Pianist/composer Tom Hewson writes about some imminent gigs for a new group, the Tom Hewson Quintet, the first of which is this Monday 24th March at the Oxford in Kentish Town:

Over the last year or so I’ve been meeting with Nick Malcolm, George Crowley, and Ferg Ireland, and James Maddren to work on some new music that we’re looking forward gigging over the next few months. It’s been a ‘slow-burn’ project, with each time we play prompting new ideas and everyone getting involved in working on the sound.

Band dynamics – the combination of timbres, the push and pull of rhythmic feels, the juxtaposition of improvisational languages – is a big part of the fun involved in putting together a group, and luckily enough we seemed to latch onto something which has kept me writing, tweaking and thinking until the point where we now find ourselves confronted with our first gig next week.

I can’t say a lot about the music other than that my main drive has always been towards finding the essence in each musical idea and allowing the band to extract it in a way that is always open to change, and to develop it. I like to find melodies, harmonies and rhythms that are satisfying but still elusive in some way; one of the tunes is called Intrigue and perhaps that word best sums up what I hope you’ll hear if you come along to a gig!

Current Dates

More information from TOM HEWSON’S WEBSITE