Tuesday 10 November 2026, 7.30pm
Described by John Zorn as “Spine-tingling music from one of the most creative ensembles in the world.” Sam Eastmond’s Bagatelles record (Volume 16 on Tzadik Label) was the latest iteration of over a decades worth of transatlantic collaborations between London based Eastmond and the legendary New York Downtown alchemist John Zorn (including Zorn’s MASADA Books Two and Three and albums of Eastmond’s original compositions on Tzadik.)
Eastmond's Big Band more than rises to the challenge posed by these selected Bagatelles. Arranged for 12 musicians, the ensemble features some of Europe's most celebrated creative musicians and improvisors alongside young rising stars of the UK scene. Across the work, there's the sense of choreography and the speed with which the players interact and slip in and out of the spotlight, the precision with which they follow the demands of Eastmond's arrangement and directions, the blurred virtuosic handling of improvised and written material, the way they switch moods and tones, from the ferocious to the mellifluous, is astounding.
This programme will comprise material from Eastmond’s work with Zorn alongside new material inspired by touring and playing around the UK and their trip to the largest cultural festival in Central America in Mexico, featuring packed stadium performances, live TV presentations and hand painted Owls.
“Eastmond has produced something truly awesome, a cavalcade of music that rides the paradoxes and juxtapositions of Zorn’s methodology with absolute assurance and delivers a properly integrated whole every time.” – Jazzwise **** Editors Choice
Sam Eastmond’s Bagatelles Band
- Chris Williams, Asha Parkinson, George Garford, Mick Foster - saxophones
- Noel Langley, Charlotte Keeffe - trumpet/flugelhorn
- Joel Knee - trombone
- Tom Briers - tuba
- Moss Freed - guitar
- Olly Chalk - paino
- Fergus Quill - bass
- Alasdair Pennington - drums
Sam Eastmond - conductor/trumpet
“this could not have been a better encapsulation of John Zorn's musical principles or a stronger exposition of the composer's genius” – Jazzwise Live Review Cafe Oto
Sam Eastmond is a composer, arranger, bandleader, trumpet player and producer creating music incorporating a variety of genres including jazz, klezmer, cartoon, rock, surf, world, jewish and Downtown influences. Interweaving improvisation and intricately arranged composition.
Eastmond is known for his decade plus collaborations with John Zorn on large ensemble projects, including Zorn's MASADA Book Two, MASADA Book Three and the Book of Bagatelles, the only artist to have worked across all these series, alongside releasing his own compositions on Tzadik.
He leads the Spike Orchestra, The Bagatelles band, the Composers Workshop Big Band, Gulgoleth, the INDEX Orchestra playing Bill Dixon and has played in or composed music for projects including Moss Freed's Union Divion, Ferg's Imaginary Big Band, Bird Talk, TORU, the London Improvisors Orchestra, and Shirley Bassey.
