MK Ensemble
Musical Keys presents MK Ensemble + Robyn Steward + LEDLEY
Join Norwich-based charity, Musical Keys, in celebrating inclusive, community-driven experimental music.
MK Ensemble
The MK Ensemble consists of an ever-evolving group of artists with varied needs and interests to improvise with and explore electroacoustic music. Based at Musical Keys’ Carrow House-based studio, the group is facilitated by a team of artists and musicians including David Ross, Chris Dowding, Judith Goodman, Cal Hailey, Mark Howe and Charlotte Arculus. The MK Ensemble have recorded music for an exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre, and more recently provided music as part of a show at London Fashion Week, this will be the groups first public performance.
Robyn Steward
Hi I’m Robyn Rocket I play space trumpet which is trumpet through guitar pedals. I am supported by arts Organisation Heart N Soul who believe in the power and talents of people with Learning Disabilities and Autistic people. I love making visual art too and make comics/zines and also enjoy making radio. I have a radio show on resonance fm called Robyn Rocket’s Zoom Zoom and podcast series Robyn Rocket Zoom Zoom . I like playing with other people and making it up as we go along , because I think its a really honest way to make music your just responding to each other in the moment , rather then trying to play something perfectly , I am disabled and my disabilities inform my practice, both in the way I play , I have a very short , short term memory so cant really learn tunes by ear , but I can use a loop pedal to be like a extension of my memory But also I can use my creative practice to include more people firstly informed by my own experiences of feeling unwelcome in a space and then trying to change things to address the barriers I faced and then by actively trying to welcome people in who may not normally feel welcome in a space, and ask for their feedback on how to be more welcoming and try to do the feedback. I now provide access consultancy for promoters, venues and festivals.
LEDLEY
LEDLEY, the duo of saxophonist Chris Williams & trombonist Raph Clarkson, celebrate the release of their self-titled debut record, an absorbing psycho-geographical North London jazz suite on the chronology of the duo’s long friendship, season tickets & shared passionate love for a football club.
The band’s namesake, Tottenham Hotspur and hero player Ledley King is at the centre of this narrative thematic arc. An album that sits in the rich, though particular, company of Mogwai’s 2006 film score for the portrait of French footballer Zinedine Zidane and Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble orchestration for a film study of Tim Henman. This, however, is less character study of a totemic sporting figure than explorations of where it takes us – ritual, friendship, commitment, glory & struggle, pride in place & one’s roots; a dense meditation on what forms & shapes community.
We hear the swinging street music of a London township jazz, evoking rehearsal rooms, schools, big bands & community celebrations. Then a landscape of monochrome synth wash; long, processed trombone fades in and dissolves out with the soaring, suspended elegance of melodic alto lines that recall Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen, who has himself explored places of worship & loss. Ledley’s musical voice sits in the lineage of jazz music’s integral position in London’s evolving identity and social history. Here, saxophone and trombone bring light and colour to grey match day streets with a knowing nostalgic air and nod towards the football terraces of old.
This is a powerfully rooted record of place and memory, from specific locations to the in-the-room intimacy & trust of improvising musicians. Moments of joy & uplift counterpoint suspended & unresolved tensions.
Raph Clarkson (trombone/FX):
Raph is a trombonist, improviser, composer / arranger & workshop leader. His guiding principle is the power in music to form connections in community and collaboration. Raph has an inviting, open spirit and his playing and approach celebrates loved ones, mentors and musical inspirations.
Raph is a noted collaborator, applauded by Adrian Pallant of London Jazz News for his ability to create ‘challenging but engaging music’ of deep feeling with openness and experimentation. He has collaborated extensively with musicians such as Paul Dunmall, Charlotte Keeffe & Laura Jurd & leads the South African / UK group Equal Spirits.
Chris Williams (sax/FX):
Chris is perhaps best known as a co-composer and integral member of Mercury Prize finalists Led Bib and he continues to forge new ground through highly charged & exploratory projects – both in his own playing and academia. Chris has collaborated and toured with Sarathy Korwar, award-winning clarinettist Arun Ghosh, modal ethnic jazz group Collocutor, London Nuyorican big band New Regency Orchestra as well as being 4 albums in with his own group, the post- jazz whirlpool Let Spin including the agitated punk bass playing of Ruth Goller.
