So, you want to know what happens at a Safehouse open session...

How It Works

  Best thing is to come along to one (first Wednesday of every month), and introduce yourself at the door. If you want to just check it out, before committing to jumping in, that is both understandable and acceptable, just let us know. Otherwise, if you are happy to dive in, then your name will be put in a hat.  Then, at some point you’d be called upon to join a small group (3-5 people, depending on attendance) and you’ll all just start making some sounds and see what happens.

  There may or may not be any rhythm, tonal centre or structure to the pieces played.  The music is free in that sense.  No premeditated ideas or constrictions.  Any sound is valid.  It is a sonic conversation, in which players respond to each other as spontaneously as possible.

 Pieces tend to last ten minutes or so and, ideally, find a natural ending.  Hopefully, everyone that’s interested in sitting in will get at least a couple of turns through the night. Those not playing at any given time are the ever-supportive audience. 

Amplification

  All manner of instrumentation is welcome (acoustic, electric, electronic, voice), but there is no PA.  Often, there are members who will bring a small amp for themselves and let others use it, too.  If you don’t want to be dependant on someone else’s generosity or be limited in taking turns because of lack of amplification for your electric/electronic instrument, then it’s safest to bring your own and be self-contained.

  Due to the acoustics of the room at the Open House, we have been trying an acoustic aesthetic, meaning that we strive to keep the volume within the range of the quietest instrument involved in the piece.  So, for example, if there is an acoustic violin in an improv with two saxophones and an electric guitar, then instead of trying to put a microphone on the violin, we would prefer the saxes and guitar remain sensitive to the limits of the violin and play accordingly, rather than drown it out with volume.  Having said that, if all the instruments are capable of playing loud, then crank it up!

Venue

  This takes place in the upstairs room at the Open House, which is on Springfield Road in Brighton.  It is outside the North entrance to London Road train station.

Time

  Those wishing to listen can show up at anytime.  Those wishing to play should arrive as close to 8pm as possible.

Cost

  Since the players usually outnumber the audience, everyone present chips in £3 towards the room hire.  Usually, we break even, but sometimes we don’t.  If there is any extra, it goes towards the times when there isn’t enough people to cover the cost of the room. 

  I hope this answers the question.  If something is unclear or an amendment is needed, just let me know.

’J’m

I don't know if this is the best definition possible, but the one on Wikipedia is a good start and is suitably full of contradiction.

Definition of Free Improv

'J'm

  gusgarside@ntlworld.com has been handling the booking for our -=On The Edge=- nights, so please contact him.  Local bands who are interested in an opening slot should contact stuartrevill48@googlemail.com.

  Please keep in mind we have a very limited budget and musicians must have an emphasis on improvisation in their performance.  For a headline slot, we need to try to book improvisors that are well-known enough to have some kind of draw.

Thanks!

  'J'm

Safehouse 'On the Edge' 29^th November 06

Wild card quartet # 9

Evan- guitar

Rick  - alto Sax

Mark – Accordion

The accordion sighs deeply, the passage of wind through the reeds reminding us all that we are mortal. The saxophone moved melodically over the minute counting accordion, pleading at times for a change in mood, but really enjoying the harmonies and open space laid out. Dancing over these two moody sounds the guitar played bright, repeated phrases casting light in to the piece and lighting the corners the others tried to hide in. The accordion was the anchor and as the piece shifted the sax broke free with twanging read and tongue slapping the mood shifted and the edges became sharp and angular, the guitar twisted around in between the sax and accordion rubbing the edges off the sharpness.

The second piece, again the accordion assumed the role of meter and the guitar the humming treble, but the sax adopted the lower register, less strident more reflective and they poured ink and created darkness.

CP Nov 06

21 grams

Stuart Revill – Guitar

Tim Wood – Tenor Sax/ Bells

Chris Parfitt – Soprano sax/ primitive magnetica

21 grams starts with a cave like murky cassette tape effected into train-like cadences, enhanced by the twin whistles of what will turn out to be the tenor player. A gently plucked and hammered semi acoustic guitar slowly loops up out of the mist to Highlife brightness, before the soprano saxophone floats in to be joined by the tenor. Bells are shaken and dropped to the floor. The three wind around each other for a while, before the Soprano player returns to tend the cassette. The noise from the tape flattens and slows, the tenor player takes a break and the guitarist lets another loop gently build, before the soprano starts to drone with the tenor bouncing at tangents. The guitarist has built a pointillist rhythm that he standing now sends ripples of notes from, and the two saxophones pick up a riff and ride it for a while channeling the ghosts of Ben Webster and Al Casey  all breathily and lyrical. The tape winds down and the guitar playing gets more strident, bigger notes, the players all now tapping feet, playing rhythm. A new tape, someone speaking rwwwk rewound, someone speaking rwwwk rewound - you get the idea picking up the beat and slowly swallowing the other instruments to finish.

Geoff Reader Nov 06

Mark Wastell  - electronics/ singing bowls/ harmonium

The On the Edge audience fell silent and the room was darkened. And they waited. The silence, or should I say the stillness in the room, became noticeable, (the sounds from the bar below leaked in muffled and pulsing). Mark was still. Then gradually sounds started to emanate from the table of equipment. Scratches clicks and pulses, the thump of a switch being thrown and then high frequency sounds almost out of range, almost hard to hear, almost inducing pain. At time I was not sure I was hearing it - rather feeling it. The piece was wide and elegant in its form the texture of sound dynamic and diverse, and always under control, fine and detailed control, nothing was out of place. The working of the singing bowls was measured, the manipulation of the sound waves produced by the simple wafting of the hand over them,  produced gentle harmonics that shimmered only to be lost to the clicks and high frequency hard shapes that feasted on them. Then the harmonium, one note a simple drone, placed against the electronics, soft, earthy and sensual. The sustained note brought new tonal qualities and was a further juxtaposition to the harshness of the electronics. The end brought us back to stillness and the hum and pulse of the bar below. Excellent.

CP Nov 06

Safehouse 'On the Edge' 25^th October 06

Wildcard quartet

Rick - Alto Saxophone

Ava - Vocals, Guitar & Percussion

Ross - Spoken Word

Mark - Accordion

The set started in a strange but easy way with the musicians reaching to each other to share ideas. Ava's vocals were clear and melancholic, lifting above the quite wheeze of the accordion. Rick's alto playing sounded strident and agitated, with tumbling, jagged phases and acrobatics. Ross punctured the form with rambling words that were half intelligible and half not. '2 dollar bill' was repeated to the audience with pain and passion. Ross moved around the room climbing on chairs as if wanting to escape the space, as if the space was much too small for this big man to perform. Pointed fingers across the heads of the audience from Ross indicated some distant place only seen by the eyes of the pointer. The sounds of the others reinforced the agitation of the Ross and his desperate seeking till he left the room leaving us with the fading words... 2 dollar bill… 2 dollar bill … than all fell silent.

The second set again the alto playing of Rick was strong and force full commanding attention and shaping the set. The accordion laid gloomy refrains in that wonderful organic way only and accordion can. Ava sung tones clear and rounded of challenging the sound of the alto and creating sections of tension in the piece.  (video clip)

Vitamin B12

7 men, a table coved in toys and electrical equipment, a table light, cello and assortment of percussion and drums, and an ornamental dog.

Bells, clicks, whistles and whirrs. The sound was complete and constant flowing with little or no space. The cello gave moments of melody and hinted at harmony but that was not going to be let live long as the players at the table all shifted and changed sounds, selecting noise making objects apparently at random. There was occasional sounds floated in from a radio and tapes but again they were never to stay long as the essay in dense texture continued. It was fidgeting and bright there were harsh lines and soft corners. The sounds just kept on coming. Drums and symbols rattled and crashed, patterns were not evident but this piece was not about symmetry. You just wanted to get involved, blow or bang something. It should all make sense… but does not; and that's ok! (By the way in case you are wondering, the dog did not make through, at some point it's head fell off!) (video clip) 

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells – Bass & Electronics

Tony Bianco – Drums

Guest - Bela Emerson – Electric Cello

The duo of Parker Wells and Bianco are well established and they know what they like! Bianco in drums exuded an energy that had to be seen to be believed; from the moment he started to the moment they stopped about 20 minutes for the first set he did not let the intensity drop. Playing fast, dense rhythms, flowing in out and round each other, not a cigarette paper could separate them. Parker Well's crashed, wailed and shook sounds from the bass sending it along way from any bass clef signature, sliding up and down the neck and adding loops and delays . He created mushroom clouds of sound and added to them vocalisations; it was animated and passionate, and the pair revelled in the out pouring of sounds and rhythms.

For the second set one might have expected to have had a change in direction but as I mentioned these guys know what they like and having just warmed up were in the mood for more. Bela added a melodic texture with the wonderful control that she has over the electric cello and the attached electronics. This tangled with the crunching primitive distorted sounds from the bass and the guttural vocalisations that Parker wells was now producing. Bianco on drums was just in a zone, rolling and pounding over the kit, relentless and not once breaking step. It was a power session not often heard at an 'on the Edge' session.  (video clip)

CP Oct 06

Safehouse 'On The Edge' 27^th September 06

Wild card quartet # 7

Hugh Banks – electric guitar

Ali Santar- amplified acoustic guitar

Tim Wood – tenor Saxophone

'J'm Black- electric guitar

3 guitars and a saxophone made the line-up for this quartet – the cliché is usually too many saxophones! The early part of the piece saw the quartet reaching to each other to test sounds and shapes, creating a basic vocabulary these sounds and shapes were exchanged, used or discarded or refined. The saxophone of Tim's taking a passive stance, interjecting paper dart like questions across to others occasionally. Each started to find their sound, and the vocabulary grew. Form started to became defined with the guitars layering up a blanket of harmonies and discourse which then fractured and melted back together. Hue and Ali almost like rhythm guitarist worked to stoke up the engine which 'J'm took the lead over the top, opening and closing the throttle on the sound, punching, gabbing, setting a meter then laying back. The paper darts from the sax were now like busts of gunfire as the piece came to its conclusion.

Monty Oxymoron - Marimba/ Electric Piano/Guitar

Monty opened the set with a dazzling virtuoso performance on marimba. His playing exploded in to the room. The layers of polyrhythms and fluidity of the piece were a delight. Like falling water over rocks, the sound flowed; the speed and rapid movement; and the total focus and concentration of Monty was intense. It was beautiful and fresh and the audience loved it.

The second set Monty played key board with electric guitar placed on top. The two chordal instruments in the hands of this man would mean it would be interesting and he did not disappoint. The composition was full of punctuation and flavour; the guitar was used skilfully to create a sustained, almost orchestral feeling of space and instrumentation, while the piano was attacked with passion-filled flurries and produced free-phrased forms which were brilliant and strong. The two instruments were blended; Monty's formidable powers of playing piano built a composition of delightful complexity and harmony which was inventive and at the same time full of ease and grace.

Alan Wilkinson- Saxophones

Eddie  Prevost – Drums

One the great things about 'On The Edge' is the intimacy of the space and the warmth of the musicians playing and it was great to have this pairing playing at the Openhouse venue.

The session started with Eddie rolling and rumbling on the drums. Watching him playing the drums I was struck by the apparent effortlessness and ease of his playing. The tightly woven rhythmic layers that Eddie cooked up allowed Alan to explore sounds and shapes with the saxophones and voice. On the drums Eddie, clicked and beat time into shapes that were sometimes hushed and whispering, sometimes floating and ambiguous, but never were they forceful. His creation on the drums was rapid and running, even kettle drums seemed to be part of the small kit. Rhythm and texture were measured out with an expertise and understanding that is rare to hear. Alan's formidable use of harmonics on the saxophones created lines and patterns and in amongst these he vocalised seamlessly with the instrument.  Sections at times were intense and flowing, growling and guttural. The baritone sax produced a seemingly limitless range of sounds under the influence of Alan. These sounds were stabbed, poked and separated by tonguing and slapping techniques used to extraordinary effect adding texture and creative colour to a vibrant picture of sound. The beautifully controlled harmonics and the tiny 'scratched' meditative sounds were juxtaposed with Alan's ferocious free playing.

The two sets by the duo were a delight. Superb communication between the players created compositions that were expansive in texture and sensitivity and no matter what they were searching for the other was always there to support.

CP Oct 06

Safehouse On the Edge July 26th

On the Edge tonight welcomed Urban Myth and John Butcher and Steve Beresford 

Wild Card Quartet # 6

Matt Gray - Clarinet

Iain Paxon - percussion

Stuart Revill - Electric guitar

Tim Wood - Tenor and alto sax

Quite percussion opened the set and in came the electric guitar responding to the introduction and feeling for setting a meter. The clarinet then produced a sound stretched from the bottom to the top of the instrument, like a wave rising and falling. As the waves passed the sound left was disturbed and foaming. Great texture was produced. Tim jutted the tenor in to change the direction and the guitar grew in presence with this pulsing cords filled the composition further. More waves from the clarinet broke through with the percussion babbling and rattling in reply like the end of the wave on a beach. Tim came back in again this time with both the Tenor and alto, the notes produced fort between discord and harmony. These loud stabbing, staccato phrases emphasised the range and texture of the sounds being created by the Wildcard Quartet #6. It was an angular piece with places of delightful delicacy, huge strength and enthralling rhythm. 

Urban Myth

Henry Collins - Laptop & Toys

'J'm Black - Guitar & Electronics

Kirsten Elliott - Flute & Electronics

Adam Bushell - Vibraphone & Saw

Across the room in front of the audience, appliances for the making of music were attended by the players from the vibraphone and alto flute, to the guitar and the laptop and all with the addition of electronics.

Part 1. The flute's quiet pad-popping and humming was joined by the muted ethereal sounds of the vibraphone. Gently the sounds rose and the guitar and laptop entered. The guitar and electronics crafted corridors.  Distant sounds created by the flute and vibraphone, came from rooms beyond, which could only be imagined. So we are confronted by shape and structure of the music - light and the dark, inside and outside, rough and smooth, thought provoking.

Part 2. The second piece brooded for a while before taking on the audience with a simple, rhythmic platform.  Clicks and static filled pockets of space along with ringing, whining and loops. The flute and vibraphone called in and out. Repeats and delays were flawlessly put together as the composition was developed by the quartet.

Part 3. The flute changed in this and transformed in to a clattering sound, the saw whined way up above in the strange imitation of feed back and later, ever so delicately, the vibraphone was bowed. The guitar was played with to create an insistent instruction and this along with the articulate use of the laptop and toys created a piece in which the quartet was able to exhibit the complex and subtle mix of acoustics and electronics to great effect. The chaos of order. Urban Myth had superbly set the scene for the final set.

John Butcher & Steve Beresford

John Butcher - Tenor Sax electronics

Steve Beresford - Electronics

The presence of this pair of great improvisers was an honour for the Safehouse collective and provided a fitting climax to the end of the first Safehouse On the Edge programme.

The performance started with the electronics quickly whipped up a thickening sound which was manipulated with control and agility. As each sound developed it was blended and brewed with others and dropped or strengthened. The Tenor creating sounds that inter-weaved with electronics, laying out a rising and falling. With consummate ease they worked together drawing out the sounds and then shutting them down to start it all up again. Pulses started, stopped, melted away or froze. Steve Beresford seized upon equipment and added delays and repeats and threw in distorted vocals. Sounds hovered and floated bobbed and bounced. He was seated then standing, moving constantly listening and responding. The tenor saxophone in the hands of John Butcher became something else and in the second piece he introduced pizzicato string sounds from somewhere. He used it all, what could be done with a reed, what could be done with metal, what could be done with the leather pads and the mics. In the final piece Butcher made even greater use of the mic and feedback, carefully moving the instrument around the amp to work sounds, not normally belonging to a saxophone. Artfully produced and controlled acoustic sounds that entwined with the electronics. It was a wonderful performance from them both to a very appreciative audience. A great chance to see two performers up close and intimate. Improvisation at its best!

CP

Safehouse On the Edge 28^th June 06

Wild card quartet #5

James Tranmer - electronics

Al Strachan - Cornet

Gus Garside - Double bass

Geoff Hearn ( dep for Tim Wood) - Saxsella

Part 1 - The backdrop of the black and white curtains confirmed the contrasts that the players created. The Bass with Guss direction hummed and Geoffs sax spat and cursed but took time to calm things as well. James introduced percussive clicks and electronic harmonies which slipped in and out and Als cornet, muted and fine but crisp introduced something sinister. The piece created evoked movement and emotions which had a contrast like love and menace.

Part 2 For this the players conjured up something that was soft and sombre, Als cornet offering warmth and restraint. Flickering introjections from bass and electronics took the sound further and Geoff responded with phrases added to the soundscape that was becoming a late summer evening.

Part 3 Started with the bass alone, warm and mellow, this was sliced and diced by the strident saxsella and sentinel-like trumpet. Pulses and spins. A slow tarantella, beats, pulses and cries. The triptych completed.

Mr Eugene and Nickova.

Nickova - Painting

Mr Eugene - Violin

As described in the publicity this was a performance of spontaneous music and painting. Both wore protective white boiler suites, they started, Mr Eugene playing Violin and Nickova painting. The violin lead Nickova to the canvas and she started to paint, the paint black and white. The large white canvas, (the canvas was approx 4x5 feet), having the presence of a screen on which the image started to appear. The violin became accompanied by drumming and scrubbing, as the canvas had microphones taped to the back. Mr Eugene played a lyrical, classically structured accompaniment. The way the pair created both the music and the picture left me unsure was the music being painted or the painting music? The end result was an image that the audience witnessed being created and as the sounds of the violin the picture continued to engage and interest.

Hugh Metcalfe

Hugh Metcalfe - guitar, film, objects, words

Darren Morris - keyboard, words

The theme of sound and vision continued. Direct from the Klinker Club. Hugh performed to the scratching, shaking; random home videos of cows, trees pigeons and people. Words were read from a book to the audience, Hugh was never still, contented or coherent for anything longer than the time it takes to realise things are not about what you thought they were. Darren provided an eloquent score to the films from the keyboard and added new flavours to Hughs words. Hugh used the guitar played to the tablature of a remote Polynesian island, or so it could have been!. The audience may have wondered at times what was happening. But what ever conclusion they drew it was clever, spontaneous, thought provoking, musical, challenging and funny. And who will ever forget Hughs sock routine! Art, satire or slapstick who gives a funk, Ill have some more!  

CP June

Safehouse On the Edge May 31^st

On the Edge tonight welcomed the sound explorers Spirit of Gravity. The set was opened in the time honoured way by the Safehouse Collective players in the guise of the Wildcard Quartet # 4

Wildcard quartet # 4

Andy - Tenor Sax

Sam - trumpet

Monty - electric piano

Hugh - electric guitar

The piece took shape early on. Andy, causal with a smokey sax. Sam, a bright polished sounding trumpet placed over the top of things and at times muted, lazy guitar work from Hue traced patterns, and fizzy piano from Monty ensured no one lost focus. This worked to create a mélange of sound. This is where it started but like any good cocktail you expect contrast and surprises and the wild card quartet produced them. They moved the sound from producing staccato rhythms jumping and skating around, which then softened to gentle phrases and at time a hint of a rock anthem (!).Possible directions opened up and the piano leapt forward, the sax called them back with confident reassurance to calm, for them to again to reach out and explore the possible responses to each other.

The second piece seemed to form from anther place, more dark. The guitar work, this time strident and pulling, the piano worked round this bubbling and babbling. The sax and trumpet working closely over the top creating phrasing that had hazy familiarity but was not. The quartet worked closely summoning up the sound to into good humoured but intense conversations. The safe house collective through the Wildcard Quartet # 4 produced another fine example of improvisation. 

Spirit of gravity

Tony Rimbaud

Dan Powell

The Cheesemaster McCloud

In front was a large table and on this table is laid out a mass of wires, boxes, laptop key boards and controls, using a wide range of analogue and digital sources Spirit of gravity worked on a table with the intensity of surgeons; building sound then taking it away, working round a pulse, affirmative and bold. This created a pressure of sound which rose. As this continued the balance of sounds became finer and more intricate, smaller sounds blended in, then taken out or washed away and then in came something else from a key board, electronic wizardry, laptop or manipulated CD. It was as though we were travelling along an edge that was getting narrower and higher. They worked on finally setting the audience down safely. but in a different space.

Set 2

A beats and clicks formed and settled, this was to be the main ingredient, into this then came the other ingredients sounds that danced and shook. We were in a landscape of jagged rocks and pine trees, the changes in the scenery were subtle and clever. At first the sound was exposing, but it warmed and comforted and gently soothed, in the way a train rocks the passenger. Desiccated samples, sustained tones developed. The clicks broke down as the sound was becoming dirty and complicated, the landscape was changing it was more now of decay and destruction. This built on, getting denser and denser but it never overwhelming, it was not claustrophobic. What was going on was the fine art of adjustment refinement manipulation and of cause creativeness.

An excellent set and something which I hope will form the basis of a lasting partnership between Safehouse and Spirit of Gravity. 

CP