BAN BAM is an initiative of Improvised Music Company in Dublin supporting women and gender diverse composers in jazz and improvised music.
With new work from commissioned artists;
Meilana Gillard “a gutsy, inventive player” (The Irish Times) will present a suite of music called ‘Chasing Comets’ which will be performed by RBG Trio (Dave Redmond-electric/double basses, Kevin Brady-drums, Gillard on tenor/soprano saxophones). The 4 movement suite, themed around the cosmos and outer space, is composed of ‘I. Solar Flare’, ‘II. Supernova’, ‘III. Dark Matter’ and ‘IV. Moontide’ — a nod to Gillard’s love of 1980’s video game music. Using different effects like harmoniser and space echo, as well as a loop station, RBG Trio improvise within these movements, sometimes through-composed, other times free, presenting a variety of grooves from triumphant to mysterious with textures flowing from the very open, to thick and dense. Audiences can look forward to a feeling of fun, play and possibility throughout this set.
Bianca Gannon “a new music luminary” (ClassikON) presents new work called ‘We’re all just walking each other home’. Described by All About Jazz as “A powerful, multi-layered and organic narrative that quite beautifully underlined the commonality of seemingly disparate musical cultures”, the compositions embark on a multi-dimensional journey through themes of home and displacement.
These musical postcards from her various global ‘homes from home’ ultimately lead to a journey within, finding ‘home’ as an inner state of being. In the spirit of creative improvisation, the piece adopts an equanimous, ‘whatever happens, happens’ approach. And yet, if we are, inadvertently, taking on roles in each other’s parallel homeward journeys, how might we proceed (and improvise) with more listening, intention, care and joy? Gannon, who performs simultaneous piano and percussion, will be joined by an ensemble of Steve Davis (drums), Cathal Roche (saxophones) & Rohan Armstrong (double bass).
Carole Nelson “a rare and quite likely undervalued talent” (The Irish Times) presents the premiere of new work entitled ‘The Last Song’ based on the story of the Hawaiian Kauaʻi ʻōʻō bird which became extinct in the 1980s. A recording was made of the mating call of what was possibly the last of its species. Performing with her two integral collaborators Cormac O’Brien on double bass and Dominic Mullan on drums, the suite will be performed in 3 parts, with a balance between composed and improvised pieces, exploring through sound the moving story of this extinction as one amongst the thousands now happening every day.
A play on ‘bean’ (bahn) the Irish word for ‘women’, BAN BAM is an initiative from IMC which began in 2017 to support and develop the work of women and gender minority artists in jazz and improvised music.
This performance is supported by:
