SPECTRUMcreative music for curious ears.

DUBLIN March 10-12th 2017

A new festival experience for fans of innovative music-making SPECTRUM presents a diverse programme of music that flows through the prism of the jazz approach; its output a miscellany of sound, covering the full spectrum from jazz, progressive, rock, alt-folk to electronica. A weekender festival 10-12th March in Whelans and The Opium Rooms on Wexford St, Dublin.

Presented by Improvised Music Company (IMC) in association with Note Productions and Homebeat, SPECTRUM is 3 days of stimulating sounds at the creative intersection where jazz, contemporary, rock and electronic music collide, with focus on the live and improvised. The live music will be complimented by a compelling programme of talks.

Friday kicks off with a dose of context in a debate on the excessive classifications of modern music led by Professor Matthew Causey from Trinity College Dublin. Later on Whelan’s mainstage, jazz composer and bassist Ronan Guilfoyle is joined by two of New York’s most respected jazz musicians Tom Rainey and Dave Binney performing Guilfoyle’s ‘Hands’, a compelling conflict between composed music and freewheeling improvisation.

Saturday night is the big night at SPECTRUM kicking off with a double-header. This will be a treat for Irish audiences, with the cinematic sounds of Belgian instrumental trio Dans Dans, followed by the raw punk energy of Norway’s Hedvig Mollestad. Then from 11pm til late, Homebeat present SPECTRUM club, a hand picked celebration of the beautiful frayed edges of LIVE contemporary Irish electronica featuring the ethereal ambience of Dublin producer Kobina’s glitchy soundscapes, going right through to the vital live vocals and driving synth of White Collar Boy’s pop electronica in Whelan’s upstairs.

Sunday begins with an intimate, duo concert with two fearless, world-class improvisers in Izumi Kimura and Barry Guy at the Hugh Lane Gallery at noon, followed by another SPECTRUM speaks session in conversation with Barry Guy and Evan Parker - two godfathers of the European free improv scene since the 1970s. On Sunday night, saxophonist Parker takes to the stage with acclaimed Irish pianist Paul G.Smyth for a thrilling duo performance, with a support slot by alt-folk guitarist Cian Nugent and his intricate extended compositions

Jazz music is and always has been an attitude more than a fixed genre, with improvisation and evolution at its core. From Improvised Music Company, through a compelling collaboration with Note Productions and Homebeat, SPECTRUM presents a programme of acts intent on creatively evolving and busting confines of genre for the germination of truly creative music.

Further Info: HERE

Tickets: HERE

SPECTRUMcreative music for curious ears.

FRIDAY 10th March

SPECTRUM speaks: ‘Is music genre dead, or does it just smell funny?’

4pm, The Parlour, Whelan’s, Wexford St | FREE to concert ticket-holders

Professor Matthew Causey from Trinity College Dublin will lead a public seminar examining this ambiguous creative space occupied by many of the performers at SPECTRUM 2017. He will be joined in this critical discussion by colleagues from the School of Creative Arts in TCD along with Irish based musicians.

SPECTRUM live : Ronan Guilfoyle’s ‘Hands’ (IRL & US)                                                            

8pm, Whelans, Wexford St | Tickets €15/12

Music that is both lyrical and powerful, with a groove filled with rhythmic surprises, ‘Hands’ presents Guilfoyle’s love for combining composed music with freewheeling improvisation. This concert represents both the best in contemporary jazz as well as its international, collaborative nature, with two of New York’s most respected jazz musicians Tom Rainey and Dave Binney, joining composer and bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, and emerging guitarist Chris Guilfoyle

SATURDAY 11th March

SPECTRUM live : Dans Dans(BE) & Hedvig Mollestad Trio (NO)

7:30pm, The Opium Rooms | Tickets €16/13 OR  Saturday Ticket (concert + club) €20

Exciting double-header of contemporary sounds from Europe, featuring the wide-open, cinematic soundscape of Belgian instrumental trio Dans Dans, presenting jazz without stuffiness, rock without blinkers and avant-garde without pretention. They will be followed by the dark, primal aesthetic of Norwegian guitarist Hedvig Mollestad and her riot grrrl attitude and raw punk energy, playing music that is progressive and exhilarating, with an homage to the avant prog-rock of King Crimson, the blues-laden psychedelica of Hendrix with more than a subtle influence from the free-jazz aesthetic of Gustafsson & Brotzmann.

SPECTRUM club : presented by Homebeat

11:30pm, Whelan’s Upstairs | White Collar Boy & Kobina | Tickets €7 OR  Saturday Ticket (concert + club) €20

Homebeat are delighted to present SPECTRUM club - a night celebrating the beautiful frayed edges of contemporary Irish electronica with LIVE performance by two of our most exciting contemporary electronic artists. Electronic duo White Collar Boy are praised for their “dreamy, ambient grooves” and “freewheeling rhythms, razor-sharp hooks and periodically, bone-shaking thumps” (Hot Press). Dublin producer Sean Arthur aka Kobina’s breathless, glitchy soundscapes inspired both ‘Whelan’s and State.ie to name him as ‘One to watch’ in 2015.

SUNDAY 12th March

SPECTRUM live : Izumi Kimura & Barry Guy

12pm, The Hugh Lane Gallery / Free Event

An intimate, duo concert with two fearless, world-class improvisers, celebrated Japanese born, Irish-based pianist Izumi Kimura alongside bassist Barry Guy; a radical artist at the forefront of free improvisation in Europe since the mid 1970’s

SPECTRUM speaks : In conversation with Evan Parker & Barry Guy

2pm, The Parlour, Whelans

These two highly respected musicians, key figures of the European free improvisation scene since its genesis in the 60s and 70s, share their experience to an open floor.

SPECTRUM live : Paul G. Smyth & Evan Parker

Support by Cian Nugent (solo)

7:30, The Opium Rooms / Tickets €16/13

Acclaimed Irish pianist Paul G. Smyth will perform at SPECTRUM in a thrilling duo collaboration with one of the greatest saxophonists alive, Evan Parker. Parker’s legacy to the world of improvised music can never be overstated, and this collaboration with one of Ireland’s finest creative forces is a truly exciting prospect for any fan of progressive music.Supporting this exciting duo will be Irish guitarist Cian Nugent, an artist who has proven himself a master of sinewy textured guitar playing and immersive instrumentation