David Toop is a musician/composer, author and curator born in 1949. He studied fine art and graphic design in the late 1960s, then in 1971-2 participated as guitarist and flautist in the first improvisation workshops led by jazz drummer John Stevens. Having played improvised music since the beginning of the 1970s with musicians such as Paul Burwell, Steve Beresford, Max Eastley, Hugh Davies, Terry Day, Peter Cusack, Sally Potter and Lol Coxhill, he also recorded shamanistic ceremonies in Amazonas, presented programmes for BBC Radio 3 and appeared on Top Of The Pops with the Flying Lizards.
Max Eastley is a sound and visual artist. His primary instrument is a unique electro-acoustic monochord, developed from an aeolian sculpture. ‘The Arc’ consists of a single string stretched lengthwise across a long piece of wood which can be played with a bow, fingers or short glass rods. The end of the instrument has a microphone attached so the sound can be amplified, recorded and run through sound effect programs. His legendary 1975 album with David Toop, New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments was produced by Brian Eno and released on the Obscure label.
Multi-instrumentalist Mark Wastell has been active as a musician since 1995, making his initial concerts with the trio IST featuring Rhodri Davies and Simon H. Fell. He has performed and recorded across the globe and has collaborated with the likes of Derek Bailey, John Butcher, Evan Parker, Lasse Marhaug, Tony Conrad, Keith Rowe, John Zorn, Peter Kowald, Joachim Nordwall, Otomo Yoshihide, Burkhard Beins and David Toop. Mark also runs the Confront Recordings record label.
Terry Day is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, one of the UK’s first generation of improvising and free-jazz musicians from the 1960s. He formed a duo with Derek Bailey in the late ‘60s and was a regular member of The Continuous Music Ensemble, People Band and, later on, the group Alterations with David Toop, Steve Beresford & Peter Cusack. He currently performs on a variety of bamboo reed flutes, balloons, recorders and percussion.
Doors 3:30 | Music 4pm | Entry £5 donation
