Wednesday 20 March 2024, 7.30pm
Pleased to welcome back the great Japanese improvising guitaritst, Taku Sugimoto - both solo and in a duo with violinist, Angharad Davies - alongside Philadelphia based group, Eyes of the Amaryllis.
Taku Sugimoto initially gained attention in the late 1990s for his restrained, melodic playing, unusual in the world of free improvisation. Critic Bruce Russell describes this era of Sugimoto's music by writing: “Sugimoto is perhaps the pre-eminent stylist on the guitar ... He brings a golden glow to every session he partakes in, having abandoned amped up noise in favour of a much more introspective and calligraphic style of play.” Around 2002 his music became increasingly abstract, all but eliminating melody and featuring extended periods of silence.
He has collaborated with other Japanese musicians involved in the Onkyo movement, such as Sachiko M, Toshimaru Nakamura and Otomo Yoshihide. He has also collaborated with musicians from European free improvisation scenes, notably trombonist Radu Malfatti and guitarist Keith Rowe.
EotA is a Philadelphia based group bonded by an interest in non-musical creative practice. Despite this, visual artist Jim Strong (Melkings, ex-Weyesblood), illustrator / horticulturist Goda TrakumIte and miscreant Jesse Dewlow (People Skills) converge to stake out curious, spectral sonic territory. Their non-idiomatic take on pop music ambles between vaporous New Weird America recordings, 80’s industrial cassette murk, and the heartfelt vernacular of the kiwi underground.
"an emotion-led anti-formalism. A new folk song, in its own intimate way, born of private understanding and anti-orthodoxy." -World of Echo
"the Kye Records equivalent of “indie rock” -Matt Korvette (YellowGreenRed)
"if freak-folk was good" -Thomas DeAngelo (Crisis of Taste)
Angharad Davies is a violin player who’s work exists between the thresholds of improvisation, composition and experimental music.
Her approach to sound involves attentive listening and exploring beyond the sonic confines of her instrument and performance expectation. Being an intrepid collaborator has seen her work with the likes of Tony Conrad, Elaine Radigue, Tarek Atoui, Gwenno, Lina Lapelyte, Richard Dawson, JG Thirlwell and Annea Lockwood.
As a composer she has been commissioned by Counterflows, LCMF, Tŷ Cerdd, Nawr, Explore Ensemble, GBSR duo, + AndPLAY and her music is often played on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show.
angharaddavies.com
Instagram : @angharaddavie
