The Snowflakes

Noel Taylor, Maria do Mar (violin) and Maria Radich (voice) -

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This is project is based in Lisbon, featuring two of the most active and talented musicians in the Portuguese improvised music scene

Bay's Leap

Bay's Leap consists of James Barralet (cello), Clare Simmonds (piano) and Noel Taylor (clarinets).

The group released the album, 'Swans over Dorking' ion 2016.

They made a small tour of Portugal in 2018, teaming up with Carlos 'Zingaroo' Alves (violin) and Paulo Chagas (oboe/flute).

Twin Sets

'Twin Sets' takes place at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon. The first edition takes place on the 18th and 19th January, 2019.

Twins - born of the same egg, nurtured together in the womb. But what of our ‘twins’? They are of different ages, genders, nurtured in diverse cultures, separate countries. Their challenge is to find their musical twin, to speak with their own voice but to discover and meet the mirror of themselves through the sound they love most - the sound of their own instrument in the hands of another.

Yet twins can’t stay for ever linked only with their own mirror image. Their challenge is also to produce a piece of music that responds to the aesthetic of their fellow twin pairing, to merge their own search for each other with their reactions to the playing of their counterparts on other instruments. Each set will begin with statements from each ‘twin pair’ and conclude with a joint ensemble of all four players. The aim is to produce a seamless piece of music, as if in symphonic form, each section functioning as a movement within the whole.

Intercessions

'Intercessions' took place at Shoreditch Church, blending written music from classical and contemporary composers with passages of free improvisation.

Trio Rewind

Trio Rewind features:

Noel Taylor, clarinets
John Garcia on Tiplé

Tom Wheatley on bass

Why 'rewind'?

Because we have a willingness to look back as well as forward. and a willingness to inspect and reflect on how we work together. We try different approaches of playing – sometimes very abstract, sometimes a little melodic, sometimes with a reference to jazz chords or rhythms, sometimes playing in parallel to each other, sometimes with a free jazz feel, or sometimes touching rhythmic patterns from different types of popular music : folk, Latin American etc. – and often - layering more than one of these things together.

Grimwald

Formed in autumn of 2014, Grimwald features a combustible mix of:

Steve Beresford (electronics), Roberto Sassi (guitar), Terry Day (drums) and Noel Taylor (clarinets). It makes for a rasping, seething, rhythmic cacophony, that, however saturated, always seems to have one more gear in reserve.

Grimwald bring madcap rock riffs that reel out of control,cascading in all directions, all the time disrupted by a barrage of abrasive electronics and unpredictable noise. Somehow, amidst this tumult, the music flows - and sometimes even ebbs to quieter moments, the storm abating into tranquil havens of lyrical melody.

Luna Fringe

The Luna Fringe ended in 2014. . It aimed at a mix of types of music, and sometimes shows the work of artist flim-makers. The evening was quite happy to accommodate almost any type of music, but the main emphasis was on improvisation and experimental music. Musicians have visited from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Sweden, as well as those based in the UK.

photo of Roger Turner @ Luna Fringe, 2009

London Improvisers Orchestra

L.I.O performs regularly quarterly at Cafe Oto, with occasional concerts at other venues such as Ronnie Scotts (London Jazz Festival), Kings Place, Leytonstone Festival, Conway Hall (Freedom of the City), HMS President.

The Raw Stories Collective

The Raw Stories Collective combines composed work by Aled Start with improvised input from a team of musicians that includes Aled Start - percussion, Gordon Waterson -counter tenor, Pat Thomas - keyboards, Will Scott - saxophones, Noel Taylor - clarinets, Satoko Fukuda - violin, Hannah Marshall - cello, Adel Sahnoun - flute'