Tuesday 12 December 2017, 7.30pm
This quintet developed from the combination of two existing groups (the Butcher/Davis/Lash trio and the Davis / Lazaridou-Chatzigoga duo) at a London gig at the end of 2016. This concert will be their second performance. If the last gig is anything to go by, expect a subtle attention to acoustic textures combined with a surprisingly harsh intensity but always with great poise.
John Butcher - "Butcher’s virtuosity... radiates a compelling and daring beauty too, exploring the edges and limits of the sounds of breath, the force which keeps us alive and connecting." The Morning Star
Angharad Davies - "the furious vigour of Davies’ bowing [is] matched only by the restraint with which she holds this energy in check" We Need No Swords
Matt Davis - "mixing blasts and polyphonic screeches that could practically dismantle the world with warmer and more traditional sounds... near-melodies which unfold gently" Alfio Castorina, Kathodik
Dominic Lash - "endless efforts to veer left of every known note or chord" James Costelloe, Newcastle Journal
Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga - "Things swell and subside, as with topography, and new chasms open up as if according to some plan." Jeph Jerman, The Squid's Ear
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 artists – including Derek Bailey, Rhodri Davies, Andy Moor, Phil Minton, Christian Marclay, Eddie Prévost, Magda Mayas, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Sophie Agnel, Gino Robair, Mark Sanders, John Tilbury, Okkyung Lee, John Edwards, Chris Corsano, Polwechsel and Steve Beresford.
Alongside long term projects he values occasional encounters; from large groups such as the WDR Sinfonieorchester & Butch Morris’ “London Skyscraper”, to duo concerts with Joe McPhee, Fred Frith, Akio Suzuki, Paal Nilssen-Love, Keiji Haino, David Toop, Angharad Davies, Otomo Yoshihide and Matthew Shipp.
Recent compositions include “Penny Wands” for Futurist Intonarumori, three HCMF commissions for his own groups, “Good Liquor Caused my Heart for to Sing” for the London Sinfonietta and “Tarab Cuts”, a response to recordings of early Arabic classical music which was shortlisted for a British Composer’s Award.
“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.
Angharad Davies is a Welsh violinist based in London working with free-improvisation, compositions and performance.Her approach to sound involves attentive listening and exploring beyond the sonic confines of her instrument, her classical training and performance expectation.
Much of her work involves collaboration. She has long standing duos with Tisha Mukarji, Dominic Lash and Lina Lapelyte and plays with Common Objects, Cranc and Skogen. She has been involved in projects with Tarek Atui, Tony Conrad, Richard Dawson, Gwenno, Roberta Jean, Jack McNamara, Rie Nakajima, Tim Parkinson, Eliane Radigue, Georgia Ruth and J.G.Thirlwell.
Most of her records are released on Another Timbre but she also has releases on Absinth Records, Confrontrecords, Emanem, Potlatch and winds measure recordings.Her first orchestral piece was commissioned by LCMF in 2019.
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/
Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga (Thessaloniki, Greece) is a musician and linguist based in London. She is active in experimental and improvised music since 2006. She plays the zither, a string instrument, and uses ebows and objects on its resonance box to produce sustained or granulated sounds. Her approach focuses on the interplay between spontaneity and elaborate techniques.
Recently, Mikroton released ‘Borough’ that documents the singular meeting of ‘The Holy Quintet’ with Johnny Chang, Jamie Drouin, Dominic Lash and David Ryan.
In the last few years she has been performing mainly in and around London, while most recent shows have been in Berlin. At the moment, she is exploring multiple ways to reroute her music.
http://www.strokebystroke.net/
Matt Davis has been active in improvised music since the mid 90’s, playing throughout Europe and Japan in many different collaborations and small and large group ensembles including Zeitkratzer and La Sospechosa dance company.
From 2003 he has directed ‘Field’ - a live art/performance project, which investigates Space and has collaborated with geographer Doreen Massey, author of For Space.
His sound/music work continues to include acoustic improvisation (trumpet and preparations) which could be described as textural, sound based pieces. Along side this is an electromagnetic set up: performance based improvisations which use electromagnetic fields from custom-built cracked electrical devices and field recordings of electromagnetic residue and interference, as well as drawing on the immediate situation/space of the performance. These elements are explored as spatial, acoustic phenomena and for their potential as organic and/or feral musical elements.
