The Orchid and The Wasp’ is a reference to the Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari book, ‘A Thousand Plateaus’ from which came the initial inspiration for the project.
Developed in residence at Chapel FM Arts Centre in Leeds, this is immersive, improvised music that searches for new connections and combinations between acoustic and electronic sound. It is utopian music that travels across borders fusing distant forms with no concern for genre or label.
At a time of increasing division and discord across the West, this is music that champions openness and optimism as essential elements for imagining a future free from hate, narrow-minded nationalism and neo-fascism.
‘I’ve wanted to work with Mark since first seeing him play at the Red Rose Club in London in 2007’, says Sharkey.
‘His musicality, intensity and sense of orchestration, both with his instrument and as part of the ensemble, just blew me away’
‘I love this duo’, says Sanders.
‘I feel very free to play within any musical language I feel like expressing in the moment, moving colours, texture and rhythms with Sharkey’s sound world.
It’s like something I’ve wanted to do for years but never got the right context to do it’
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Kit Downes performs solo pipe organ and solo piano concerts, and also plays in collaborations with saxophonist Tom Challenger, cellist Lucy Railton, composer Shiva Feshareki and with the band ‘ENEMY’.
In 2019 Kit released, ‘Dreamlife of Debris’ on ECM records to critical acclaim.
Line-up:
Chris Sharkey (guitar + electronics)
Mark Sanders (drums + percussion)
Kit Downes (piano)