December is upon us, and having just finished a big project (of which more later), it already feels like my 2022 is over – but in fact I have a few nice gigs in London this month. A quick rundown…
Sunday 4 December – with Christoph Gallio, Dominic Lash and Andrew Lisle at Hundred Years Gallery
Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio has spent a chunk of time based in London this year, and I was very happy to be asked to join him for this afternoon set at the gallery. With a heavyweight Lash/Lisle rhythm section! More info on the HYG website.
Friday 9 December – new live electronics duo with Bill Thompson at LUME
Also at HYG is the last LUME gig of 2022, next Friday. My set will be the debut performance of a new live electronics collaboration with sound artist Bill Thompson. I’ve just added a Lyra-8 analogue synthesiser to my live electronics setup (see above – the huge one), and this will be the first time I’ve taken it out on a gig. Bill and I had a great session together earlier this week so I’m looking forward to playing again.
Saturday 10 December – Jason Yarde benefit gig, Cafe Oto and The Vortex
Fantastic saxophone player Jason Yarde is recovering from a stroke. For this benefit gig, Orphy Robinson has assembled a cast of characters from across the London improv scene for an afternoon improvised music relay. Players will move between Cafe Oto and The Vortex in freeform ensembles. More info and link soon…
Saturday 17 December – BRÅK Christmas Special with Charles Hayward
My last gig of the year is the BRÅK festive special. We’ll be at waterintobeer for a festive night of improv, and my duo partner is formidable drummer Charles Hayward! Tom will be joined by Sam Andreae, and Matt Cargill of Sly & The Family Drone with play a duo set with Colin. It promises to be a special night!
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Australian Art Orchestra hcmf// ‘Fresh Water – Salt Water’ project in Melbourne and Huddersfield
Over the last few months I’ve had the privilege of being involved in a pretty amazing international collaborative project with the Australian Art Orchestra. Co-produced by AAO and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Fresh Water – Salt Water is a new work centred around the music of Yolŋu songmen Daniel and David Wilfred, with guest UK artists Mandhira De Saram and myself along with AAO musicians Martin Ng, Helen Svoboda, Aviva Endean and Peter Knight. In early November Mandhira and I travelled to Melbourne, where the ensemble worked together to devise the new music. We then performed the piece at Melbourne Recital Centre (above), before recovening in the UK later in the month to present it at Bates Mill in Huddersfield for hcmf//. It’s been an incredible and very creatively stimulating experience! There’s a lot to process. I loved working with everyone and hope it can lead to more collaboration in the future. In the mean time you can read more about the project and the artists on the AAO website.