Alan Silva / Roger Turner / Pat Thomas / Steve Williamson

Event information

Alan Silva is perhaps best known for his inventive contributions to seminal free jazz recordings by Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Sunny Murray and his two LPs as a leader of the Celestrial Communication Orchestra for BYG/Actuel. Resident in Paris since 1970, Silva has remained a key player in the European Free Music scene. Since the early nineties he has primarily played electronic keyboards notably in the Tradition Trio with Johannes Bauer and British drummer Roger Turner who joins Silva for both nights of this residency. On the first night Silva will play both Bass and Keyboards in a trio with Evan Parker and Turner and on the second night the two will form a quartet with Pat Thomas on Piano and Electronics and Steve Williamson on saxophones.

ALAN SILVA / keyboards, double bass

Alan Silva grew up in Harlem, playing piano and drums. He studied with James P. Johnson, Scott Joplin and later trumpet with Donald Byrd and musicology at Columbia with Alan Lomax before picking up the bass. A participant in the 'October Revolution' and a key member of the Jazz Composers Guild with Cecil Taylor and Bill Dixon, Silva has performed with most of the greats of free jazz including Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray, Archie Shepp, Dave Burrell, Jimmy Lyons, Francois Tusques, Frank Wright, Bobby Few, Bill Dixon, Franz Koglmann, Andrew Hill and Alexander von Schlippenbach.

He has been resident in paris since 1970 and has issued several LPs as a leader including the two with the Celestrial Communication Orchestra for BYG Actuel. In the late 80s/early 90s he has primarily focussed on the synthesiser as an instrument and his wildly creative approach to it has continued his legacy of unimpeded creativity and imagination.

"Some of silva’s comping is outrageous: simultaneously correct and crazy. Trombonist bauer supplies the dark, weighty notes for the bottom end. Turner’s agility on percussion is legendary: he locks with Silva into a feisty, supermodern, helter-skelter groove." - Hi-Fi News on The Tradition Trio

Silva's association with Roger Turner goes back to their first meeting in Paris at the institut art culture perception (IACP) after Turner was invited to give two week-long workshops there by didier petit in 1984 and 1985. They've worked together since including U.S. and European tours with The Tradition Trio (with Johannes Bauer) and also with trumpeter Roy Campbell and as a duo.

ROGER TURNER / drums, percussion

Roger Turner is applauded for his precision and speed since he entered the London improvising scene in the 1970s. His restricted drum kit is extended by found objects to create a sound comparable to no other. He’s played with Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, Otomo Yoshihide, Shelley Hirsch, Joëlle Léandre, Keith Rowe...

“Turner [used] brushes to create a wild spattering and scattering of sound from cymbal and snare, with sudden explosions from tom and kick drums. At times in this early passage he sounded like rain on a caravan roof, at others like a tool box in the back of a moving van” - Molloy Woodcraft, The Guardian

PAT THOMAS / piano, electronics

Pat Thomas studied classical piano from aged 8 and started playing Jazz from the age of 16. He has since gone on to develop an utterly unique style - embracing improvisation, jazz and new music. He has played with Derek Bailey in Company Week (1990/91) and in the trio AND (with Noble) – with Tony Oxley’s Quartet and Celebration Orchestra and in Duo with Lol Coxhill.
"Sartorially shabby as Thomas may be, and on first impression even rather stolid, he has a somewhat imperious charisma that’s immediately amplified when he starts to play. Unlike other pianists whose virtuosity seems to be racing ahead of their thought processes Thomas always seems supremely in command of his gift, and his playing, no matter how free and ready to tangle with abstraction, always carries a charge of authoritative exactitude." The Jazzmann

STEVE WILLIAMSON / saxophones

Steve Williamson began playing saxophone at the age of 16 and started his career playing in Reggae bands (Misty n' Roots). In 1984 and 1985 he studied at London's Guildhall School of Music. At the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday open air festival in 1988 he played alongside Courtney Pine in Wembley Stadium and afterwards was a constant presence at Ronnie Scott's. He was member of Louis Moholo's Viva La Black (1988) and of Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath (1990). During the 1990s he led his own band and appeared in projects of Iain Ballamy, Maceo Parker, Bheki Mseleku, US3, and Graham Haynes.

In 1990 he released his first album A Waltz for Grace with Verve, featuring vocalist Abbey Lincoln. In 1992 Williamson he released his second album Rhyme Time , followed by Journey to Truth in 1994, featuring Cassandra Wilson. Steve Williamson's career is based on the constant study of harmony and research of the all possible harmonic approaches to compositions. His musical knowledege, from the studies on Western African music to the deconstruction of Debussy's harmony, is wide and gives Williamson the opportunity to experiment with his music, creating always innovative and unique compositions. His incredible talent as a saxophone player and his vivid originality as a composer make Steve Williamson one of the most versatile and unique performers in Britain.