Jazz Connective Lyon

Nice to meet you Dublin! With OKO, Roamer and H-Ci & DJackulate

The pandemic has forced us all to do things differently this year, and therefore it seemed natural that the theme from Dublin would be around examining unique methods of composition. IMC have gathered three highly innovative Irish acts for this special online programme, each creating music in a way that is outside the norm, to share their music and their process with the Jazz Connective audience across Europe.

Jazz Connective is is a collaborative project supported by the Creative Europe-Cooperation Project taking place during 2019 and 2020 across 7 European cities. It was presented in Dublin in December 2019 by Irish project partners IMC who remain active in programming assistance with all partners.

The final edition of the project, Jazz Connective in Lyon, becomes Jazz Connective from Lyon, an online programme to discover musical scenes from 7 European cities from 5th-13th December.

The Irish artists in the programme will be presented online on Facebook on Tuesday 8th December.

Roamer at Jazz Connective - making music alone together

Roamer combines four outstanding improvising artists from Ireland who have individually built international careers. Each “roamer” has represented Ireland extensively on stages around the world, and combined are a powerful force of innovation and talent.

Vocalist Lauren Kinsella has been Jazz FM UK Vocalist of the Year; saxophonist Matthew Halpin was the first Irish musician to receive the presidential scholarship to study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music; Simon Jermyn is one of the most in-demand creative music bassists in New York, and drummer Matthew Jacobson tours Ireland and Europe frequently with many leading improvising musicians and ensembles.

Roamer are currently spread out across Europe, with the band members based in Dublin, London, Berlin and Munich. For Jazz Connective the four artists have come together digitally to create a new arrangement of a composition by Matthew Halpin, passing their individual recordings from one to the other, layering onto and drawing from each other's work to create a full band sound created especially for this programme.

Sonic adventures with OKO

“OKO's combination of hammering intensity and carefully sculpted sounds provided an unforgettable sonic experience—a unique band that is slowly but surely making its mark.” - All About Jazz

OKO was borne out of a number of collaborations in 2011 between guitarist Shane Latimer, keyboardist Darragh O’Kelly, percussionist Shane O’Donovan and turntablist DJackulate (Jack McMahon).

The group improvises around skeletal compositions, drawing on a wealth of influences such as krautrock, vintage TV shows, free jazz, noise, dub, drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep, musak, metal and more. Their music shifts from lush synth-drenched sculptures to tight hooks and loose grooves, robust scratching and liberated improvising.

Especially for Jazz Connective, this intimate access to a recording session is all about exploration and experimentation for this 4 piece band.

OKO actively 'use the studio' while still attempting to capture the raw energy of group improvisation. To do this they use sequencers, driven by various stochastic and chance elements, to create a somewhat unpredictable framework to improvise within. Join them in studio for a day in this 'fly-on-the-wall' style film of exploration.

H-Ci : spontaneous composition through pre-recorded sound

“ Audio bites spliced and diced live by the startlingly slick Djackulate...” - Totally Dublin

Twice world champion at the ‘Clash of the Titans’ freestyle turntablist championship in Berlin, Dublin-born multi-instrumentalist, turntablist and sample artist Djackulate (aka Jack Dempsey Mc Mahon) joins forces with dynamic drummer Shane O’Donovan (aka H-Ci).

McMahon, a musical polymath, has a wide range of influences stemming from a lifetime of mining records for odd samples as a champion turntablist, in addition to his saxophone, uilleann pipes, kaval, musical saw, and others, performing in a wide range of musical contexts. McMahon distils these musical experiences into performances focused around a reimagining of the turntable, with striking results.

Joining forces with longtime colleague and fellow musical chameleon, the electronic composer and jazz drummer H-ci, whose music is heavily influenced by electronic music artists such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, and Boards of Canada, but also incorporates elements of contemporary Jazz and avant-garde. With an array of synthesizers and drums, complex layers of rhythm are created through the use of drum machines as well as live acoustic drums, with the melodic content almost exclusively synthesizer based.

Together, H-ci and DJackulate are sonic explorers of the highest calibre