Taeko Kunishima performs with her band. Support from Beyond Haiku with Emi Watanabe.
Doors 8pm – Music 8.30pm – BUY TICKETS
Taeko Kunishima is a Japanese composer and pianist who has performed at festivals and venues in UK, Japan and Germany. She performs with her regular band on this occasion.
Taeko Kunishima
Taeko Kunishima was a long term resident in London, and is now moving between the UK and Japan, performing in both countries. With a background in both classical and jazz, she has toured the UK with support from Jazz Services, and has four albums on the 33 Jazz label, the most recent being ‘Iridescent Clouds’. This album was put forward as one of the best released in 2016 by James Nadal of All About Jazz.com. Evan Parker stated it had a ‘good clear concept…well interpreted by the musicians.’ Taeko featured on Radio 3’s Late Junction in 2017, with Nick Luscombe who described her new album as ‘wonderful’. The last performance at IKELCTIK was well received.
“Acknowledged for her trademark lyricism, pianist Taeko Kunishima reflects upon the wonders of nature on Iridescent Clouds, offering elegant improvised passages encased in a meditative concept.”
All About Jazz.com (2016)
www.taeko.co.uk
Camilo Tirado
This young tabla wizard is also an accomplished studio engineer, composer and producer. Camilo has worked closely with Nitin Sawhney and James Holden. He is studying tabla with Hanif Khan and Mohamed Asani. During his residency he has worked on the ‘Music In Prisons’ project, the LPO’s ‘Join The Band’ initiative, and an installation with poet Lemn Sissay, as well as a host of performances. Camilo’s music has been described as “Indian classical meets dub reggae through the prism of electroacoustic composition”.
Clive Bell – Shakuhachi, Flute, Producer
Europe’s leading performer on the Japanese shakuhachi, Clive Bell has been heard on recordings by David Sylvian, Bill Laswell, Jochen Irmler (Faust), Karl Jenkins and Jeff Beck. He is a member of PIL bassist Jah Wobble’s Invaders Of The Heart, and has recently toured with Wobble’s Nippon Dub Ensemble. He recently performed on Debris in Lower Earth Orbit as part of Twinkle3 on Cuspeditions.bandcamp.com
Paul Moylan – Double Bass
Top European bass player Paul Moylan numbers John Dankworth and John Etheridge among his collaborators, and put in a long stint as Michael Garrick’s right hand man. Studies in composition with Hans Werner Henze were followed by an appearance on East Enders. As bandleader Paul works with Yair Schleider, Ronnen Kozokoro, Martin Hathaway and Mattias Eskilsson. He has recently performed as part of High Society in the West End show…
Jeremy Hawkins
He has recorded sounds which are included in Taeko Kunishima’s most recent work; Iridescent Clouds. The sounds are from both Japan and the UK, from the call of the Uguisu bird in spring (a type of Japanese warbler) to the rustling of oak leaves in autumn. Taeko’s performances include his varied projected films which reflect idiosyncratically on each piece; such as:
Previous performances from Iridescent Clouds:
Aberjazz 2016:
Beyond Haiku
Emi Watanabe (Japanese traditional flutes), Elise Lorraine (voice) & Ayo Vincent (piano).
Emi Watanabe’s trio comprises flute, voice and piano with both jazz and improvisational ability. The question of where jazz and pure improvisation can be independently identified in a performance will hopefully remain a mystery.
Emi Watanabe
Emi Watanabe was born in Japan where she trained in traditional flutes. Emi plays three different types of traditional flutes – Ryuteki, Nohkan and Shinobue. She has been invited to perform with numerous musicians since she moved to the UK in 1995, including Jah Wobble, Bei Bei Wang, Pat Thomas and Clive Bell in various duos, trios and others. After a recent improvisatory set at Cafe Oto in October 2017, Stewart Smith stated:
“The arguable highlight of the four days was the set by Thomas, Okkyung Lee and Emi Watanabe. Abstract cello and bamboo flute effects…curlew like whoops from Watanabe. Even at its quietest, there’s a physicality to the sound, not least from Watanabe, whose bamboo flute tone is woody and kinetic. Together they invent a beautiful group language: clear, airy and hard.” The Wire, October 2017.
Elise Lorraine
Elise Lorraine began as a singer of new music, performing with ensembles such as Ixion and Vocem. Improvisation projects with AMM, Phil Minton and Lol Coxhill led to the role of Irma in a recording of the opera by Tom Philips. Elise developed a duo with Dutch performer/composer Harry de Wit, playing at many European festivals, and performed with Ab Baars, Han Benninck and Tristan Honsinger. She toured the Netherlands with her own one-woman show A Melody to Ecstasy, and created recitals of modern repertoire, including work by Michael Finnissy and Gavin Bryars. There is a distinctive style of vocal improvisation, favouring the richness of sung vocal expression over extended vocal techniques.
Ayo Vincent
Ayo Vincent is a young, up and coming jazz pianist from south west London. He has recently graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff where he was performing regularly at many venues across the city including leading his own band at the Wales Millennium Centre. Now he has returned to London to pursue his professional music career already having had opportunities to play at venues such as Kings Place and the 606 club under the guidance of his mentor Julian Joseph.
Featured Image by John Watson
