From 6 to 11 February, British saxophonist Trish Clowes will play six dates with her new band My Iris on a Music Network tour.

My Iris is also the name of her latest album (her fourth), described by Cormac Larkin in the Irish Times as comprising ‘an agile, melodic imagination and an economy of ideas learned from Wayne Shorter…’ The band, he continues, ‘represents the front rank of the new generation of UK jazz’.

Still in her early 30s, Clowes has worked within both contemporary music and jazz and in 2012 founded the Emulsion festival in London which combines her interests in both. She has composed work for the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestras and in 2015 won a BASCA British Composer Award for her work The Fox, The Parakeet & The Chestnut. She is also a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist.

Most recently, Clowes premiered a work titled Loujean & Lucy at the Royal Festival Hall. Commissioned by BBC Radio 3, the work addresses issues surrounding the refugee and migrant crisis. Listen to an interview about the work on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour here. 

On her Irish tour, Clowes will be joined by Chris Montague (guitar), Ross Stanley (piano, hammond organ) and James Maddren (drums). Writing about the quartet in The Guardian, Dave Gelly said ‘With just four players, the variety of tone colour is quite remarkable’.

Trish Clowes and My Iris will play Dublin (6th), Castlebar (7th), Cork (8th), Bray (9th), Sligo (10th) and Wexford (11th). For further information and tickets, visit musicnetwork.ie

This news item is supported by Music Network.