folk singers, contemporary dancers or jazz bands. Over the years, he’s also amassed experience as a bandleader, writing primarily for a free improvising trio while attempting to fully unlock the hidden potentials of his instrument.
sethbennett.com
Dominic Lash concentrates on the double bass and electric guitar. He works regularly with musicians including John Butcher, Angharad Davies, Emil Karlsen, Mark Sanders, Pat Thomas, and Alex Ward. He has lived and worked in Oxford, New York and Bristol, and is currently based in Cambridge where he and N.O. Moore curate the monthly improvised music series Soundhunt. He also runs the label Spoonhunt.
http://dominiclash.blogspot.co.uk/
Double bassist and composer from Rhodes, Greece. Growing up with the sounds of Greek folk music mainly playing regional instruments such as the Lyra and tsabouna, he evolved through experimentation to discover the double bass. Currently based in London he is the co-founder of the group Valia Calda, as well as appearing regularly with the London Improvisers Orchestra, Michalis Kouloumis, Esquivo, Tasos Stamou and Bonnendis. Thodoris is also part of the movement & music improvisation series ‘’Metafora’’ with dancer/improviser Georgia Paizi.
Other collaborations include: Roman Gomez, Blam, No Clear Mind, Circuit, James Allsopp, Beibei Wang, Takatsuna Mukai, Dave Pattman, Tim Giles, Mimika Ensemble, Julie Kjær, Sue Lynch, Andreas Polyzogopoulos, Adrian Northover, Duncan Eagels, Daimonia Nymphe, Gareth Lockrane, Orphy Robinson, Alex Bonney, Adam Bohman, Manos Achalinotopoulos, Electric Litany.
Julie Kjær's edgy and thoughtful playing and ‘dark, otherworldly imagery’ (Jazzwise) has become increasingly evident around Europe, inhabiting ground between composition and free improv. Experimenting with extended techniques, sound and rhythm she pushes her instruments to their limits. She tours internationally with Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and his Large Unit and she has toured internationally and recorded with Django Bates and StoRMChaser. Currently her main focus is on her trio, Julie Kjær 3, with bass player John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble. They’ve just released their debut album on 14th March '16 on Clean Feed. Julie also plays with London Improvisers Orchestra and is a leader and side woman of several other English and Danish ensembles. In 2014 she was chosen to be a Sound and Music “New Voice” Artist and was chosen as a featured composer by the British Music Collection.
