Jun 25 – Joe Steels ‘Borealis’

Joe Steels – Guitar

Ferg Kilsby – Trumpet

Asha Nicholson – Vocals

Dan Brown – Piano

Paul Susans – Bass

John Hirst – Drums

Borealis is a contemporary music project led by emerging jazz guitarist Joe Steels, who graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire in 2019. These original compositions were written over the past few years, living in Cumbria and Northumberland, channelling the beauty of these landscapes with melodious improvisation. The project brings together musicians from across these regions. The pieces fuse elements of folk, rock and contemporary jazz, taking inspiration from British musicians such as Mike Walker and Nikki Iles. The collective are recording in December, with the album being released in May ‘23.

Ferg Kilsby is an exciting young jazz trumpet player and composer from Northumberland. His passion for jazz and improvisation started with local youth bands and developed with Sage Gateshead’s Jambone and the National Youth Jazz Collective (2020-2022). His fluent playing style has received much acclaim with Knats, a hard-hitting four piece contemporary jazz/dance outfit playing their own material and covers across the North East.

Asha‘s solo work blends shadows and song, acoustic and electronic, to create ethereal yet haunting compositions which have drawn comparisons to the likes of electronica alt-rock band Portishead and the ambient folk of experimental musician Grouper. Her debut EP – ‘Where Are My Shoes’ – explores the longing for a sense of purpose as the effect of COVID isolation lingers and mixes with thoughts of an unstable future.

Dan Brown is a Glasgow based pianist. After studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, hecontinues to play regularly around Glasgow. His own project ‘Rewilding’ made the long list for the Scots trad album of the year awards. Having grown up near Joe in Cumbria, they share an affiliation for the countryside around them.

Paul Susans is a Double and Electric bassist living in rural Northumberland with his family. Paul has built a glowing reputation as a performer, recording artist and educator over the last 25 years, in a career that has taken him as far as China & Russia and sees touring regularly around Europe and extensively throughout the UK. He is an integral part of Newcastle’s own wandering minstrels the Baghdaddies.

John Hirst is a drummer and percussionist based in Northumberland; he performs around the UK and beyond with many different ensembles in a wide variety of musical styles. He also curates The Bandstand Sessions, a yearly music festival in west Northumberland, composes and performs his own music, and is a visiting tutor at Newcastle University.