Thursday 18 January 2024, 7.30pm
Charlotte Keeffe / sound brushes (trumpet and flugelhorn) and compositions
Ashley John Long / double bass
Ben Handysides / drums
Moss Freed / guitar
British musician CHARLOTTE KEEFFE wears her love for freely improvising, free jazz and abstract music-making on her brightly coloured shirt sleeves. Whether performing regularly as a trumpet/flugelhorn soloist (SOUND BRUSH), or leading a variety of different ensembles, including her RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW Quartet, she meticulously carves out spaces for the free movement of ideas and individual expression.
Charlotte Keeffe is delighted to be returning to Cafe OTO with her RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW QUARTET featuring ASHLEY JOHN LONG on double bass, BEN HANDYSIDES on drums MOSS FREED on guitar and herself on trumpet and flugelhorn. She describes her instruments as Sound Brushes as her approach to playing them is very inspired by (abstract) painters. This celebratory performance will consist of live explorations of/from Keeffe’s compositions captured on their 2nd album, ALIVE! in the studio, released (in September 2023) and available on the Discus Music record label.
Keeffe’s debut album ‘Right Here, Right Now’ is where you’ll find her exhibiting a passion for vibrant soundscapes rendered in live spaces. Released in 2021, also on Discus Music, she earned critical acclaim carving out a niche on the imprint. She also composes and performs for a number of the roster’s artists, including; Hi Res Heart, Carla Diratz and Julie Tippetts. She also co-leads Anthropology Band with the head of Discus Music, Martin Archer.
To date, her music has been featured significantly on BBC Radio 3, Jazz FM and BBC Radio 6, where she's been described as a 'prolific', 'dynamic' and 'excellent improviser!', by the likes of Corey Mwamba, Stuart Maconie and Jez Nelson. Keeffe is a Serious Artist and part of Serious’ Take Five 2022 cohort. She performed a duet with the mighty City of London as part of world-renowned trumpeter Dave Douglas' Festival of New Trumpet Music 2022.
Harnessing the power of art for social change is a crucial part of Keeffe’s musical identity: she has served as Assistant Musical Director of the London Gay Big Band, champions gender and diversity equality, as part of the Parliamentary award-winning Women in Jazz Media team, and played in Marin Alsop's Taki Concordia Orchestra at the World Economic Forum 2019, in front of world leaders and celebrities including Sir David Attenborough.
From stepping on Glastonbury and Wilderness stages alongside Charlotte Church, Laura Mvula and Kate Nash, to broadcasting to an international audience live from her bathroom during the pandemic, Keeffe understands that embracing individuality and letting go of inhibitions is the surest way to grasp the transformative power of music.
“Keeffe shows notable strength of character as she runs the sonic and emotional gamut..." - Kevin Le Gendre, JAZZWISE
