John Butcher: saxophones
Rhodri Davies: harps
John Butcher and Rhodri Davies first played together in 1997 in the ensembles London Skyscraper and Chris Burn's Ensemble. Since then they have met in several other groups, but they regularly give performances as a duo too. Their collaboration is characterised by their effort to expand the sonic boundaries, both with their extreme sonic explorations of their instruments (acoustically and with the aid of electronics), but also by performing in unusual places. Their album Vortices & Angels was recorded in St.Michel and All Angels Church in London.
Nils Jacobson writes about the duo's performance in Vortices & Angels (released by Emanem):
"Harpist Rhodri Davies and Butcher mark their first duo meeting in a fabulously lush setting at St. Michael and All Angels Church in London. Having experienced performances like this, I can affirm the church is a far better place than a club for this sort of thing. If Butcher's approach to the saxophone is a bit idiosyncratic, then Davies' approach to the harp is downright revolutionary. He prefers attack to decay; he prefers arco to pizzicato; and he prefers overtones to fundamentals. Nevertheless, the harp remains very quiet throughout. Davies' buzz-and-tinkle approach highlights Butcher's talents on the low end of the dynamic spectrum and the high end of the tonal spectrum. He happily constructs higher-order units from simple building blocks. Davies sticks with him, handing off more than a few blocks of his own. The ANGELS of this record do a lot of listening, and their playing reflects deliberate choice and introspective reaction. Each note acquires its own individual character when spaced out like this, though forward motion rarely suffers as a consequence."
- published in All About Jazz 2001. Online at: http://www.emanemdisc.com/E4049.html
Sources / More about the Rhodri Davies - John Butcher duo:
http://www.johnbutcher.org.uk/Davies.html
http://www.hud.ac.uk/concerts/january2013/johnbutcher-saxophonerhodridavies-harp/
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/arts/music/events/duo_john_butcher_and_rhodri_davies.htm
As an improvisor, Rhodri Davies is widely known for his use of preparation and electronics on the harp. It is not uncommon for him to try extreme performance techniques (e.g. fire harp) in his quests for new sounds. He sees improvisation as a real-time compositional tool.
Sources / More about Rhodri Davies:
http://www.rhodridavies.com/words/
http://www.hcmf.co.uk/String-theories-Rhodri-Davies-QA
http://www.rhodridavies.com/words/thesoundprojector.htm
Rhodri Davies: harps
John Butcher and Rhodri Davies first played together in 1997 in the ensembles London Skyscraper and Chris Burn's Ensemble. Since then they have met in several other groups, but they regularly give performances as a duo too. Their collaboration is characterised by their effort to expand the sonic boundaries, both with their extreme sonic explorations of their instruments (acoustically and with the aid of electronics), but also by performing in unusual places. Their album Vortices & Angels was recorded in St.Michel and All Angels Church in London.
Nils Jacobson writes about the duo's performance in Vortices & Angels (released by Emanem):
"Harpist Rhodri Davies and Butcher mark their first duo meeting in a fabulously lush setting at St. Michael and All Angels Church in London. Having experienced performances like this, I can affirm the church is a far better place than a club for this sort of thing. If Butcher's approach to the saxophone is a bit idiosyncratic, then Davies' approach to the harp is downright revolutionary. He prefers attack to decay; he prefers arco to pizzicato; and he prefers overtones to fundamentals. Nevertheless, the harp remains very quiet throughout. Davies' buzz-and-tinkle approach highlights Butcher's talents on the low end of the dynamic spectrum and the high end of the tonal spectrum. He happily constructs higher-order units from simple building blocks. Davies sticks with him, handing off more than a few blocks of his own. The ANGELS of this record do a lot of listening, and their playing reflects deliberate choice and introspective reaction. Each note acquires its own individual character when spaced out like this, though forward motion rarely suffers as a consequence."
- published in All About Jazz 2001. Online at: http://www.emanemdisc.com/E4049.html
Common Objects Ensemble - John Butcher, Angharad Davies, Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant , Lina Lapelyte
Sources / More about the Rhodri Davies - John Butcher duo:
http://www.johnbutcher.org.uk/Davies.html
http://www.hud.ac.uk/concerts/january2013/johnbutcher-saxophonerhodridavies-harp/
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/arts/music/events/duo_john_butcher_and_rhodri_davies.htm
As an improvisor, Rhodri Davies is widely known for his use of preparation and electronics on the harp. It is not uncommon for him to try extreme performance techniques (e.g. fire harp) in his quests for new sounds. He sees improvisation as a real-time compositional tool.
Sources / More about Rhodri Davies:
http://www.rhodridavies.com/words/
http://www.hcmf.co.uk/String-theories-Rhodri-Davies-QA
http://www.rhodridavies.com/words/thesoundprojector.htm
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