Freenoise Monthly Live 2007 at Bar Abbey
Every third Thursday of the month. All shows start 8pm. Late Bar til 12.

"Listen to Clark wind polyrhythms around the beat with bursts I would describe as Ornetteish except for the fact that this man can really play violin" - All About Jazz

Graham Clark has been playing jazz on violin professionally since 1982. He cut his jazz teeth while living in Bristol and London in the 1980s, by sitting in evertwhere. From 1988 - 1992 he was a member of cult psychedelic jazz-rock band "GONG", touring extensively in France, Italy and the UK, and recording several albums. Based in NW England since 1996, Graham is a regular player on the thriving Manchester jazz scene. In 2003, Graham did a solo improvisation tour supporting the American "No-Neck Blues Band" (Paris, Amsterdam, London). Also performed with Bryan Glancy, supporting David Gray, amongst many other shows. Graham also plays with 'TOOLSHED,' an experimental fusion of techno and big band jazz led by Graham Massey, of 808 State. In 2004 he performed with Toolshed for a Radio Three broadcast from Belfast, as part of the BBC Music Live festival. He has also been seen with Jah Wobble, Lamb, Elbow, La Timbala, Salsa Pa'Gozar, & Liz Fletcher, amongst others. Graham continues to give both solo and collaborative improvised performances. Current projects include a free improvising string quartet, a guitar bass and violin trio, and a book on approaches to improvisation, drawing on over twenty years of teaching experience combined with a knowliedge of cognitive psychology. In October 2004, Graham recorded a series of improvised duets with US violinist Mark Feldman. These were broadcast in February 2005 on Radio 3's "Mixing it". Most recently, GC was the solo Electric Violinist for the Jean-Claude Vannier concert at the Barbican on 21st October 2006, with Big Jim Sullivan, Vic Flick, Herbie Flowers and Dougie Wright, as well as the BBC Concert Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus.
Graham will perform a solo set as well as with Black Galaxy, an unusual combination which could be explosive!
Graham Clark Website

Black Galaxy
Returning to Sheffield for the third time for Freenoise! Formed in 2003, this shifting ensemble (including members of Sand (Soul Jazz) and one of the founders of Napalm Death) explores electro-acoustic improvisation through real-time signal processing, home-built instruments and extended techniques. Shards of bass and séance beats merge with digital ghost fog and glacial electronic modulations to create shadow-inflected soundfields. Black Galaxy will be joined by Graham Clark on violin.
Black Galaxy Website

The Tajalli Vortex was conceived in early 2005 when the Glynn Heppenstall (ClockDVA / The Anti Group) and Jonny Drury (performing as the duo Sunshine Panic, named by Genesis P-Orridge) invited Matt "The Inventor" Harling for a saxophone blast over their sturdy Sheffield electronics. When Dan (Cathy Ray) brought his monstrously playful bass and Bel mopped up with her incredibly confident punkadelic voice the TV sound was born. Drawing on their own roots in the famous 1980's Sheffield alternative music scene, the continuing collaborations with the local Daddies of improv at Discus Records, and soaking up the floods of visitors from the current noise wave (with Drury's own Freenoise Promotions), TTV play an energised mix of thought provoking atmospherics, cooky free-improv and high pressure proto-noise-jazz. Instrumentation include self-made percussion and drums (since Drury's move away from electronics), guitars, synth fx, bass, vocals, saxes and the bizarre and enormous self-made 'tajallifone'. The TTV sound can be contemplative yet exhilarating and they are keen to react to, and make the best of the environment. They will be joined for this gig by Graham Clark, Martin Archer and Charlie Collins to create a mighty Octopus of free noise!
The Tajalli Vortex website

Martin Archer - Sopranino, alto and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet, bass recorder, bass harmonica, harmonium, violectronics, keyboards, software instruments. Since his move in the early 1990s from free jazz saxophonist to studio based electronics composer, Archer has produced a series of highly acclaimed CDs which combine electronics-based structures with written and improvised parts for brass, woodwind, strings and voices. Elements from jazz, free improvisation, contemporary classical music, electronica, and cutting edge rock music are all present within his work. As well as making solo releases, Archer regularly collaborates in the studio with guitarist John Jasnoch (as ASK), with Chris Bywater (as Transient v Resident) and with poet Geraldine Monk. Since 2000, when he developed a live set up known as "violectronics", which combines played-flat prepared violin with electronics and vintage synthesizers, Archer's concerts, usually of improvised music, have become more frequent.
As a live performer, Archer seeks to avoid the inert and inexpressive performance style inherent in much live electronic music. Current live performances include solo laptop concerts, improvised music as part of the Notes and Sounds project, and as part of Gated Community, Mick Beck's 14 piece improv and compositions band. Archer acknowledges groups such as Faust, Henry Cow, Soft Machine and Magma as being highly influential in his work alongside Cage, Stockhausen, Feldman, and of course the school of European free improvisation. This combination of sources makes Archer a unique inhabitant of the school of English maverick composers. Martin will perform solo as well as with any of the other performing acts.
Martin Archer micro-site
Discus Records - Archer's own renegade label

Charlie Collins - vibraphone, waterphone, lamellaphones (mbira, kalimba, karimba, marimbula), darabuka, metal percussion, flute.
Background in performance/improvisation and poetry/jazz led to involvement in the nascent 1970's industrial scene. Founder member of ClockDVA and The Box, recording for cult labels Industrial, Fetish and Doublevision. Through the 1980's played with Derek Bailey, Mick Beck's Feetpackets and The Modum Quartet and since 1992 also a member of industrial percussion group Left Hand Right Hand. Has received a number of bursaries for composition, live performance and research and been a visiting lecturer in improvisation at Nottingham Trent University. His record production skills at The Sound Kitchen led to being house producer for Discus Records. He continues to perform live with poets Geraldine Monk and Alan Halsey and has recently toured the live soundtrack to Teinosuke Kinugasa's "Page of Madness". His long term working relationship with John Jasnoch continues with The Navigators (with Beatrix Ward-Fernandez), The Para-Music Ensemble and The Balkh Trio (live interpretations of poet Jalaluddin Rumi with vocalist Pete White). He remains one of the handful of musicians to have played both Company Week and Top of the Pops (with Moloko). (source - Discus)

Bar Abbey, Abbeydale Rd, S7 1FS.
On A61, 1.5 miles South of town centre, just before the Broadfield pub. Local buses: 25/75/76/97 MAP
Access: one straight flight of stairs.
If you need assistance please ask, we are here to help. mob: 07754 910156

Further Info

Some of these events will have guest DJs so you can freak out more after the show - we are working on it.

Support for Freenoise Monthly Live comes from Notes & Sounds, the event arm of Discus.

Bar Abbey is situated inside the beautiful Grade II listed building of the old Abbeydale Picture House

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© Freenoise 2007