Ben Cottrell writes, previewing the Efpi Records double bill at the Forge on the last day of the London Jazz Festival:
For the second year running, Efpi are very excited to present an afternoon of music by our friends and artists at the Forge in Camden during the London Jazz Festival. The concert is on Sunday 18th November, starts at 1 30 pm, and features the UK debut of Efpi co-founder Sam Andreae’s Silence Blossoms (over here from Sweden) alongside the awesome Alice Zawadzki band.
Formed in Manchester in 2008 by me, Sam and guitarist Anton Hunter, Efpi now represents a growing group of young musicians based across the UK and Scandinavia exploring various areas of jazz, improvised and experimental music. Sam and Alice first made names for themselves as important parts of the Manchester scene before going on to continue their artistic development in Scandinavia and London respectively.
Both bands both draw heavily from stories and poems in their music to create a powerful blend of literature and song. Sam brought Silence Blossoms together whilst living in Stockholm in 2012, and his compositions combine contemporary poetry with influences as diverse as Scandinavian folk and improvised noise music to produce a sound that is beautiful yet often terrifying. In collaboration with Swedish label Ljup, Efpi are releasing a collection of live recordings on 5th November taken from Silence Blossoms’ tour of Sweden last year – you can hear me talking to Sam about the band and its music, as well as some extracts from the cassette (yes, cassette!) in the first of a new series of Efpi podcasts on OUR WEBSITE
Alice’s music and songs speak of life, love and people through languages deeply rooted in jazz, folk and an exploration of rhythms and traditions from around the world. She has assembled a stellar London band that will be appearing at the Forge, featuring Kit Downes on organ, Alex Roth on guitar and Jon Scott on drums – Seb reviewed (and loved) their first ever gig elsewhere on this site, and I’m really looking forward to hearing this group for myself having heard and played with Alice in her other projects many times over the years since we met at college.
All the details for the gig are HERE, hope to see you there! If you’re planning on coming, bring a portable radio and you’ll become an important part of the event – all details to be revealed… And if you’re based in the North you can catch Silence Blossoms and Alice (this time in a duo with Stuart McCallum) at Efpi’s Freedom Principle night at Sandbar in Manchester on Tuesday 20th November.
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