Theo Jörgensmann / Dominic Lash / Seb Rochford

Event information

The German musician Theo Jörgensmann is one of the finest jazz clarinetists in the world. Blessed with an astonishing technique, he has recorded or collaborated with a stellar range of musicians, such as Barre Phillips, Kent Carter, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, John Carter, Perry Robinson, to mention only a few. Although he has performed at venues and festivals worldwide, he has never once appeared in the United Kingdom – until now, that is. He will appear at the Leytonstone Festival’s 2nd ‘Cornelius Night’, on July 13th at the O’Neills pub, at 762 Leytonstone High Road.

The ‘Cornelius Night’ is named after the avant-garde composer, Cornelius Cardew, who lived in the borough until his untimely death in 1981 at the hands of a hit and run driver. It would be wrong to suggest any direct connection between Jörgensmann and Cardew, although both musicians were active in overlapping areas of musical experiment and improvisation in the 1970’s. By coincidence Cardew performed at the 1972 Frankfurt Jazz Festival where Jörgensmann made his major debut, but Jörgensmann’s development owes far more to mutual American influences, such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Leytonstone Festival have chosen to pair Theo Jörgensmann with two highly influential figures from the London scene. Drummer Seb Rochford won the BBC Jazz Award for best newcomer in 2004, and was nominated as best musician in 2006. He was twice nominated for the Mercury Prize, in 2005 and 2007. Bassist Dominic Lash is a familiar and active figure from London’s free improvisation scene, where he has played alongside almost every figure of note.

The blend of musicians echoes the instrumentation of Jörgensmann’s highly successful collaboration with the Polish Oles brothers, but we can expect something quite different and unique to emerge when the veteran free jazz maestro meets up with the snappy drums of Rochford and the wayward musings of Lash.

The evening opens with a performance by Shabaka Hutchings of Cornelius Cardew’s rarely performed virtuoso work for Bass Clarinet, ‘Mountains’ (1977). The work was composed for the Dutch clarinetist, Harry Sparnaay, and is ostensibly based on Gigue from Bach's Partita No. 6. Sparnaay was, and is, one of the most technically accomplished bass clarinetists, a master of classical, jazz and avant-garde playing, and the piece was intended to tax his extraordinary skill to the limit. Shabaka Hutchings is a rapidly emerging jazz musician and improviser. He performed at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival with the Jack De Johnette Ensemble, and is a regular member of Courtney Pine’s ‘Jazz Warriors – Afropeans’ as well as fronting his own group, ‘ Zed-U’.