So much to enjoy this afternoon at Wigmore Hall. Principally the musicianship @rihabazar brought to a very engaging and enjoyable programme.
But I also thought this was refreshingly well-supported by the various protocols in place for Wigmore’s Imagine Series, and am now reflecting on how much other venues and programmers could learn from this to enhance the experience for everyone. This seems - to me at least - to be an example of accessibility policies that elevate the experience for **all** audiences, not just neurodivergent folk or younger audiences. Excellent work all round!
For sure there are times when an utterly overwhelming experience is, artistically, exactly the point (Sharon Eyal’s ‘Into The Hairy’ made in collaboration with Koreless, and S-E-D Dance Company, at Sadler’s Wells last night was a great example). But when the overwhelm is driven by FOH Tech Crews displaying the power of their tech regardless of the room’s ability to accommodate those sound pressure levels.?Or because audience members can’t remove themselves from a performance because there is nowhere else to go in the venue whilst the rest of their party remain in the performance (and I speak as someone who prefers to leave rather than sit through something that isn’t where I want to be - not because I have accessibility needs, but because I can’t necessarily make every work I attend work for me at that moment - then all audiences, artists, and venue staff have a poorer.
.uk/learning-and-participation/young-people
.uk/whats-on/202511161500
Ah, Ustad Zakir Hussain. You left too soon. Thank you for Making Music 🖤
Zakir Hussain
Hariprasad Chaurasia
John McLaughlin
Jan Garbarek
Jan Erik Kongshaug
Rainbow Studio, Oslo
ECM 1349
Ernest Cole exhibition at @thephotographersgallery (London). Stunning - in all senses of the word and for many reasons. Includes material Cole prepared for a section of ‘House of Bondage’ titled Black Ingenuity that he ended up not including.
@estelle_kokot has so much so say about contemporary life in these songs. Online culture, the war industry, imperialism, love, loneliness and consent.
Difficult times need engaged artists more than ever.
/album/mofo-2
UK cinema premiere of Jaclyn Bethany’s and Greta Bellamachina’s wonderful new film Tell That To The Winter Sea tomorrow at Curzon Soho 🤩
Grab ticket (if there are any?) at:
/films/tell-that-to-the-winter-sea/HO00005326/
Or keep a look out at enlightened cinemas near you and see what you get when a beautiful script meets wonderful acting and the best crew ever 😍
Working on this was a genuine (not Insta fake vibe blah) pleasure for me. Wonderful wonderful people throughout - so super-stoked that the premier is in London town at Curzon Soho. 30May 2024.
/films/tell-that-to-the-winter-sea/HO00005326/
(More soon when I get my act together on Socials.)
Kudos to Michael Papp, Dave Hill and the folk at #summitaudio for a great design that is easy to maintain. Two Bussman fast acting 1A fuses later and we’re back up and running. TLA100 vibes ❤️
IZIBONGO! Need to share a little love here - the privilege of having this music fill the mix room was too beautiful! Check it out. A super-special musical statement from Brother Mashiloane, a next level rewarding contribution to the collective wealth of small band jazz composition. We are richer.
The compositions are all beautiful examples of the light and shade that can be found in the so-called jazz tradition - however you interpret that - and have the added benefit of being magically catchy. I wonder sometimes if ‘catchiness’ as a quality is not fully recognised for the power and usefulness such music holds for us in our everyday lives. It’s the quality that ensures music lives with us daily; supporting, uplifting, consoling, nurturing.
And the band **sound like a band**. This is an invitation to a performance at your favourite jazz venue where you repeatedly get your favourite seat in the house alongside the people you love. This music has dynamics that demand respect and has no need to stamp on your ears to get attention. If you know you know. I want to live in the neighborhood where this band is the house band at the local club.
Huge respect to:
@sibumash (piano / comp)
@dalisu_ndlazi (bass)
@sphelelomazibuko (drums)
@tlalemakhene (perc)
@kg_ramela (alto)
@sxonti (tenor)
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
