Category Archives: News

Namazu

The second Ripsaw Catfish album ‘Namazu’ is available to pre-order from Raw Tonk Records now – with the CDs shipping out on 17th March. Recorded over two gigs at Cafe Oto (for Match & Fuse Festival last October) and IKLECTIK (for LUME’s LJF triple-bill special last November), it’s a nice record of where we’re at with the duo, nearly three years after our first release ‘For The Benefit Of The Tape’. The excellent artwork is by Colin Webster. Namazu is a giant catfish from Japanese mythology, responsible for earthquakes but usually restrained by a stone to its head…


We’re playing a cluster of Ripsaw Catfish gigs as part of the Five Years of Raw Tonk celebrations: Pletterij, Haarlem, NL (17th March); De Singer, Rijkevorsel, BE (18th March); De Ruimte, Amsterdam, NL (19th March); Hundred Years Gallery, London (25th March); St Margarets Church, Manchester (26th March); and at a venue tbc, Oslo, NO (2nd April). We’re also appearing at Thinking/Not Thinking Festival on 8th April at New River Studios, London.

Madwort Sax Quartet album available to pre-order

It’s out there! Well, almost. The Madwort Sax Quartet album is available to pre-order from Efpi Records now:


We’re touring to celebrate the release: catch us at Jazz North East, Bridge Hotel, Newcastle (12 February); Plink Plonk, York Tavern, Norwich (1 March); A Little Bit Of Nothing, Derby (2nd March); IKLECTIK, London (5 March) and The Wonder Inn, Manchester (6 March).

Word Of Moth action in February

Word Of Moth (complete with new drummer Johnny Hunter) has lots of stuff planned for this year, starting with a flurry of activity in February. We’re appearing at the first LUME Lab gig on 8th February at IKLECTIK, presenting new music that we’ve been working on. Then we’re heading into the studio to record an album, before heading to Wolverhampton on 17th February to play at Jazz At The Arena. After that, we’re off to Bern, Switzerland to play for Jazzwerkstatt at their tenth anniversary festival! It’s all happening….

First incarnation of the LUMEkestra

Anton Hunter has posted a video of the LUMEkestra playing his composition ‘LUME Kestrel’. The gig was at IKLECTIK or 14th November, as part of our special LUME triple bill show for the London Jazz Festival. As well as Anton’s piece we played compositions by Paulo Duarte, Tom Ward, Martin Pyne and Dave Kane. It was a lot of fun, and the ensemble will definitely appear again in 2017: its mission is to create a space for the composers around LUME to experiment with writing for large groups.

I was quite pleased with my flyer for this gig too:

lumekestra-poster

Recordings from Lancaster Jazz Festival 2016 Artist in Residence gig

Lancaster Jazz Festival have released the live recording of my large ensemble gig for them in September. It’s available to stream and download from Bandcamp, with the proceeds being split between fundraising for the next LJF commission and helping me to finance a studio recording with the group (which has been inadvertently named ‘Favourite Animals’). Have a listen…

Lancaster Jazz Festival Artist in Residence: photo blog

I had a fantastic time as Artist in Residence at Lancaster Jazz Festival this September. What a great festival – and what a brilliant opportunity to offer artists. The headline performance with my ten-piece band was recorded, and should be available to hear soon, but in the mean time here are a few photos from the project.

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Anton’s panorama of the whole group in rehearsal (minus himself!). Click to enlarge.

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Festival banners with my face on….quite a weird experience!

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Soundchecking at the Dukes…
audienceThe audience awaits!

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On stage: you can just about see the whole band in this shot…

lancaster-hat-speaks-shredCutting loose after the gig with festival director Matt Robinson at the Lancaster edition of ‘The Hat Speaks’ late night improv session.

The residency was a perfect way to start a new project. Massive thanks to Matt, Dave and the team for making it happen! I’m now keen to do more with the group in 2017, so watch this space….

Sloth Racket Autumn tour dates

After a fantastic time playing at Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival (see above video by Agata Urbaniak of us playing ‘Endgame’), Sloth Racket is heading out on the second half of our UK tour at the end of September. We’re starting with a London gig at IKLECTIK, before heading to Derby, Newcastle, Glasgow and Salford, supported by Arts Council England. We’re then sticking around in Manchester to record the band’s second album, for release next year. Here are the details:

28th September: London (IKLECTIK)
A London date to kick off the tour, with Colin Webster & Graham Dunning and Ti/om (Tim Fairhall and Tom Ward).
IKLECTIK Artlab, Old Paradise Yard, 20 Carlisle Lane, SE1 7LG

29th September: Derby (Out Front)
Part of Corey Mwamba’s new gig series launched earlier this year.
The Blessington Carriage, 11-17 Chapel Street, Derby, DE1 3GU

2nd October: Newcastle (Jazz North East)
Jazz North East are actually responsible for this band’s formation! After our first ever performance as part of their programme at Gateshead International Jazz Festival 2015, we’re looking forward to playing for JNE in their HQ, the Bridge Hotel.
The Bridge Hotel, Castle Garth, Newcastle NE1 1RQ

3rd October: Glasgow (Old Hairdessers)
Sloth Racket’s first gig in Scotland! Jer Reid has organised this date for us, and he’ll be playing a set with Raymond MacDonald (sax), Catriona McKay (harp), Una MacGlone (bass) and Dougal Marwick (synths, electronics).
Old Hairdressers, 27 Renfield Lane, Glasgow, G2 6PH

5th October: Salford (Islington Mill)
Last date of the tour before we go into the studio to record in Manchester. With another band on the bill tbc.
Islington Mill, James Street, Salford, M3 5HW

See you out there!

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Lancaster Jazz Festival Artist In Residence/Headline Artist

Some very exciting news for the Autumn: I’m going to be Artist In Residence at Lancaster Jazz Festival 2016! Their tireless artistic director and ace clarinettist Matt Robinson emailed me a few months ago to offer this fantastic (and terrifying) opportunity and obviously I had to say yes. The main focus of my Artist In Residence role will be to produce some new music, the performance of which will be the festival’s headline set on Saturday 17th September. So, not a very high pressure gig then…

I decided to assemble a large ensemble for the occasion, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s ended up as a ten-piece, and the line-up will be:

Julie Kjær flute & bass clarinet
Tom Ward flute & bass clarinet
Graham South trumpet
Tullis Rennie trombone
Dee Byrne alto sax
Sam Andreae tenor sax
Cath Roberts baritone sax
Anton Hunter guitar
Seth Bennett double bass
Johnny Hunter drums

The band is basically an expanded Sloth Racket, and I can’t wait to get started on putting the music together. More on this to follow….

The festival is happening over the weekend of the 16th-18th September, and the full programme will be announced soon (keep an eye on the festival website).

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