Premiering at Quiet Lights Festival 2019…‘String Ogham’ – Four Solo Double Bass Commissions

Caimin Gilmore performs new work for double bass by composers:
Linda Buckley :: Seancheann
Benedict Schlepper-Connolly :: Blackberry
Sam Perkin :: <3
Nick Roth :: Arris

In 2018/19, double bassist, songwriter, and arranger, Caimin Gilmore, commissioned Linda Buckley, Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, Sam Perkin and Nick Roth - four of Ireland’s most distinctive and vital young composers – to write four new Solo Double Bass pieces using funds from the Arts Council of Ireland, Cork City Council Arts Office, and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The pieces are being premiered at Quiet Lights Festival, Cork, on November 23rd and performed throughout the country over the coming months at Other Voices, Kilruddery House and Gardens, and Hugh Lane Concert Series. The commissions will be recorded and released on Diatribe Records, Ireland’s leading new music label, in 2020.

About the works:

Linda Buckley :: Seancheann
For Double Bass and Tape

“The pull of the homeland is strong, and especially when one comes from such a special place as the Old Head of Kinsale. Knowing that the premiere of Seancheann (Old Head) would be in Cork, I wanted to pay homage to where I come from. The sense of connectedness somehow grows when away - first in New York and now in Scotland. I also wanted to explore a gentle side to the double bass, and envelop the listener in immersive sound.”

Benedict Schlepper-Connolly :: Blackberry
For Double Bass and Resonator

“Blackberry softly reshapes and refracts a melody as it steadily echoes itself. Using almost exclusively the natural harmonics of the double bass, the work also features a software resonator, which shadows, and to some extent obfuscates, the playing of the double bass.”

Sam Perkin :: <3
For Double Bass, Cello (Kate Ellis) and Tape

“The piece consists of the unrestrained joy of children giggling - made into music.”

Nick Roth :: Arris
For Solo Double Bass

‘These are their signs: right of the back, left of the back, athwart the back, through the back, around the back. It’s how one climbs a tree, namely, treading on the root of the tree first with your right hand before you and your left hand after.’
Auraicept na n-Éces, 7th-century A.D.

“The work explores the Irish Ogham script, intersecting with painter John Noel Smith’s concept of ogham as ‘visual rhythm’, and informed by the work of Dr. Nora White, principal investigator of the Ogham in 3D project at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS). Arris, which means the sharp edge formed by two intersecting surfaces, is, as ogham itself, the key to a sonic cipher. The work can be performed as the decryption of any ogham inscription, reading from the bottom to the top as one climbs a tree.”

Caimin Gilmore Bio

Caimin has extensively toured the U.S.A, Europe, Australia, Asia, U.K and Ireland as a Double Bassist. He worked as bassist and vocalist with Lisa Hannigan for her At Swim album tour throughout the world and plays regularly with Crash Ensemble, Stargaze, the RTE Concert and Symphony Orchestra’s, Ulster Orchestra and was awarded the Arts Council of Ireland Emerging Artists Bursary in 2017. He is currently working with composers Nick Roth, Sam Perkins, Linda Buckley and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, to create new work for Solo Bass to be released on Diatribe Records in 2020 and is on trial with Ulster Orchestra as Principal Double Bassist (No.2).

He has played with Zach Condon of Beirut, Squarepusher, The Staves, Justin Vernon of Bon Ivor, Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, David Kitt, Saint Sister, Dionne Warwick and recorded with Stargaze and Adam Cohen on Leonard Cohen’s posthumous album at the P-E-O-P-L-E festival in the Funkhaus Berlin 2018. Broadcast highlights include Other Voices on RTE, The Late Late Show with James Cordon CBS, Glastonbury Festival on BBC and NPR Music New York. As an arranger, he has arranged for the RTE Concert Orchestra Jennie Greene and Story of Hip Hop shows, Lisa Hannigan and Crash Ensemble and has upcoming arrangement work with Irish rapper and producer duo Mango X Mathman and Crash Ensemble. As a composer, he is the songwriter of chamber folk group Sun Collective.

Be the first to experience ‘String Ogham’ – Four Double Bass Commissions, at The Crawford Art Gallery, Emmet Place, Cork, as part of Quiet Lights Festival - 2pm, Saturday 23rd November. Admission is free.

From Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th November 2019, music from the heart and for the soul will fill Cork city's more intimate venues as Islander presents ‘Quiet Lights’ - an exciting new festival which shines a light on the new wave of Irish and International folk, traditional, and experimental talent. Names on the line-up include Rozi Plain, Peter Broderick, Ye Vagabonds with Brìghde Chaimbeul, Anna Mieke, Cormac Begley with Liam O’Connor, Lankum, Junior Brother, and many more.
For more information see www.quietlights.net