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Alex Ward Quintet & Sextet

The Alex Ward Quintet features several of the most exciting and distinctive musicians on the current London improvising scene, and was formed in 2013 to perform Alex’s long-form composition “Glass Shelves And Floor.” Scored for 2 clarinets/bass clarinet, tenor sax, cello and double bass, the work conjures up a soundworld evocative of contemporary chamber music, and brings to it the vigour and raw exploration of free improvisation.

It premiered at a packed-to-capacity event at Cafe Oto’s Project Space in August 2013, and will receive its second performance in the first half of this concert. In the second half, the group will be expanded to a sextet by the addition of Steve Noble on drums (whose collaborations with Ward span over 20 years), to perform a new work fusing the ensemble dynamics and orchestrational detail of the quintet’s music with the electric intensity and post-free-jazz improvisational flights characteristic of Ward’s ensemblesPredicate and Forebrace.

“Alex Ward continues to solder together improvisation, free-jazz, and the outer limits of rock in fine fashion, highlighting the essential qualities of all and melting them together to form a sound both alchemical and vital.” Michael Holland – Ears For Eyes

Olie Brice (double bass); Tom Jackson (clarinet/bass clarinet); Hannah Marshall (cello); Rachel Musson (tenor sax); Steve Noble (drums); Alex Ward (clarinet/electric guitar).

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