Mercury Over Maps 22
Schedule
Tue, 13 Jan, 2026 at 07:30 pm
UTC+00:00Location
The Hill Station Cafe | London, EN
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Mercury Over Maps 22I'm pleased to announce a special 22nd edition of my extended residency Mercury Over Maps - this time in collaboration with Paulo Hartmann's Improfest - now at The Hill Station Cafe in Brockley!
The evening features 3 sets - a duo between Phil Durrant and Pascal Marzan, a trio between Mandhira de Saram, Paulo Hartmann and myself, and a final group improvisation by all 5 musicians.
Please join us!
More information: http://billthompson.org/aka_prof_lofi/mercury-over-maps-22
Mercury Over Maps 22
Hill Station Cafe
Kitto Rd, London, SE14 5TW
Tuesday, Jan 13th
Doors 730/Music 8pm
£10/£5 (students) Cash/Card at the Door
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Mercury Over Maps #22
PHIL DURRANT and PASCAL MARZAN
Phil Durrant - electric mandolin and electronics
Born near London in 1957, Phil Durrant is a multi-instrumentalist improviser/composer/sound artist who currently performs solo and group concerts. As a violinist (and member of the Butcher Russell/Durrant trio), he was one of the key exponents of the ‘group voice approach’ style of improvised music. In the late 90s, his trio with Radu Malfatti and Thomas Lehn represented a shift to a more ‘reductionist’ approach.
In recent years as an acoustic or electric mandolinist, he has been performing duos with guitarists Daniel Thompson, Martin Vishnick and Pascal Marzan, as well as saxophonist Christoph Gallio. He also performs regularly in a trio with Mark Wastell and John Butcher and has many ongoing projects with drummer Emil Karlsen including a trio with Maggie Nicols and another trio with< pianist Laura Cole.
As a semi-modular synthesist, Phil Durrant continues to perform with Bertrand Denzler and Burkhard Beins in Trio Sowari. The group celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2024. He also has a duo with drummer Mark Sanders.
He is also a member of the international electronic ensemble MIMEO with Keith Rowe, Kaffe Matthews, Thomas Lehn, Rafael Toral a.o. With Mark Wastell, Steve Beresford and David Toop, he is also involved in an audio/visual project celebrating the work of the celebrated Scottish artist, Alan Davie.
In addition, Durrant has many ad-hoc groupings with a wide variety of musicians including Dominic Lash, Andrew Lisle, Colin Webster, Tansy Spinks, Khabat Abas, Tim Hodgkinson, Bill Thompson, a.o. Phil Durrant has also collaborated and composed site-specific music for a wide variety of choreographers, including Maxine Doyle, Susanne Thomas, and Gill Clarke.
https://www.facebook.com/philsowaridurrant/
https://www.facebook.com/sowarimodular/
Pascal Marzan - microtonal guitar and electronics
Currently living in London, Pascal Marzan performs on a 10 string microtonal guitar. After studying classical guitar – mainly devoted to the twentieth century repertoire – and teaching guitar in several music schools in Budapest, Hungary and France, Pascal has dedicated himself to free improvisation and the exploration of microtonal tunings of his instrument. His playing has been influenced by his interest in the folk musics of Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa…
He has recorded guitar duets with John Russell, Roger Smith (Emanem records) and a trio with Sabu Toyozumi and Dan Warburton (Improvising Beings records)…
http://preparedguitar.blogspot.com/2015/02/pascal-marzan-13-questions.html
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MANDHIRA DE SARAM, PAULO HARTMANN and BILL THOMPSON
MANDHIRA DE SARAM – Violin and Electronics
Mandhira is happiest bringing her playful energy and creativity to a breadth of projects across the less trodden paths of contemporary music, working with the likes of Anna Meredith, Laura Jurd and Shabaka Hutchings, and now increasingly as a solo artist.
Having left the Ligeti Quartet (Songbooks Vol. 1, 2021) - the plucky band of musical buccaneers she founded to explore the outer reaches of chamber repertoire - Mandhira’s recent creative ventures include a commission by the Ligeti Quartet, a collaboration with the cross-cultural Australian Art Orchestra (debuting in Melbourne and HCMF) and working with Jasmin Kent Rodgman on the soundtrack to the feature film ‘Bawa’s Garden’. 2019 saw her commissioned to write a site-specific piece for the Barbican’s Sound Unbound.
Equally at home leading orchestras in the world’s most prestigious concert venues, recording film soundtracks at Abbey Road and improvising at Cafe Oto, her other projects include improvising duos with Steve Beresford and Benoit Delbecq (Spinneret, 2019) and regular appearances with Riot Ensemble and London Contemporary Orchestra.
She currently plays a 1735 Sanctus Seraphin violin kindly loaned to her by Derek Clements-Croome.
https://mandhira-desaram.squarespace.com/
https://emergentidioms.bandcamp.com/album/the-council-of-two
PAULO HARTMANN - Guitar and Electronics
Paulo Hartmann is an brazilian (SP) instrumentalist specializing in prepared guitar. He is dedicated to the creation of loops in real time, as well as presentations of tele-performance. The artist has already presented at biennales, music festivals and national and international performances in Asia, Latin America and Europe.
https://www.improfest.com/
https://www.avantgarden.com.br/
BILL THOMPSON - Moog guitar and Electronics
Bill Thompson is a sound artist and composer. He performs regularly as a soloist as well as in a number of groups including The Seen, zerøspace, and Airfield (with Ian Spink), and duos with Ian Stonehouse, Phil Durrant, and Yoni Silver. Past collaborations include performances with Keith Rowe, Faust, EXAUDI and others.
Although originally trained as a guitarist, Thompson has worked with live electronics for the better part of 15 years. In recent years he has returned to guitar using one built by Moog combining it with electronics with miscellaneous tabletop devices, found objects, flashing lights, and the occasional vibrator.
He has earned numerous awards and commissions including the PRS for New Music ATOM award, the GAVAA visual arts award, a PRS for New Music Three Festival commission, the 2010 Aberdeen Visual Arts Award, and was nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Award.
www.billthompson.org
https://burningharpsichordrecords.com
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Mercury Over Maps is an extended residency by Bill Thompson featuring performances, installations and talks with various collaborators and guest artists.
https://www.facebook.com/mercuryovermaps
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Where is it happening?
The Hill Station Cafe, The Hill Station Cafe, Kitto Road, London, SE14 5, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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