Other Collaborations
Interchange
Interchange is an exciting new jazz dectet comprising ten of the nation’s most innovative jazz composers and improvisers pushing at the boundaries and blurring all the edges. Formed by Issie Barratt in 2017, ten of the UK’s leading female musicians combine in a fascinating new initiative playing new music from women composers representing a breadth and diversity that crosses generations and cultural backgrounds.
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With a fabulous programme of ten new works, commissioned from members of the group, and supported by PRS for Music, each piece is highly individual, and keenly exploring the full emotional spectrum while collectively pushing the composed and the improvised to the max.
Live dates here
Sawa
Collaboration with Alya Al-Sulltani on vocals, and Clemens Poetzch on piano/fluid piano performing improvised music around themes of Iraqi and Arabic folk music and new classical composition.
Their EP "Sawa" was released in 2016, and features one of the few recordings available on the world's on;y fluid piano.
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Alya Al-Sultani - vocals
Shirley Smart - cello
Clemens Poetszch - piano/fluid piano
Live dates here
Sawa live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 - listen/buy here
Sefiroth
Sefiroth is a 10-piece electro-acoustic chamber ensemble playing contemporary interpretations of traditional Sephardic (Judeo-Spanish) repertoire, much of which dates back to the Medieval period and draws upon Arabic, Turkish, Greek and Eastern European influence
The musicians in the ensemble represent several nationalities and between them are versed in a wide range of musical idioms including Balkan, Middle Eastern, Arabic, klezmer, rock, jazz, early and contemporary classical, electronic and improvised music
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Olesya Zdorovetska - voice
Alice Zawadzki - voice, violin
Nick Roth - saxophones, furulya
Alex Bonney - trumpet, electronics
Paul Tkachenko - euphonium, tuba
Shirley Smart - cello
Alex Roth - guitar, effects
Francesco Turrisi - piano, percussion
Ruth Goller - electric bass
Simon Roth - drums, percussion
Arvoles lloran por lluvia EP
Balagan Cafe Band
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An eclectic project, this group combines the worlds of jazz, world music and classical, featuring the intimate chamber instrumentation of violin, guitar, cello and accordion and an elegant yet fiery fusion of improvisation and written music.
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Ranging from Parisian and American Jazz, the Chaabi music of Algeria, Tango from Argentina, Balkan folk melodies through to the early modern and folk music of Western Europe, Balagan fuses these threads into a coherent and characteristic sound world.
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‘…this is music for the ears, heart and feet.’
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Christian Miller - guitar
Richard Jones - violin
Shirley Smart - cello
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