SOUNDS OF NOW: DRUNK ON DREAMS. John Butcher, Rhodri Davies & Carl Raven
John Butcher and Rhodri Davies, two of the country’s most spectacular improvisers, push their instruments (saxophone and harp) in astonishingly inventive ways.
‘Drunk on Dreams’ is the title of an album by the pair, taken from sessions that they recorded in Paris, and this concert is an opportunity to experience their incredible experiments in sound, with the harp and saxophone sounding as you’ve never heard them before.
The evening includes an opening set of saxophone and electronics from Carl Raven, member of the world-renowned Apollo Saxophone Quartet.
“Time, space, and reality become jumbled and distorted, thanks to the musicians’ artful implementations and wily interplay. Highly recommended. ” All About Jazz"
Thanks to the Hinrichsen Foundation for supporting Sounds of Now.
John Butcher
Born in Brighton and living in London, John Butcher is a saxophonist whose work ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback, unusual acoustics and non-concert locations. He is well known as a solo performer who attempts to engage with a sense of place. Resonant Spaces, for example, is a collection of performances recorded during a tour of unusual locations in Scotland and the Orkney Islands.
Rhodri Davies
Rhodri Davies is a harp player working within the field of free improvisation. He was one of the most prominent members of the London reductionist school of improvised music that was active in the late 1990s and early 2000s and which has been described as being “extremely influential over the last decade”.
Davies is also active in the field of contemporary composition where he has commissioned new works for the harp from leading avant-garde composers. He has also worked as an orchestral player and as a session musician for Charlotte Church and Cinematic Orchestra amongst others. He has appeared on over 60 commercially available recordings.
He has created a number of installations and performances which involve destroying or disassembling the harp. In 2010 he was longlisted for the Northern Arts Prize and in 2012 he received the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award.
Carl Raven
Carl is a freelance saxophonist, improvisor and educator. He performs regularly with Halle, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, RLPO, RPO, Manchester Camerata, Opera North, Northern Sinfonia. He is also a member of House of Bedlam, a UK based contemporary music ensemble and is a member of the Apollo Saxophone Quartet. He has solo recordings on Naxos, Odradek and Turquoise Coconut. He appears regularly on BBC radio. Carl is a saxophone tutor at the RNCM, Manchester University and Chetham’s School of Music.
Carl’s current projects involve electronics, electronic sensors on the saxophone and MaxMSP programming. The project premiered at Dartington Summer Festival in 2021.
