bio
About the individuals:
Martin Pyne’s solo album “Spirits Of Absent Dancers” featured in The Guardian’s Best albums of 2020 list.
“In terms of percussion improvisation, try to imagine something that runs from the Zen sound-painting of Frank Perry to the light swing of Billy Higgins. There’s nothing loud, nothing showy, nothing esoteric. Just a delight in the deft touch of a stick, a mallet, a finger or a wire brush on metal, skin or wood, and in the process of transforming sound into a sense of movement.” – Richard Williams – The Blue Moment
Charlotte Keeffe is inspired by the way painters explore colours and shapes. She refers to her trumpet and flugelhorn as her ‘sound brushes’. Her music has been featured on Jazz FM, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 6 where she’s been described as a ‘prolific’, ‘dynamic’ and ‘excellent improviser!’ by the likes of Corey Mwamba, Stuart Maconie and Jez Nelson.
‘Charlotte Keeffe’s blood-red, rasping flugelhorn and trumpet blew breathy cadences and messages as if her lungs were burning with an electricity all of her own.’ – Chris Searle – Morning Star
‘Fresh on the scene, trumpeter Charlotte Keeffe is a whirlwind of extended techniques and tactile puzzles, removing the mouthpiece to elicit a windy howl, using her left hand as a mute in the bell of the horn and revelling in restless possibilities.’ – Daniel Spicer – Jazzwise
Martin Archer is a composer / improviser who is equally at home on stage or in the studio. His own distinctive saxophone playing is rooted in AACM jazz. Through his use of keyboards and electronics, and as a studio producer, he extends this interest into extended song form and leftfield rock music. An eclectic combination of sources and highly individual applications makes Archer a unique inhabitant of the school of English maverick composer / improvisers.
“Archer’s aesthetic is an intriguing and transformative one—whatever enters his world comes out changed, if not utterly, then beautifully.” – Duncan Heining – All About Jazz
“This is some deep listening…. Martin Archer has a real voice on his instrument….. he deserves your full attention.” – Dereck Higgins – online video blog
Michael Bardon is a Northern Irish bassist/cellist/composer/improviser born in 1986 and based in Leeds, UK. He first came to Leeds in 2007 to study Jazz (BA Hons) at Leeds College of Music graduating in June 2010. Since then he has worked with a variety of musicians from different disciplines and backgrounds including Shatner’s Bassoon, Keeley Forsyth, Matthew Bourne, Dave Kane, Tipping Point, James Mainwaring, Sean Noonan’s Pavees Dance, Hiby/Bardon/Hession trio, Jaktar, Hassan Erraji, Craig Scott’s Lobotomy and Nat Birchall Quintet. Michael’s performance interests lie in pairing both the electronic sonorities of electric bass, DIY effects pedals and synthesizers; with a more traditional acoustic set-up of double bass and cello.
“A compassionate and open-minded musician with a strong vision.” – Dolf Mulder, Vital Weekly.
“Michael Bardon has been hugely successful in pushing the bass to the forefront and then turning it into an incredibly varied tone-producing, atmospheric device.” – FREQ
Nick Shelton says: Drawing is at the heart of my creative projects. I use drawing to develop and visualise ideas. Mark-making has been a crucial way of working for me; measuring marks, fine drawing, scribbling and scratching through surfaces and layers of colour, materials and images: excavating like an archaeologist.
In the last few years, I started to animate my drawings and mark-making, combining them with film. This opened up an exciting world of rhythm, time, speed, structure, forward and reverse. It seemed to me to have a great deal in common with experimental music and soundscapes. I have been fortunate to have made accompanying pieces for composers and musicians who are working in experimental sound and music genres. Most recently, collaborating with Martin Archer making visuals for some of his many collaborators, including the dynamic, forward thinking Hi-Res Heart.
The multi-media artist, Paul Neagu once said to me, ‘Nick, you have too many ideas, you need to try and get them down to two at a time’. I ignored him!