The festival is part-funded by the Arts Council and PRS foundation and BBC Radio 3’s Jazz on 3 will be recording one of the evenings for broadcast. The Loop collective membership represents a generation of like-minded Jazz musicians who wanted to create a network of shared resources, a platform for their many artistic collaborations and foster the promotion of contemporary creative music.

www.loopcollective.org
2nd LOOP FESTIVAL @ The Vortex 17 - 21 Feb 2010 7.30pm
Vortex Jazz Club 11 Gillett Street, London N16 8JH 020 7254 4097
Tickets Wed, Thu & Fri £10, Fri-Sat £12 (3 day pass £25, 5 day pass £40)

full listings
Wednesday 17 Feb Doors 7:30pm £10
8:00pm Loop Friends series: F-ire: Seb Rochford + Leafcutter John (Seb Rochford - drums / John Burton - laptop)
9:00pm Sam Crockatt 4tet
SamCrockatt - tenor saxophone / Kit Downes - piano / Oli Hayhurst - bass / Ben Reynolds - drums
10:00pm Alex Bonney’s Tribute to Ayler w/ special guests Mark Sanders & Paul Dunmall
Alex Bonney - trumpets / Robin Fincker - saxophone / Paul Dunmall - saxophone / Dylan Bates - violin / Dave Kane - bass / Johnny Brierley - bass / Mark Sanders - drums

Sam Crockatt Quartet
Formed 6 years ago, the Sam Crockatt Quartet grew out Pete Churchill’s composition classes at the Academy, Sam started writing music and the idea of a quartet was formed. This combination of friends and like-minded musicians has led to a band that obviously enjoys playing together and has a rich, cohesive sound.

Alex Bonney’s Tribute to Ayler
“Both Bonney, with his sparing but telling use of vibrato and vocalised tones, and Fincker, whose controlled fervour seems more impressive with each successive appearance, set a sensible course between the Scylla of outright re-creation of the Ayler brothers’ sound and the Charybdis of using their material merely as a springboard for frolics of their own; An unexpected treat.” Chris Parker

Thursday 18th Doors 7:30pm, £10
8:00pm Dog Soup Robbie Robson - trumpet & fx / John Turville - keyboards / Johnny Brierley - bass guitar / Tim Giles - drums
9:00pm Tom Mix Mark Hanslip - tenor saxophone / Oli Brice - bass / Tony Marsh - drums
10:00pm Phronesis w/Anton Eger Ivo Neame - piano / Jasper Hoiby - bass / Anton Eger / drums
Dog Soup: Robbie Robson - Trumpet/Electronics, John Turville - Rhodes, Johnny Brierley - Bass Tim Giles - Drums
Having played together for a number of years, Dog Soup have developed their own unique sound.The band use a number of electronic effects to create different textures and colours- samplers and loops creating a swirling bed of music over which to improvise. This creates a seething electronic stew, blurring the distinctions between gritty, dark grooves, electronic sounds, loops and samples and free group improvisation.

TOM-MIX: Mark Hanslip
Since coming together in march 2008 in east London, TOM-MIX have worked hard on developing a trio sound based on open improvisation, intense group interaction and rhythmic flexibility. From this sound a broad frame of reference emerges including the groups of John Coltrane, Lee Konitz and Sonny Rollins, the language of Bartok, Webern and Xenakis, the detailed interplay of free improv and the raw energy of free jazz.
“Tom-Mix - 3 to 1 sets hard as Akenside bakes On the Outside sweats on the inside - Olie Brice bowed bass solo overheard in deep conversation with kittiwake heaven - Tony Marsh - named after Tom’s wonder horse - from dressage to full gallop - flushing birds from cover - wing beats flutter - escape the snare - settle in the reeds - pots of them marinading in the gloop but not for the soup says Mark Hanslip who choses carefully - this one’s Konitz leaving town on a Coltrane - skipping the light fantastic by Rollins Toc-H Lamp - yet no dimness here - when we close our eyes we hear. Go on, go on, go on, go on……….” (George M., Bebop Spoken Here blog).

Phronesis (feat Anton Eger)
Phronesis was created by Copenhagen-born/London-based bassist Jasper Høiby in Denmark in the late autumn of 2005, they released their debut album ‘Organic Warfare’ in November 2007 out on Loop Records and since release the debut album has so far sold more than 10.000 songs as downloads in the US and Europe. Høiby has now reformed his group with Ivo Neame (keys, UK) and Anton Eger (drums, SWE). Phronesis recorded their 2nd album in January 2009 which was also released on the Loop Record Label. Their music is fresh and exuberant wih strong melodic grooves, inspired by a world heritage of rhythms and sounds. “..beautifully judged sounds..” [John L Walters - The Guardian UK] “A frenetic grooving, great young band with bags of confidence..” [Time Out London] “Høiby’s rich and sophisticated piano trio… traveling down deep, smoldering grooves.” [Daniel Spicer - Jazzwise]

Friday 19thth Doors 7:30, £12/£10 conc.
8:00pm Loop Friends series: Yolk: European TV brass trio
Matthias Schriefl - trumpet / Daniel Casimir - trombone / Francois Thuillier - tuba
9:00pm Blink w/special guest Vincent Courtois Robin Fincker - sax & clarinet / Alcyona Mick - Piano / Paul Clarvis - drums / Vincent Courtois - cello
10:00pm Dave Manington’s Riff-Raff Brigitte Beraha - vocals / Mark Hanslip - tenor saxophone / Ivo Neame - rhodes / Dave Manington - bass / Tim Giles - drums
11:00pm Golden Age of Steam James Allsopp - Tenor Sax / Kit Downes - organ / Tim Giles - drums

Blink
Blink has established itself as a unique-sounding ensemble on the current European Jazz scene. After performing extensively in the UK and recently being featured at the London Jazz Festival 2009 and the Strasbourg Jazz festival 2009 (Jazzdor) the trio will premiere their collaboration with world-class french cellist Vincent Courtois at the Loop festival. This exciting set will feature music from their forthcoming second album as well as new pieces composed especially for the occasion, exploiting the addition of Courtois’ cello-mastery to Blink’s broad musical range.

“Blink enjoys a nimble agility that seems intent on taking everyone by surprise …somehow discovering accidental perfection in the face of infinite possibility” Jazzwise

Dave Maningtons’ Riff Raff
Featuring material from their 2008 album release “Headrush” described as”… an absorbing and oddly compelling album, another quiet triumph for the consistently intriguing Loop Collective” (Chris Parker Nov ‘08). The original Quartet has been augmented to a quintet following a successful collaboration with leading jazz vocalist Beraha at the Loop festival Feb ‘09 and several new compositions feature her fantastic lyrics. On other tracks she sings wordless vocals, often harmonizing with the sax line to great effect. A new album and tour is planned for 2010. www.myspace.com/davemanington

The Golden Age of Steam
“The Golden Age of Steam” features the compositions of reeds player James Allsopp and builds on his association with drummer Tim Giles, co-leader of the award winning quintet “Fraud” (BBC Jazz Award for Innovation 2008). The group is completed by young keyboard virtuoso Kit Downes, winner of the BBC Jazz Award for Rising Star 2008. Allsopp’s work is inspired by the combination of anarchic playfulness and formal logics of Ligeti’s music, the joyous saxophone thunder of Coltrane and Ayler, and the twisted lyricism of Captain Beefheart. The music is sometimes labyrinthine, sometimes eerily sparse, incorporating seismic riffs, limping marches and intricately woven contrapuntal textures into a multi coloured world of improvised sound. The band were invited to play at the Cheltenham International Jazz Festival 2009 as part of the Jerwood Rising Stars programme. This is a continuation of Allsopp and Giles’s association with the scheme.

Saturday 20th (recorded by BBC Radio3) Doors 8pm, £12/£10 conc.
8:00pm Ma: Tom Challenger - tenor sax / Ross Stanley - organ / Dave Smith - drums / Matt Calvert - laptop
9:00pm Fringe Magnetic: Rory Simmons- trumpet/flugelhorn/composer, Eimear McGeown- flute/piccolo/irish-wooden flute, Natalie Rosario- cello, Kit Massey- violin, Robin Fincker - clarinet, James Allsopp - bass clarinet, Ivo Neame - piano, Jasper Hoiby- double bass, Ben Reynolds- drums, Elisabeth Nygaard & Andrew Plummer vox
10:00pm Loop Friends series: Umlaut: Peeping Tom w/ special guest Evan Parker
Pierre-Antoine Badaroux - alto sax / Joel Grip - bass / Antonin Gerbal - drums / Evan Parker - sax
11:00pm Gemini: Jim Hart - vibraphone / Ivo Neame - alto sax / Jasper Hoiby - bass / Dave Smith - drums

Ma
Ma are carving out their own space within Europe’s electronic/improvisation landscape, with a distinctive sound moving between serene Boards Of Canada-esque layers, explosive noise-improv in the vein of Norway’s Supersilent, Tortoise-style beats and dark, abstract dub soundworlds. With members of Red Snapper, Three Trapped Tigers, The Heritage Orchestra, Outhouse and Nostalgia 77 it’s not surprising that Tom Challenger’s heady, often Messiaen-inspired material is subject to such a multi-pronged interpretation. The quartet is powered by Dave Smith’s percussive flow, by turns sensitive and tumultuous, whilst Matt Calvert’s Fennesz-meets-Lee Perry electronics weave between the melodic focus of Challenger’s sax and the textural glue of Ross Stanley’s organ and rhodes.

Fringe Magnetic
Left-field trumpeter Rory Simmons leads his tricksy, brilliant, ten-piece Fringe Magnetic. Featuring musicians from the innovative LOOP collective, as well as those from classical and folk traditions, Fringe Magnetic brings together gritty rhythmic counterpoint laced with words from Norway. Skidding strings and chorale like winds, the chamber ensemble within the group weave intricate melodies juxtaposed with the twisted ambience of contemporary song. Fringe Magnetic aims to fuse chamber, orchestral palettes and shapes with the vibrant energy of cutting edge jazz and improvised music and the ensemble features some of the most exciting and dynamic young musicians from the London jazz, classical and improvised scene. On Fringe Magnetic, Simmons draws on the jaggedy free-imrpov of Tim Berne, with the hypnotic pastoral beauty of Christian Wallumrod as well as the quirkiness of Django Bates and Hanne Hukkelberg.

Jim Hart’s Gemini
Gemini fuses melodic lyricism with complex rhythmic counterpoint and free improvisation. The music is written by award winning Vibraphonist Jim hart and draws on the influences of Bill Frisell, Wayne Shorter and John Hollenbeck’s Claudia quintet. Autumn 2009 saw the release of their new album Narrada and a successful UK tour. The band features the wonderfully talented Ivo Neame on alto saxophone and the much sought after rhythm section of Jasper Hoiby on Bass and drummer Dave Smith.

Sunday 21st Doors 8pm, £10/£8 conc.
8:00pm Loop Friends series: LIMA: Matt Bourne solo
Matt Bourne - piano, keyboards & laptop
9:00pm Outhouse
Robin Fincker - tenor sax & clarinet / Tom Challenger - tenor sax / Johnny Brierley - bass / dave Smith - drums
10:00pm Ivo Neame 4tet
Jim Hart - vibraphone / Ivo Neame - piano / Jasper Hoiby - bass / James Maddren - drums

Outhouse
Following a busy year which included a European tour with guitar wizard Hilmar Jensson and a UK tour with “Ruhabi” (their critically acclaimed collaboration 5 west-african percussionists) OUTHOUSE starts their 2010 season at the Loop festival with a brand new set of music written for the quartet. Still blurring the line between composed and improvised music, Outhouse which Jazzwise dubbed “one of the best young bands on the current London Jazz scene”, is all set to embark their audiences on an engaging journey without stylistic boundaries.
“an ensemble of rare intensity and interplay” Jazz Magazine (FR)

Ivo Neame Quartet
The Ivo Neame quartet features Jim Hart (vibes), Jasper Hoiby (bass) and drum sensation James Maddren, and was recently signed to Edition Records. The first album Caught in the Light of Day was released in late October 2009. The most recent tour saw the band develop an audacious openness based on the strong trust developed over the years by regular playing and recording. Ivo’s writing attempts to create music that is not limited by its own parameters, and which constantly explores the juxtaposition of the relative poles of texture, timbre and group interplay.
” With the intelligently virtuosic Neame and the inexhaustibly inventive Hart as gripping soloists, this is a punchy but subtle band whose music richly rewards the close attention it demands.”

Album Launches:
Loop is excited to announce the following albums which are released in time to celebrate the second Loop festival.

Fringe Magnetic: Empty Spaces (Loop records)
Ivo Neame quartet: Caught in The Light of Day (Edition records)
The Golden Age of Steam: (Babel records)

Wed 17
8:00pm Loop Friends series: F-ire: Seb Rochford + Leafcutter John
9:00pm Sam Crockatt 4tet
0:00pm Alex Bonney’s Tribute to Ayler w/ special guests Mark Sanders & Paul Dunmall

Thu 18
8:00pm Dog Soup
9:00pm Tom Mix
10:00pm Phronesis w/Anton Eger

Fri 19
8:00pm Loop Friends series: Yolk: European TV brass trio
9:00pm Blink w/special guest Vincent Courtois
10:00pm Dave Manington’s Riff-Raff
11:00pm Golden Age of Steam

Sat 20 (recorded by BBC Radio3)
8:00pm Ma
9:00pm Fringe Magnetic (album launch)
10:00pm Loop Friends series: Umlaut: Peeping Tom wth Evan Parker
11:00pm Gemini

Sun 21
6:00pm - Ochre Works Bar (free) two improvised duos: Alex Bonney/Rory Simmons (various kinds of trumpets) plus JaM - Mark Hanslip (tenor sax) and Javier Carmona (drums/percussion)
8:00pm Loop Friends series: LIMA: Matt Bourne solo
9:00pm Outhouse
10:00pm Ivo Neame 4tet