Programme #2 Recording Sessions Concert series focusing on recording projects of free improvisation, free jazz, electro- acoustic improvisation and contemporary compositions. Quintet: Evan Parker – saxophones Sebastian Lexer – piano+ Mark Sanders – percussion Peter Evans – trumpet Sam Pluta – electronics IKLECTIK Art Lab, Old Paradise, 20 Carlisle Lane, London, SE1 7LG - (Royal Street corner) next to Archbishop's Park. Nearest tube station Lambeth North. Thursday 24th November 2016, 8:00pm. Entry: £10/£6, doors open 7:00pm. Website: http://www.giovannilarovere.co.uk/recording-sessions/ This concert series is made possible through the goodwill of the musicians involved and the support of IKLECTIK Art Lab. Curated by Giovanni La Rovere Recording Sessions – Evans/Lexer/Parker/Pluta/Sanders Recording Sessions Recording Sessions is a concert series focusing on live recordings of free improvisation, free jazz, electro- acoustic improvisation and experimental composition projects. This series of events works with musicians and artists to develop an idea (or project) undertake research, capture a specific meeting of particular musicians and ultimately to explore the creative resource that is listening and the differences between the two predominant modes of making music: composition & improvisation. Experimental music and recording technology has undeniably influenced 20th and 21st century music making and developing a culture of listening to experimental music. Recording sessions intends to explore the interconnections among the aesthetics of Experimental Music and the aesthetics of sound recording with a focus on the act of Listening to research & explore our responses to music as it is experienced at live events (or when listening to recordings). Parat+ The aim of this concert series is to present projects, ideas or research that artists are currently developing or have developed. Sebastian Lexer’s investigation of combining electroacoustic processes with acoustic piano is concerned with achieving a balance between these elements within improvised performance, enabling realtime control of computerised effects while engaging in the physicality of playing. Lexer’s musical practice involves the continuous development of bespoke software applications and the integration of sensors and audio analysis in his performance system Piano+. The strength of the embedded control structures lies in an intuitive approach using three point multi-touch gestures for realtime adjustments to parameter mappings and setup. The resulting app Parat+ streamlines these concepts giving ultimate control and flexibility to any user while keeping technical considerations to a minimum, allowing intuitive use while keeping the focus on the creative task, be it music, art installations or stage lighting. For more information about Parat+ visit: http://apps.incalcando.com/ 2 | Recording Sessions Recording Sessions – Evans/Lexer/Parker/Pluta/Sanders The Musicians Evan Parker - saxophones http://evanparker.com/index.php Evan Parker (born in Bristol, 1944) took up the saxophone at the age of 14. Early influences included Paul Desmond, Eric Dolphy, and above all John Coltrane. After witnessing the Cecil Taylor Trio with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray in full flood in New York in 1962 he was, as he says, "marked for life", converted to the intensities of free jazz. Back in England, he gradually found players to share his fervour, including John Stevens and the members of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble - Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Rutherford, Derek Bailey and others - and, importantly, Peter Kowald, who made the introductions to the German scene. Parker played on Peter Brötzmann's still dangerous 'Machine Gun' in '68 and, before the 60s had run their course, had also recorded with Manfred Schoof and Pierre Favre. In 1970 he joined the Alex von Schlippenbach Trio, of which he is still a member, and subsequently the Globe Unity Orchestra. By this point the hallmarks of his unique style were established, his combinations of circular breathing, tonguing, rhythm patterns, overtones and polytones making his sound instantly recognisable. Free improvised music has accounted for most of Parker's activities over the last forty years, whether playing solo or in groups, but both jazz and art music composers have also deployed the arresting physicality of his sound as a contrasting and energising element. His saxophones have been heard inside jazz big bands led by Kenny Wheeler, Chris McGregor, Barry Guy, Stan Tracey and Charlie Watts and in the chamber music of Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Frederic Rzewski and others. A major force in European improvising, Parker has collaborated, too, with American innovators, amongst them Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis and Wadada Leo Smith. He has also been sought out by artists on the experimental fringe of pop music, and Scott Walker, Robert Wyatt, Annette Peacock, David Sylvian, Jah Wobble, Spring Heel Jack, and Squarepusher have all called upon the sonorities that only Evan Parker's saxes can provide. The reiterative, intricately-detailed patterns of Parker's soprano saxophone improvisations can recall the 'loops' of systems music. Aspects of electronics have long interested him; already in 1969, in the Music Improvisation Company, his saxophone phrases responded to the tweaked coil microphones of Hugh Davies. In the subsequent duo with Paul Lytton, raw live electronics were again frequently foregrounded. Since 1990 Parker has led the Electro-Acoustic Ensemble whose radical cross- referencing of improvisation and real-time sound processing has brought fresh sound-colours into the music as well as new ways of working Ensemble member Richard Barrett has spoken of the EAE providing a model for a new kind of improvising orchestra. Evan Parker appears on more than 200 recordings on labels including ECM, FMP, Emanem, Incus, Ogun, Po Torch, Okka, Island, CBS, RCA etc. In 2001, he founded his own label, Psi. Sebastian Lexer - Piano+ http://sebastianlexer.eu Sebastian Lexer’s musical life is focused on free improvisation and the experimental. The role of technology has become an increasingly integral part in his music, best reflected in his creation of and 3 | Recording Sessions Recording Sessions – Evans/Lexer/Parker/Pluta/Sanders performances with the Piano+, an electroacoustic extension to the piano. His solo CD Dazwischen and various collaborations with, for example, Steve Noble, Evan Parker, Eddie Prévost, Ute Kanngiesser and Seymour Wright, show the exiting sound-worlds explored ‘in between’ the acoustic piano and the electroacoustic modification thereof. Sebastian works freelance as a musician, audio engineer and producer, and is the founder of INCALCANDO, developing interactive software for musicians and artists. A regular performance schedule has included concerts and radio broadcasts in Europe, Canada and the US. Mark Sanders - Percussion http://www.marksanders.me.uk Mark has played with many renowned musicians including Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith and Evan Parker. He works in a regular improvising duo with John Butcher, also performing in John`s composition for duo and backing tracks `Tarab Cuts` which has played festivals in Rio de Janiero, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Glasgow, Bristol, London and Philadelphia. With Christian Marclay in his piece`Everyday` for film and live music, he has performed in Aldeburgh, Ruhr Trienalle, Vienna Bienalle and Holland festival, collaborated with the film `Screenplay`in London and Lisbon and performed solo for his exhibition in London`s White Cube Gallery For Conceptual artist Henrik Hakensen`s film `The End` he has performed as an improvising soloist with orchestras conducted by Jessica Cottis, playing the music of John Coxon in Glasgow, Sydney and Monte Carlo. Peter Evans - trumpet http://pevans.squarespace.com Peter Evans is a trumpet player, and improvisor/composer based in New York City since 2003. Evans is part of a broad, hybridized scene of musical experimentation and his work cuts across a wide range of modern musical practices and traditions. Peter is committed to the simultaneously self- determining and collaborative nature of musical improvisation as a compositional tool, and works with an ever-expanding group of musicians and composers in the creation of new music. His primary groups as a leader are the Peter Evans Quintet and the Zebulon trio. In addition, Evans has been performing and recording solo trumpet music since 2002 and is widely recognized as a leading voice in the field, having released several recordings over the past decade. He is a member of the cooperative groups Pulverize the Sound (with Mike Pride and Tim Dahl) and Rocket Science (with Evan Parker, Craig Taborn and Sam Pluta) and is constantly experimenting and forming new configurations with like minded players. As a composer, he has been commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Yarn/Wire, the Donaueschingen Musiktage Festival, the Jerome Foundation's Emerging Artist Program, and the Doris Duke Foundation for the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival. Evans has presented and/or performed his works at major festivals worldwide and tours his own groups extensively. He has worked with some of the leading figures in new music: John Zorn, Kassa Overall, Jim Black, Weasel Walter, Levy Lorenzo, Nate Wooley, Steve Schick, Mary Halvorson, Joe McPhee, George Lewis, and performs with both ICE and the Wet Ink Ensemble. He has been releasing recordings on his own label, More