BAN BAM @ Handmade Music

BAN BAM is a music project from Improvised Music Company (Dublin) which began in 2017 to support and develop the work of women and gender minority jazz and improvised music artists. For this edition, we welcome projects from Joanna Mattrey and Christine Tobin.

With themes of conflict, loss of home and cultural identity, Joanna Mattrey’s piece Battle Ready II tasks the performers to play for those who have no voice. The work includes composition, improvisation, spoken text, and video. The quartet of saxophone, violin, viola, and electric guitar, featuring Joanna Mattrey, Nick Roth, Larissa O’Grady and Barry O’Halpin draw on the musicians’ fluency in improvisation and notated music, oscillating between coordinated written events and sweeping improvised textures and gestures, to create a powerful live experience. (approx. 25-30min)

Christine Tobin’s new work Pseudologia Fantastica explores themes of disinformation – the misappropriation of new technologies and information networks to spread lies that destroy democratic conversation and undermine perceptions of the world. In the history of communication, we have never been so connected, yet we often find ourselves divided, mistrustful and weighed down by dark uncertainty about the future. Presented by Tobin with accompaniment by cellist Kate Shortt and guitarist Phil Robson, the piece includes spoken word and song, live electronic fx, pre-recorded soundscapes & compositions by Tobin, as well as sonic improv and hand percussion, marking a new direction for this artist. (approx. 25-30min)

We are delighted to welcome the BAN BAM artists to Brilliant Corners as part of our monthly experimental music series Handmade Music. Space is limited, so book early!