15 Nov 2010 - Stet Lab’s third birthday event with Ian

[Stet Lab]

Stet Lab celebrates its third birthday with trumpeter Ian Smith


Monday, 15 November 2010

9:00 pm (doors: 8:45 pm)

Upstairs @ The Roundy [map…]
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland

€10 (€5)

Stet Lab will be welcoming London-based, Irish virtuoso trumpeter Ian Smith in celebration of the third anniversary of Cork’s monthly improvised music club. The event takes place on Monday, 15 November 2010, upstairs at The Roundy, Castle Street, Cork, Ireland, at 9:00 pm (doors open at 8:45 pm).

Mainstay of the London improvised music scene, Ian Smith is best known as cofounder of the London Improvisers’ Orchestra, and The Gathering. He has performed with improvisers such as Evan Parker, John Stevens, Maggie Nicols, Steve Beresford, Eddie Prévost, Reeves Gabrels and Harris Eisenstadt. His second CD as a leader, Daybreak, featured Derek Bailey, Veryan Weston, Gail Brand and Oren Marshall, and his most recent release is with the spontaneous mashup ensemble Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Han-earl Park plus Lol Coxhill.

Smith’s playing has been described as a “revelation…. There is a clear jazz edge to his tone, which sounds almost radical these days when many trumpet players in the improv world seem inclined to turn their back on that vocabulary. But he can also dip down to breathy flutters and muted coloristic playing” (Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise). His style has been compared to Wadada Leo Smith and Joe McPhee: “gestures seem to derive from earlier forms of jazz, and there are moments of harmonic directness that you could put chord symbols under. But it has all been thoughtfully moulded into a highly convincing and distinctive language” (Philip Clark, JazzReview).

Joining Smith on stage for the Stet Lab event will be Cork-based guitarist, and fellow member of Mathilde 253, Han-earl Park.

Opening the event will be a trio of Stet Lab regulars, Andrea Bonino (guitar and electronics), Helena Reilly (voice) and Athoulis Tsiopani (keyboard).

For three years Stet Lab has both introduced new blood into Cork’s musical life as well as fostering local talent. Cork’s monthly improvised music event, Stet Lab is a space in which improvisers can meet, play and learn from one another. Since its launch in November 2007, it has successfully brought together improvising musicians with varied experiences and from far afield; hosted twenty-two events with twenty-seven guest artists, including eighteen international visitors.

The event will begin at 9:00 pm (doors open at 8:45 pm) and entry is €10 (€5).

Next month’s Stet Lab will take place on Monday, 6 December 2010, featuring the exciting Derby-based vibraphonist Corey Mwamba.