Author: Rodrigo
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David Birchall and Jaydev Mistry – 11 June 2026
Improvised guitar duo, this is the second gig. David plays a guitar from 1981 and an amplifier from 1973. Jaydev plays a guitar he designed and had built from scratch much more recently than this! Who David Birchall and Jaydev Mistry – 11 June 2026 When Thursday, June 11, 2026 8:00pm – All Ages Where…
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The Dissonance Collective
Formed in January 2019 The Dissonance Collective [TDC] is a group of musicians and artists creating free improvised objects. Each TDC release or performance represents a chunk of time/space which exists with or without our input. They choose to fill a designated moment with unplanned sound, as an object. A collective with fluid boundaries core…
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Zoe Gilby & Johnny Hunter – 9 April 2026
This duo was brought together initially by the respect and admiration of each other’s sound. Using loops and effects, the voice and drums work together with different textures and ideas, interspersed with a lyrical edge. They are developing an exciting, shared improvisational language which is anchored by melodic and rhythmic motifs, highlighted with lyrics that…
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not one not two – 12 March 2026
not one not two (Geoff Bright on bass and soprano saxes – Hervé Perez on alto and soprano) launch their CD openings and samādhis (Discus CD) inspired by the forms of deep attention and presence reached in formal meditation practice. Bright and Perez’s music…becomes a practice of deep concentration that reveals the unity between…
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Veasey//Ticciati Duo – 12 February 2026
Veasey//Ticciati Duo is an improvising piano/drums duo, presenting a personal blend of contemporary classical music and first wave free jazz (particularly the extended works of Don Cherry). The music on their debut album was written as an exploration of closeness and intimacy. Their relationship with experimental music is founded on these ideas, as an avenue…
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The Joe Meek Commemorative Marching Band – 8 January 2026
The Joe Meek Commemorative Marching Band is an electro-acoustic music project devised by Adam Hart and Tim Wise. Their improvised performance at the Noise Upstairs will aim to create a visceral, enveloping, and other-worldly sonic atmosphere guaranteed to stimulate the intellect, enrich the soul, and induce psychic orgasms. Who The Joe Meek Commemorative Marching Band…
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ZALDUA / JASNOCH / BECK – 13 November 2025
Alistair Zaldua – violin John Jasnoch – fretless guitar Mick Beck – bassoon A recently formed trio with a lively and nimble approach to improvised music. New ideas are constantly being developed – some from scratch, some as responses to what has gone before. The group has a wide ranging and engaging sound. Alistair Zaldua…
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Casserley / Corringham / Miura – 9 October 2025
Lawrence Casserley “…the certainty is that Lawrence Casserley can be more innovative and creative than many of the ringleaders of the young generation of ‘laptoppers’.” Rui Eduardo Paes Lawrence Casserley (born Essex, England, 1941) has devoted his career to the creation and promotion of live performance electronic music in a wide variety of ways for…
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Eggblood – 11 September 2025
Eggblood Working with found defunct machinery and sound archive. Flexible and flammable slipped disc and tape medium… Pushing and pulling at the the arse end of the edit @ the end of the pier… Submerged, sampled, and squeezed into a machine bummed requiem… Some Past/recent works/broadcast: Radiophrenia (Glasgow), XMTR (LDN), Duuu Radio (Paris), Radio ON…
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Jolly/Redhead/Zaldua/Furniss/McPherson 14 August 2025
Peter Furniss (clarinet) Amy Jolly (cello) Henry McPherson (keyboard, strings, voice, potential instruments) Lauren Redhead (accordion, maybe voice) Alistair Zaldua (e-violin) This musicians in this ensemble first came together in May to perform a concert of compositions by some of its members at Levenshulme Old Library in Manchester. All experienced composers, improvisers and collaborators, they…
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Bonjour Claude – 10 July 2025
Bonjour Claude – Dr Amy Jolly and Dr Amy Sargen – are an experimental duo who create dynamic works through their shared performance practice. The duo came about through research into collaborative practice at RAM and RNCM respectively. Over four years, the pair have moved fluidly between their respective performer/composer roles to create a unique…
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Verbo I Voda – 12 June 2025
‘It’s a completely beguiling new album with shredded and reconstituted Ukrainian folk songs…’ by Kate Molleson from BBC3 New Music Show. It’s an unforgettable performance which involves most unexpected vocals from mumbles and extrem vocals to lyrical operatic soundscaping followed by enigmatic sound pallet of lap steel guitar. Verbo I Voda is a duo formed…
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David Birchall & Alistair Zaldua – 8 May 2025
“Electric violin and guitar duo who explore various territorial regions possible with the two instruments when improvising; free clatter densities, velvet underground hum and skronk and mid-century reverse tape and glissando experiments rescued from the cutting room floor.“ (John Jasnoch, Notes and Sounds) // David Birchall is a guitarist, free improviser, composer and organiser living…
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GFH Trio – 10 April 2025
A first outing for this newly formed trio, including a welcome return to the Noise Upstairs by one of the founders of the night. 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…
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Herbie Hopkins – 13 March 2025
Herbie Hopkins is a songwriter from Leeds. Renowned improviser and drummer, Mark Sanders, described his work as ‘adventurous and daring’. His new single, ‘What Am I Doing Here? (lie)’, is about anatomy, nocturnal landscapes, and supernatural self-discovery. Recorded by Chris Sharkey (engineer), accompanied by Matthew Bourne (piano) and Harry Souter (guitar, percussion); ‘What Am I…
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Odie Ji Ghast & David Birchall – 13 February 2025
Voice and guitar duo soon to be known as Minimum Age. Expressionistic source joy in free rock music; comparisons sideways to Linda & Sonny Sharrock- an imaginary Joan Labarbara/John Frusciante duo trying to get a scratched CDr of 00s nu metal and math rock to play on a discman. Who Odie Ji Ghast & David…
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Bonjour Claude – 9 January 2025
Bonjour Claude – Dr Amy Jolly and Dr Amy Sargen – are an experimental duo who create dynamic works through their shared performance practice. The duo came about through research into collaborative practice at RAM and RNCM respectively. Over four years, the pair have moved fluidly between their respective performer/composer roles to create a unique…
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Ensemble 50:50 – 14 November 2024
Phil Morton has been working with the Music System 50:50 for improvisers for twenty-four years. His work explores the possibilities and the limitations of freedom and improvisation in music. Today for Phil Morton System 50:50 is still the gift that keeps giving! How can this be so? How can an adapted chess clock used in…
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Mark Hanslip – 12 December 2024
Mark Hanslip is an improvising saxophonist and technologist based in the north west of England. His solo work augments his acoustic sound with a mix of off-the-shelf hardware, hand-written software and bespoke AI models. This hybrid setup allows him to build frameworks for experimentation with sound, slicing, recombining and mutating his playing in new ways.…
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Redhead/Jolly/Zaldua – 10 October 2024
words and music This trio of Lauren Redhead (electronics, voice), Amy Jolly (cello) and Alistair Zaldua (e-violin) will perform improvised interpretations and responses of experimental texts composed and read out by Lauren Redhead. These texts are composed from a wide variety of sources, including recipes, texts on digital aesthetics, instructions for action, etc, and will…