soundfestival gets together with Jazz at the Blue Lamp and Interesting Music Promotions to provide a night of exciting music from one of the UK’s leading contemporary jazz outfits, Ishmael Ensemble, with support from Aberdeen jazz band, Hamlet.
Ishmael Ensemble's new album A State of Flow touches on various styles of jazz, stirring ambient invocations, club-ready percussive workouts, spiralling grooves and hazy psychedelic electronica.
It’s no surprise the record's caught the attention of tastemakers & DJs across the board, receiving regular radio play on BBC6Music, Jazz FM & Worldwide FM plus a performance on Gilles Peterson’s U.K. Jazz Special live from the legendary Maida Vale Studios. Tiptoeing between the current British jazz boom and Bristol's rich musical ancestry, the group have found a truly unique and refreshing voice.
"Ishmael Ensemble are sometimes few, sometimes many, but always operate with the same questing spirit for innovation. Essentially rooted in jazz, the project's outlook blends club culture, left field electronics, and much more into an unholy blend." Clash Magazine
“These guys just get better with every release” - Gilles Peterson BBC6
“Cunningham’s most ambitious project yet gives a nod to jazz that has come before, but approaches the genre in a forward-thinking manner” - Music Is My Sanctuary
“Absolutely gorgeous” Tom Ravenscroft, BBC6 Music
“Making music that’s pitched somewhere between astral jazz, burbling electronica, trippy minimalism, psychedelic dub and 20 years of club culture.” Contemporary album of the month - The Guardian
