Jazz breaking news: Match&Fuse Festival fires the Vortex
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
At last, things are looking up in the European community – for a couple of days, at least.
This weekend, 15-16 June, London’s Vortex hosts an exciting collaboration between some of the continent’s most adventurous young bands with Match&Fuse, a free festival showcasing 13 acts from 8 countries that pushes the boundaries of jazz into the realms of rock, drum ‘n’ bass, bolero and beyond.
The festival is the brainchild of WorldService Project (pictured, left), the London-based quintet who’ve gone from strength to strength since winning the 2010 Peter Whittingham Award for their bracing, funk-flecked brand of prog jazz. It’s hoped this will be the first of many exchanges between the rising stars of a resurgent avant-garde scene in Europe, with subsequent festivals already scheduled to take place in Oslo and Rome.
The evening’s music kicks off on Friday 16 June with the raw, riotous rhythms of French trumpeter Alfie Ryner. Highlights of the night will no doubt include Mercury-nominees Led Bib, whose bristling intensity and dauntless spontaneity promise an exhilarating and surprising ride. On Saturday 17 the mixing and matching resumes outdoors in Gillett Square (let’s hope the sun appears too) with drumming, dancing and the jagged, volatile sounds of Les Rauchen Verboten, hailing from Spain. Next up it’s Norwegian jazz rockers Pixel, followed by the hard-grooving Dubliners RedivideR and, finally, a colossal international jam, featuring musicians drawn from all the bands involved in the event.
In the evening, proceedings will divide between Gillett Square and the Vortex, with WorldService Project and TrioVD manning the stage outside. Meanwhile, inside the club, music will range from the taut, elegant trio work of Tin Men And The Telephone to the lean, propulsive electronics of Italian three-piece Tubax, taking the festival late into the night.
WorldService Project’s Match&Fuse Festival starts at 8.15pm on Friday 15. The evening will feature: Led Bib; Owls Are Not What They Seem; Alfie Ryner; Neo; and a big band made up of WorldService Project, Alfie Ryner and RedivdeR.
On Saturday 16, starting at 1.00pm, there’ll be music in Gillett Square from: WorldService Project; TrioVD; RedivideR; Pixel; Les Rauchen Verboten; and the Match&Fuse big band. Starting at 5.45pm, sets inside the Vortex from Tin Men And The Telephone; SynKoke; Tribaco; and Tubax.
Visit www.vortexjazz.co.uk for more info.
– Orlando Bird