Lower Marsh

Unlockings and Lower Marsh can be considered a sort of farewell note to one of London’s most crucial venues for improvised music and sound art after its unexpected closure in late 2023 due to gentrification. “Iklectik was a very attractive venue, acoustically and atmospherically. It was slowly built up by Eduard Solaz and Isa Ferri, who were very sympathetic to work with”, explains Butcher, who has played there many times in the past years. After having mainly invited musicians based in continental Europe for the ausland sets in 2019, Butcher sought to share the stage with UK players for the two-part programme at Iklektic. Originally planning to share the stage with John Edwards in the first part, Butcher had to improvise — luckily, something about which he knows a thing or two — when the double bassist fell ill, and he arranged short duo sets with Pat Thomas on electronics, Mark Sanders on percussion, and Angharad Davies on violin instead.

Lower Marsh collects the unplanned duo improvisations between Butcher and Thomas, Davies, and Sanders, but complements them with two recordings made with Edwards in December 2021, also at Iklektic. “Mostly, in improvisation, I want to hear the personalities of the players”, says Butcher. “This can include elements of playing that steps back from ego and personal expression, whatever that might in fact mean. However, in duos, you can be a very nuanced version of yourself — following your path but at the same time continually adjusting your intentions according to what you’re hearing from your partner.” Accordingly, the musicians did not prepare for their joint sets at all before entering the stage together. While he has worked extensively with Sanders in different duo projects, Butcher had also only played once with Thomas and twice with Davies in this format before.

Unsurprisingly, in these recordings — barely edited for publication — the individual players’ characteristics become notably more present than on Unlockings. Thomas and Butcher’s Breakthrough Serenade sees the two enter a dialogue between the former’s erratic iPad sample noise and the latter’s agile licks and phrases. The two pieces with Edwards, taken from a 25-minute-long set, are exercises in creating sonic depth out of individual sound events: More rapid-fire in the first and more restrained in the second piece, Butcher and his partner let their instruments complement each other in ways that almost blur the boundaries between them. On the B-side, the longer sets with Davies and Sanders see the respective duos letting the music unfold carefully. Davies and Butcher focus on the textural qualities of their instruments, while Sanders lays down complex grooves that serve a stage for Butcher on which the two create gripping dynamics.

Kristoffer Patrick Cornils

Audio excerpt

Credits

A1
breakthrough serenade 08:14
John Butcher soprano sax
Pat Thomas electronics
A2
loop, flash, whoop 05:07
John Butcher tenor sax
John Edwards double bass
A3
furl / unfurl 05:50
John Butcher tenor sax
John Edwards double bass
B1
this vivid strain 09:49
John Butcher tenor sax
Angharad Davies violin
B2
swim in sunlight 08:17
John Butcher tenor sax
Mark Sanders percussion

A1, B1 & B2 recorded by Dave Hunt at Iklectik/London on 5 April 2022
A2 & A3 recorded by Jeff Ardon at Iklectik/London in February 2022
Thanks to Eduard Solaz and Isa Ferri
Mixing by John Butcher
Mastering by Andreas Lupo Lubich

All music by Butcher/Davies/Edwards/Sanders/Thomas

Photography and artwork by Yaqin Si
Manufactured by Daniel Klotz, Die Lettertypen