Doors 7:45 PM, Music 8:30 PM – 2 set(s) of music
Line-up:
Loz Speyer – Trumpet, Flugehorn
Dee Byrne – Alto Saxophone
Xhosa Cole – Tenor Saxophone
Larry Bartley – Double Bass
Gary Willcox – Drums
About
**** “Superb outing, that effectively highlights the leader’s jarring and perceptively constructed compositions.” – Glen Astarita, All About Jazz
Inner Space plays Jazz of a rare warmth and immediacy. Speyer’s compositions for the band create spaces for free playing where the group can explore new areas and discover where the music might GO – while drawing deeply on the Jazz tradition, all the way back to Bebop and New Orleans. Each piece evolves its own form, with five highly distinctive musicians working it all out in the here and NOW.
“One of the happiest evenings I’ve heard in jazz for many a long night… Music as rare as this defies description. Go along and see them!” – Karl Dallas, the Morning Star
Late last year when most Jazz activity was winding down for Christmas, Inner Space set out across Europe to play a concert in the historic city of Leipzig – part of a jazz series presented by Mediencampus at Villa Ida. The concert was also beautifully recorded and now, Inner Space celebrates the release of a new album.
“Live in Leipzig” presents the band in the heat of the moment, probing and exploratory, finding the groove at every point. It’s the first album release by this exciting Inner Space lineup, featuring two unique and widely acclaimed saxophonists – Xhosa Cole and Dee Byrne, and the freewheeling propulsion generated by drummer Gary Willcox and bassist Larry Bartley (long-time colleague of Tony Kofi, Byron Wallen, Jason Yarde, Denys Baptiste)
Trumpeter and composer Loz Speyer’s current set of Jazz Portrait pieces give the band some extended forms to improvise with. Each piece attempts to characterise one of the key figures in the formation of “Free Jazz”, as it became known – an audacious project maybe, but one that comes naturally enough from a lifelong relationship with their music, as a way to make sense of their legacy in our own TIME. Some of these pieces are based on personal encounters and come with stories that emerge during live performance, drawing on deep sources of inspiration for everyone present.
**** “The integrity they bring to the emerging free jazz push-pull structure of ’Space Music’ pilots the musicians further towards destinations unknown.” Philip Clark, Jazzwise