Alex Ward & John Bisset at Xposed Club

20 November 2009, 8pm, Xposed Club, Pittville Studios

Friday 20th will bring to Xposed Club, the monthly live music club at Pittville Studios at the University of Gloucestershire, Albert Road, the guitar duo Alex Ward and John Bisset with special guest Chris Cundy (Bass clarinet and saxophones) and Jade Hamzelou Trio.

Alex and John first met when they were part of the Butch Morris London Skyscraper Tour of England in 1997. They continued playing in the London Improvisers Orchestra, which grew out of the Butch Morris orchestra, and began playing together regularly after Alex moved from Oxford to London in 1999.

It was the combination of two guitars that excited them from the off and they have explored this through their duo Crypt and through the ‘urban surf’ of their band Pocket, as well as in other less regular groups.

Despite their delight in the electric guitar duelling which characterises Pocket, where the roles of lead and rhythm are clearly defined, they found that for free improvisation the acoustic guitars were more satisfying. The occasional gig on electrics somehow didn’t work. In 2008, however, they began adding a third player to the group, and this brought new life to their interactions – their tendency to homogenise made for a strong background for the third player, whilst being disrupted by the unpredictability of the guest.

Christopher Cundy is a self taught musician with a particular interest in improvisation as well as more experimental composition. When he was still in his teens he started out as a street busker, a profession which he still maintains to this day and which compliments his desire to explore music within a changing and urban environment.

He studied Fine Art at Cheltenham art college between 1996-99. Painting and drawing, particularly abstract line drawing, is something that still closely informs his distinctive and open approach to new music techniques be it within a classical, jazz or pop context.

Since 2005 Chris Cundy has been working exclusively as a live performer with Mercury Music Award nominated experimental pop group ‘Guillemots’ (Polydor Records). His collaborations with lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield date back several years. Cundy’s current activity with Guillemots has seen him tour internationally with the band and has featured him in many TV and radio appearances including Top of the Pops.

Jade Hamzelou Trio consists of Jade Hamzelou (electric Harp and Voice) , Graeme Owen (Double Bass) Alan Tocknell (Drums). Jade and Graeme have recently featured as a duo in the Site festival '09 at Stroud Valley Artspace. As a trio with drums, this will be the band's debut performance. Jade has been a singer songwriter on the harp for years and as a soloist opened this year's Faery Fest in Cornwall. The music is upbeat with strong grooves and a light dance feel to it. The unusual line up lends itself to an acoustic setting with a dose of effects and a little grit to it.