Friday 3 June
Snorkel
A London-based collective whose members come from different corners of the alternative scene. Propelled by drummer Frank Byng and the rhythms generated by cheap samplers and drum machines, the band revel in the joy of psychedelic repetition throwing in elastic interruptions on guitar, analogue and digital synthesisers, trombone, live samples and vocals.
Rome Pays Off
Rothko founders Mark Beazley and Crawford Blair continue their explorations in post-Eno ambience and Slint-esque instrumental atmospheres. ‘Rome Pays Off have a taste for the dark and the surreal, and frame it in a beautiful mist of graceful, measured restraint. Quite hauntingly beautiful’ (Boomkat).
Les Ocelots
Since their inception two years ago Les Ocelots have played alongside acts such as Jason Yarde’s ‘Wah’ and Polar Bear. Featuring the compositions of bassist Ruth Goller, guitarist Jean de Talhouet, and saxophonist James Marsh, the trio play contemporary instrumental music with influences that include Wayne Shorter and AKA Moon.’
Saturday 4 June
John Etheridge Blue Spirits
Celebrating 40 years in the biz, the unassumingly virtuosic and witty guitarist John Etheridge returns to the club with Pete Whittaker (organ) and Mark Fletcher (drums).
John is capable of playing anything from straightahead jazz, through blues and what used to be called ‘progressive’ rock, to Frank Zappa material. Blue Spirits allows him to relax into a relatively informal groove, playing soul-jazz-type material and the odd standard with his trademark fluency. ‘World class fretwork’ (Guitarist Magazine).
Wednesday 8 June
Q
Guitarist Julien Desprez, Fanny Lasfargues, (bass) and Sylvain Darrifourcq (drums) – all members of the COAX musical union – are a radically electric trio, interlacing elements of rockn’roll, free jazz and electro-acoustic experiments. Q offers a world built upon complex musical structures, tinted by the thrill of muddy erotism, where the calm of wide sound spaces can switch without notice to a doomsday rhythm machine.
Sunday 12 June
Township Comets
The Comets play the searing, joyous music of saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, a towering figure in township jazz and the European free scene. Featuring Pinise Saul (vocals), Chris Batchelor (trumpet), Jason Yarde (alto sax), Harry Brown (trombone), Adam Glasser (piano), Jasper Hoiby (bass) and Dave Smith (drums).
