Faradena Afifi + Steve Beresford + Ansuman Biswas (trio), Reuben, Special Guests
27 Mortimer Road, NW10 5QR
Tuesday October 28th, Doors 18:30
PAYF Tickets on the door
Faradena, a British Afghani community
musician, full time T’ai Chi teacher and
practitioner, is influenced by nature (especially
birdsong), improvisation and musical form that
involves unusual rhythms. ‘Flash of Blue’
recorded at Three Circles Studio in Saffron
Walden, is Faradena Afifi’s debut solo EP of
evocative and moving songs about life, love and
death. The title song Kingfisher, plus Last Call,
are both originals. Scarborough Fair, Drowned
Sailor and Bruton Town are Faradena’s unique
interpretations of traditional folk songs. Her
poignant, expressive and delightfully agile
vocals are complemented by her thoughtful
arrangements for cello, viola, violin, piano and
percussion, all played by Fara. She is joined by
Steve Beresford, the EP’s producer, on piano
for Last Call.
Steve Beresford has
been a central figure in the British and international spontaneous
music scenes for over fifty years, freely improvising on the piano,
electronics and other things with people like Derek Bailey, Evan Parker,
Han Bennink, John Zorn, London Improvisers Orchestra and Alterations
(with David Toop, Terry Day and Peter Cusack).
Steve
has worked with Christian Marclay on various Marclay mixed media
pieces. He has also worked with The Slits, Najma Akhtar, Stewart Lee,
Ivor Cutler, Prince Far-I, Alan Hacker, Tania Chen, Louis Moholo-Moholo,
Faradena Afifi, Ray Davies, Mandhira De Saram, The Flying Lizards,
Zeena Parkins, The Portsmouth Sinfonia, Ilan Volkov, Rachel Musson, Vic
Reeves, Lore Lixenberg, Valentina Magaletti and many others.
Beresford
has an extensive discography as performer, arranger, free-improviser,
composer, conductor and producer, and was awarded a Paul Hamlyn award
for composers in 2012.
Ansuman Biswas was born in Calcutta and trained in
the UK. He now has an international practice encompassing music, film,
live art, installation, writing and theatre. He is interested in
hybridity and interdisciplinarity, often working between science, art
and industry, for instance, or between music, dance and visual art. With
skills in a number of different fields, he has developed a dynamic
practice which traverses, translates and transposes across various kinds
of borders. An example of this border-crossing is his mapping of Vedic
and Buddhist thought to modern debates in science and philosophy, which
then find expression in film or performance.
Reuben is:
Funny
Energetic
Kind
Knowledgeable
Chatty
Understanding
Hard working
Giggly