Some recordings have emerged of a nice gig I was involved in last month. Extra Normal Records invited me, Tullis Rennie and Far Rainbow to play at a specially-curated edition of the long-running Canterbury night Free Range. Tullis and I played a duo, then Far Rainbow played a set, then we all joined together for a quartet to end the evening. It was a lovely gig: Kyle (Extra Normal) and Sam (Free Range) were great hosts! You can listen to the sets on Soundcloud:
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:
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…
Video: Cubitt Arts Picnic
A lovely video by Ben Owen has appeared, of the Cubitt Gallery‘s 2016 Arts Picnic on Islington Green. I played a set of quartet free improvisation with Tom Ward, Olie Brice and Andrew Lisle while all sorts of painting and dancing was going on. It was a lot of fun!
FUNDAY CUBITT 2016 from Benjamin Owen on Vimeo.
Guardian mention…
Quick post to point you in the direction of this Guardian article, in which I’m named in a list of ‘five of the best young female jazz musicians’! This was in the run-up to our Ripsaw Catfish set at Cafe Oto last weekend, as part of the excellent Match&Fuse Festival.
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.
Anton’s panorama of the whole group in rehearsal (minus himself!). Click to enlarge.
Festival banners with my face on….quite a weird experience!
Soundchecking at the Dukes…
The audience awaits!
On stage: you can just about see the whole band in this shot…
Cutting 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!
Sloth Racket at Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival
I had a great weekend hanging out at the inaugural edition of Daniel Spicer’s Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival last year – so I’m really looking forward to playing there with Sloth Racket this weekend! We’re opening the Saturday session at 5pm. See the flyer below for the awesome line-up…
Wire review for LUME Festival
LUME Festival has a review in this month’s Wire magazine, courtesy of Daniel Spicer. He really sums up the weird post-Brexit mood on the day (two days after the EU referendum result) and has some pretty glowing things to say about the music, including Word Of Moth and Article XI. Although it was only in June, the festival feels like a long time ago now. Roll on the next one!
(Click on the image to enlarge).
Far Rainbow video
A video has appeared of Colin Webster and me guesting with Far Rainbow earlier this year at Zero Wave Club. Check it out….