Cassie Kinoshi celebrates International Women’s Day with big Barbican show

Mercury Music Prize nominated saxophonist and composer Cassie Kinoshi will perform her biggest UK headline show to date when she appears at London’s Barbican on 7 March (the day before International Women’s Day) with her 10-piece band seed. alongside turntablist NikNak and the London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO).  

Describing the project as inspired by “women’s role in British music history in the ‘between the wars’ era… showcasing how conflict shapes new social and artistic movements emerging around them”, the theme is a timely one. The music also draws on the legacy of women’s involvement in the early development of jazz in Britain between 1919-1939 that saw the emergence of all-female bands in the jazz and dance-band circuit such as Hilda Ward’s Lady Syncopators and Evelyn Hardy & Her Ladies Band.

With the academic input from Liverpool University Musicologist Prof. Catherine Tackley supporting research behind the music, Kinoshi has taken inspiration from this era as well as her own personal experience as a black British female composer and bandleader, to create a uniquely personal project that mixes large scale composition, high-level improvisation from the multi-talented band, expansive string arrangements and electronic flourishes. This new work has been commissioned by Serious, with funding from 14-18 Now Foundation and with the support of Imperial War Museum, while the live show will feature visuals by GURIBOSH.

For full details and tickets visit https://serious.org.uk/events/cassie-kinoshis-seed-x-niknak-x-london-contemporary-orchestra