Jul 20 – Pope / Garner / Byrne / Alderson

The now familiar duo of bassist John Pope and violinist John Garner will be joined by altoist Dee Byrne and percussionist Christian Alderson. Playing as a quartet for the first time, this unusual chordless line-up of two rhythm and two front-line players will tease out a common and novel language in real-time. Featuring some of the most striking artists currently working in the UK scene, this promises to be a sensational confluence.

John Pope is a composer, improviser and bass player living in the North East of England. His work explores the boundaries of jazz, free improvisation, rock and experimental music. He is the leader of his own chord-less quintet inspired by the music of Ornette Coleman, Misha Mengelberg and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He has performed extensively as a soloist and in collaboration with internationally recognised artists including Joe McPhee, Evan Parker, Alexander Hawkins, Richard Dawson and many others.

John Garner is a musician, educator, and PhD candidate based in Congleton. A tireless experimenter, well-versed in multiple traditions, John has forged a radically unique voice as a violinist, combining a quicksilver and innovative technique with a freewheeling improvisational aesthetic. He is a senior lecturer in jazz at Leeds Conservatoire. Since 2021, John has been studying the shakuhachi with Grandmaster Cornelius Shinzen Boots of the Black Earth Shakuhachi School and plays intermittently with the bass shakuhachi quartet The Wood Prophets.

Dee Byrne is a UK-based saxophonist, composer and improviser working at the forefront of contemporary jazz, avant-garde and free improvisation.
Her music explores the outer edges of jazz, blending acoustic and electronic elements in collaborative settings across the UK and Europe. She leads the genre-defying sextet Outlines, whose debut album was released in June 2023 on Whirlwind Recordings. Dee also composes for MoonMot, a UK/Swiss ensemble whose second album was released on Enja Yellowbird in October 2023, following a tour of India and a cross-cultural recording project with Indian musicians.

Christian Alderson is a percussionist and improviser based in Newcastle. He spent his teens and early twenties gaining a very much informal musical education playing drums, recording and touring in a variety of diy post-rock groups. The last two decades have seen him working across various areas from avant-rock to jazz to noise, as well as forays into film and theatre. His formal education in visual arts have focussed an inherent love for deconstruction and re-invention which informs his approach to percussion. As such his practice often explores the imprecise, fluid and immediate possibilities of acoustic percussion using a range of conventional/extended techniques and devices.