2008 Round Up.

2008 was quite a year for Mopomoso. January saw our last concert at The Red Rose, which had been our home for nearly 20 years, after the lease was sold and the new owners decided to turn it into a snooker hall. This was despite a public campaign and many behind the scenes negotiations, including an offer to buy the lease from them.

In February we put together a free concert at The Vortex in Dalston to introduce the audience to our new venue and the support was heartwarming, with the musicians playing to a packed and enthusiastic audience.

The March concert was a return to our regular third Sunday of the month spot and really tested the venue's possibilities, with dancers and computer generated sounds alongside more conventional groupings. In the past all our concerts had been recorded on audio by Tim Fletcher or Martin Davidson and the March concert introduced video documentation as well, from Helen Petts, Chris Cooper and Paul Martin.

From April through July we maintained the impetus with a strong programme of fine musicians mostly playing in pre-existing groups with occasional first performances. Mopomoso, acting as a partner, also put together an evening performance in Paris as part of the Roc de Choc festival. Helen Petts took over our mailing list and press release duties and also fund raising. We received an annual grant from PRS of £1000 towards our running costs.

August was for my own 'Fete Quaqua', which is now establishing itself as an annual three day event. I see this as an in depth chance for a group of improvisers to really stretch out and for the audience to get a little closer to the unfolding excitement of free improvisation. We were helped in this by a grant from Culture Ireland to enable the participation of Dublin based pianist Paul G Smyth.

Back to regular concerts for September and October, again with mostly pre-existing groups and a couple of debut / first time in the UK performances.

The Vortex management asked us to put something special together to coincide with The London Jazz Festival in November so, ever obliging, we not only put together a great line-up in an extended concert, but also an afternoon participatory workshop. Both were a great success and we intend to host more workshops in 2009.

Finally in December, 'It's that time again!', we held our annual celebration of all things improvised ' A Galaxy of Stars ' which brought together over fifty musicians playing in different permutations in a more casual setting than the usual concert format. A great time was had by all!









Thank You!

At the start of the year we were ably assisted on sound and light duties by Ashley Wales. Thanks Ashley!

Ashley has taken time out for personal reasons and Richard Barrett took up his duties for a couple of concerts before Will Connors volunteered for the post and Will has proved himself a great asset as stage manager.
Thanks to both Richard and Will!

Throughout the whole thing George Coote has continued to handle the box office, room organisation, distribution of fliers and countless other tasks with skill and dedication. Thanks George!

On the documentation front thanks are due to Helen Petts, Tim Fletcher, Chris Cooper, Paul Martin and Martin Davidson.

Thanks are also due to Michael Lorek for his help with the website.

Helen Petts has also proved invaluable, overseeing and extending our mailing list, sending out press releases and fundraising, and generally helping to increase our profile and that of improvised music in general.
Thanks Helen!

I'd also like to thank the Vortex management for having us at the venue and to all the volunteers at the Vortex who make it all happen.

Grateful acknowledgement also to PRS and Culture Ireland for their financial assistance.

Thanks are also due to the musicians themselves for the support they have given to Mopomoso over the years.

Finally a big thanks to our audience, whose unstinting support and appreciation really make the whole thing meaningful.


John Russell











MOPOMOSO CONCERTS 2008

January 20th

'Alexander Hawkins Quartet'
Alexander Hawkins ( piano )
Chris Cundy ( reeds )
Ollie Brice ( bass )
Javier Carmona ( perc )

Chefa Alonso ( sax ) / Tony Marsh ( perc ) duo

Henry Lowther ( trumpet ) / John Russell ( guitar ) duo

February 6th

'Alan Tomlinson Trio'
Alan Tomlinson ( trombone )
Dave Tucker ( guitar )
Roger Turner ( perc )

Chris Burn solo piano

Steve Beresford ( piano ) / Satoko Fukuda ( violin ) duo

John Russell ( guitar ) / Roger Turner ( perc ) / Ute Wassermann ( voice ) trio

March 16th

'Revolver'
Kim Johannesen ( guitar ) / Fredrik Kirkevold ( perc )

'The Cristophe Charles Quintet'
Christophe Charles
Yasutake Watanabe
Hoonoda Kim all laptops electronics
Lisa Koiso
Woo Kyung Son dance

Jason Robinson ( sax ) / John Russell ( guitar ) / Roger Turner ( perc ) trio




April 20th

'Furt'
Richard Barrett / Paul Obermayer ( live electronics )

Gail Brand ( trombone ) / Mark Sanders (perc ) duo

John Russell ( guitar ) / John Butcher ( sax ) duo

May 18th

'Arc'
Sylvia Hallet ( violin )
Gus Garside ( bass )
Danny Kingshill ( cello )

'Coxon / Noble / Thomas / Wilkinson'
John Coxon ( guitar)
Steve Noble ( perc )
Pat Thomas ( keyboards )
Alan Wilkinson ( sax )

Lol Coxhill ( sax ) / John Russell ( guitar ) duo

June 15th

'Rick Jensen Quartet'
Rick Jensen ( sax )
Phil Somervell ( piano )
Colin Somervell ( bass )
Paul May ( perc )

Richard Barrett ( electronics ) / Ute Wassermann ( voice ) duo

Henry Lowther ( trumpet ) / John Russell ( guitar ) duo

July 20th

'Barkingside'
Alex Ward ( clarinet )
Alexander Hawkins ( piano )
Dominic Lash ( bass )
Paul May ( perc )

John Edwards ( bass ) / Adrian Northover ( sax ) duo

Chefa Alonso ( sax ) / Albert Kaul ( piano ) / John Russell ( guitar ) trio


August 17 / 18 / 19

'Fete Quaqua'

Bill Hsu ( interactive computer )
Chris Burn ( trumpet )
Dylan Bates ( violin )
Hannah Marshall ( cello )
Jean Borde ( bass )
John Butcher ( sax )
John Russell ( guitar )
Lol Coxhill ( sax )
Max Eastley ( self made instruments )
Paul G Smyth ( piano
Roger Turner ( perc )
Ute Wassermann ( voice )

September 21st

Jeff Cloke ( live elctronics ) / Dave Draper ( guitar ) duo

Dominic Lash ( bass ) / Dave Solomon ( perc ) / Garry Todd ( sax ) trio

Phil Minton ( voice ) / Veryan Weston ( piano ) duo

Ketil Gutvik ( guitar ) / John Russell ( guitar ) duo

October 19th

'Ensemble Progresivo'
Ricardo Tejero ( saxes / clarinet )
Alison Blunt ( violin )
Adrian Northover ( saxes )
Marci Mattos ( bass / electronics )
Javier Carmona ( perc )

Chris Burn ( piano ) solo

Stefan Keune ( sax ) / John Russell ( guitar ) duo







November 16th

'Swift are the Winds of Life'
Charlie Collins ( perc )
Beatrix Ward Fernandez ( violin )
Yvonna Magda ( violin )

Steve Beresford ( piano ) / Satoko Fukuda ( violin ) duo

'Alan Tomlinson Trio'
Alan Tomlinson ( trombone )
Dave Tucker ( guitar )
Rpger Turner ( percussion )

'Furt'
Richard Barrett
Paul Obermayer ( live electronics )

Evan Parker ( sax ) / John Russell ( guitar ) / John Edwards ( bass ) trio
plus a John Russell / Richard Barrett led afternoon workshop.

December 21st

MOPOMOSO 'GALAXY OF STARS' SET LIST.

Rick Jensen (tenor sax), Dominic Lash (bass), Dave Solomon (drums), Noel Taylor (clarinet) quartet

Gabriel Keen (piano), Bob Peachey (alto sax) duo

Adam Bohman (tabletop electronics), Adrian Northover (soprano sax) duo

'Meat Xylophone'
Simon Littlefield (guitar), Nigel Summerly (drums) duo

Viv Corringham (voice), Lol Coxhill (soprano sax) duo

Andrea Caputo (guitar) solo

Marci Mattos (cello), Marilza (voice), Alison Blunt (violin), Rodrigo Montoya (shamisen) quartet

Daniel Thompson (guitar), Keith Thompson (alto sax) duo

Ian Diplock (horn, bells and klaxon), John Russell (guitar) duo

'Swift are The Winds of Life'
Charlie Collins (drums), Yvonna Magda (violin) Beatrix Ward-Fernandez (violin) trio

Steve Beresford (toy guitars) solo

Jeff Cloke (electronics), Terry Day (voice), Max Reed (dance) trio
Pat Thomas (piano), John Coxon (electronics), Roger Turner (drums), Alex Ward (clarinet) quartet

Phil Minton (voice), Ute Wassermann (voice) duo

Karl D'Silva (alto sax), Dominic Lash (bass) duo

Martin Speake (alto sax), Dave Solomon (drums) duo

Leila Adu (voice), Steve Beresford (piano), Hannah Marshall (cello) trio

Harry Gilonis (words). Richard Barrett (guitar), John Russell (guitar) trio
Kay Grant (voice), Hannah Marshall (cello) duo

'Scatter'
Pat Thomas (piano), Phil Minton (voice), Roger Turner (drums), Dave Tucker (guitar) quartet

Alexander Hawkins (piano), Tony Marsh (drums) duo

Lol Coxhill (soprano sax) solo

Ute Kanngieser (cello), Guillaume Viltard (bass) duo

Alan Tomlinson (trombone) solo

Ricardo Tejero (tenor sax) Will Connors (percussion), Adam Bohman (tabletop electronics), Alison Blunt (violin) quartet

Satoko Fukuda (violin), John Russell (guitar), Fabrizio Spera (drums) trio

'Conductivisation'
Steve Beresford (piano), Dominic Lash (bass), Dave Solomon (drums) Ricardo Tejero (tenor sax), Rick Jensen (tenor sax), Marcio Mattos (cello) Dave Tucker (guitar) septet