Double Bill: Tom Cawley & Sarsen Drift

Join us for an intimate evening with some of the UK’s pioneering contemporary artists to explore the richly blurred line between the acoustic and the treated electronic textures of the piano keyboard.

Tom Cawley

Tom Cawley piano, electronics

Hot on the heels of the eponymous album – hailed as “Magnificent!” by artmuselondon – Tom Cawley brings Oktopus, Vol. 1 to manchester jazz festival.

An intriguing blend of acoustic piano and live electronic sampling/sequencing, this is a hugely expressive and dynamic set of original music and free improvisations. Cawley manipulates the piano to create enormous soundscapes, rhythmic mayhem, harmonic lushness and spontaneous moments of magic – performing on the instrument and machines at the same time.

Cawley has created cultured pianistic contributions to Peter Gabriel’s last three albums and, more recently, demonstrated his inventive command of synthesisers on records from Janek Gwizdala, Orlando le Fleming and Robin Mullarkey. Known for his energetic, driving keyboard playing with Acoustic Ladyland, his virtuosic piano playing here melds with forward-thinking electronics to produce a world of musical expression unlike anything else.

Sarsen Drift

Nick Walters trumpet, electronics / Rebecca Nash piano, electronics

Sarsen Drift presents The Sanctuary, a vibrant new project masterminded by pianist Rebecca Nash and trumpeter/producer Nick Walters.

The pair have always had a plan to combine musical forces, having individually notched up several acclaimed releases over the last twelve years. This new venture, firmly rooted in their mutual appreciation of electronica and jazz, began when Nick and Rebecca produced a Jazz South Radar Commission in 2020. Echoes of the influences of Royksopp, Aphex Twin, and Lemon Jelly can be heard in the mix of their sound, along with live improvisation.

The duo chose to explore the concept of ley-lines and their effect on the natural world, incorporating musical samples taken from Avebury Stone Henge and its surrounding areas. Nick and Rebecca have since continued to compose in the same trajectory, writing material to incorporate live electronics and samples alongside acoustic instruments.

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