mjf x OCT presents: Vipertime (ft. Troy Osmond)

Whittles

Ben Powling tenor saxophone Matias Reed bass Luke-Reddin-Williams, Josh Smout drums Troy Osmond guest vocals 

Another in mjf’s new series of programme partnerships – here with our friends at Oldham Coliseum Theatre – taking place at venues around the town. 

Another in mjf’s new series of programme partnerships – here with our friends at Oldham Coliseum Theatre – taking place at venues around the town. 

Leeds aggro-jazz group Vipertime launch their new collaborative album, which was recorded with Kent-based post-punk band Moron Butler, whose lead vocalist Troy Osmond guests for this gig: a new sound that’s lyric heavy, hard edged and combining the acerbic attack of Gang of Four, the motoric drive of krautrock and the abstractions of John Coltrane.  

Born in the snake pit of Leeds house parties, aggro-jazz four-piece Vipertime have earned a ferocious reputation at venues and festivals across the UK, honing their craft while pushing their line-up of saxophone, bass and twin drum sets to its sonic limits. Their excursions to the borders of modal jazz, post-punk, dub and afrobeat have built a sound that is simultaneously unique to the band and a microcosm of the thriving UK scene.  

The band’s new release with post-punk group Moron Butler catapults the voice and lyrics of Troy Osmond to the forefront, his insistent incantations interspersed with saxophone abstractions and fuelled by hard edged bass and drums. Jazz is dialled down in favour of the acerbic attack of Gang Of Four, distorted punk-dub of The Pop Group and the motoric drive of Can.  

Beginning as a free-improvising group in 2018, Vipertime have since produced three albums, achieving airtime on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 6 Music and Worldwide FM, are festival regulars (Solfest, London and Leeds Jazz Festivals), and have been championed by Gilles Peterson, Colin Curtis and Iggy Pop. 

 

Photography Credit: Natasha Joseph

Date: wednesday 20 may

Time: 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Price: £15 (£12 Concessions)

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Hania Derej Trio

Matt & Phreds

Hania Derej piano & keyboard / Krzysztof Kuśmierek saxophone / Mateusz Szewczyk bass / Gniewomir Tomczyk drums 

Hania Derej is a Polish pianist-composer studying at Amsterdam Conservatoire. She creates music in a variety of styles, including jazz, chamber, film or electronic music, and brings her piano trio to M&Ps to share some of her 130+ compositions: jazz with neo-classical, impressionistic and cinematic harmonies. 

Hania has received numerous composition and performance awards, including the Young Composer 2023 prize from the Polish Composers’ Union, the Triton Award at FAMA Festival and in the JAZZTOP 2024 music critics’ survey of the international magazine JAZZFORUM, Hania won the New Hope award for her solo work. 

“Hania Derej captivates with her modesty, consistency and diligence” –  Gazeta Wyborcza Katowice 

Date: wednesday 20 may

Time: 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Price: Free

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Double Bill: Tom Cawley & Sarsen Drift

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Low Four Studio

Please note, tickets go off sale at 6.30pm for this event via Eventbrite on the day of the event, but tickets are available to buy on the door at Low Four Studio.

Join us for an intimate evening with some of the UK’s pioneering contemporary artists to explore the richly blurred line between the acoustic and the treated electronic textures of the piano keyboard. 

Tom Cawley

Tom Cawley piano, electronics

Hot on the heels of the eponymous album – hailed as “Magnificent!” by artmuselondon – Tom Cawley brings Oktopus, Vol. 1 to manchester jazz festival.

An intriguing blend of acoustic piano and live electronic sampling/sequencing, this is a hugely expressive and dynamic set of original music and free improvisations. Cawley manipulates the piano to create enormous soundscapes, rhythmic mayhem, harmonic lushness and spontaneous moments of magic – performing on the instrument and machines at the same time.

Cawley has created cultured pianistic contributions to Peter Gabriel’s last three albums and, more recently, demonstrated his inventive command of synthesisers on records from Janek Gwizdala, Orlando le Fleming and Robin Mullarkey. Known for his energetic, driving keyboard playing with Acoustic Ladyland, his virtuosic piano playing here melds with forward-thinking electronics to produce a world of musical expression unlike anything else.

Sarsen Drift

Nick Walters trumpet, electronics / Rebecca Nash piano, electronics

Sarsen Drift presents The Sanctuary, a vibrant new project masterminded by pianist Rebecca Nash and trumpeter /producer Nick Walters.

The pair have always had a plan to combine musical forces, having individually notched up several acclaimed releases over the last twelve years. This new venture, firmly rooted in their mutual appreciation of electronica and jazz, began when Nick and Rebecca produced a Jazz South Radar Commission in 2020. Echoes of the influences of Royksopp, Aphex Twin, and Lemon Jelly can be heard in the mix of their sound, along with live improvisation.

The duo chose to explore the concept of ley-lines and their effect on the natural world, incorporating musical samples taken from Avebury Stone Henge and its surrounding areas. Nick and Rebecca have since continued to compose in the same trajectory, writing material to incorporate live electronics and samples alongside acoustic instruments.

Date: wednesday 20 may

Time: 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Price: £16.50

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