Jan 13 – Raymond MacDonald / Andy Champion

Raymond MacDonald (alto & soprano saxophones)
Andy Champion (double bass, electronics)

Saxophonist Raymond MacDonald is probably best known as one of the founders and a key member of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, which in the twenty years of its existence has built a truly international reputation. But Raymond also works worldwide in a host of other contexts, having played and recorded with such leading figures from the UK free music scene as Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Steve Beresford and the late Keith Tippett, as well as building regular working partnerships with iconic German drummer Günter ‘Baby’ Sommer and the great American pianist Marilyn Crispell (whom, as it happens, he first met in Gateshead!).

In fact the one thing he doesn’t seem to have done is to perform publicly as a solo artist, but he’s putting that to rights with a series of gigs throughout January – he was very keen to bring this project to Newcastle, and we were just as keen to have him. Jazzwise magazine has said of Raymond’s playing that “Music this articulate is rare in any style of music”, and the solo setting allows him to display the full range of his creative powers.

Tyneside bassist Andy Champion is of course a familiar figure on the North East scene, bringing power and quality to the many groups in which he works. But he too has only recently taken to solo performance, with just two appearances – the first of them here at the Globe in May 2023, and the second as part of last year’s Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music. On both occasions he provided a masterclass in balancing the rich tonality of his acoustic bass with a measured application of loops and other electronic effects.

So when thinking about Raymond’s solo session, it seemed like a good plan to match him up with Andy in a double bill. And it certainly helps that they have in fact played together on a number of occasions, and have enormous respect for each other’s musicianship. So much so that, at Raymond’s suggestion, they have decided to end this concert by coming together as a duo, adding the tastiest of icing to a lip-smacking two-tier cake!