“Bringing together two distinctive and deeply individual musical voices, Raymond MacDonald and Steve Malley (Horse Loom/Unit Ama) create performances that draw audiences into an intimate narrative celebrating folk lyricism, jazz expressionism and contemporary sound exploration. MacDonald's internationally acclaimed saxophone work, renowned for its emotional depth, spontaneity, and fearless creativity, meets Malley's richly textured guitar playing in a musical dialogue that is both warm and expansive.

Malley weaves together alternative folk, spontaneous improvisation, and atmospheric storytelling into a deeply immersive musical landscape. Rooted in acoustic traditions yet unbound by convention, his work finds a compelling counterpart in MacDonald's soaring soundscapes, which draw on jazz, pop, and decades of genre-defying experimentation and whose playing has been characterised by The Wire as "mid period Albert Ayler hitchhiking in the Scottish highlands, yet melodically unique and utterly wild and free".

Drawing on a wealth of musical experience and a shared commitment to listening, risk-taking, and communication, the duo crafts music that unfolds in the moment. Their performances move effortlessly from delicate, atmospheric passages to powerful and immersive exchanges, revealing a unique musical language shaped by curiosity, trust, and imagination.

At once lyrical, adventurous, and deeply engaging, Raymond MacDonald and Steve Malley invite audiences into a world where melody, texture, and improvisation converge, creating music that is immediate, unpredictable, and profoundly human”.

Support comes from a Sheffield-based improv quartet featuring

John Jasnoch – oud
Gillian Whiteley – viola
Gayle Brogan – viola
Derek Saw – tuba

This quartet has been put together by John Jasnoch especially for this evening’s performance to further explore the combination of improvisation and structure. Each member of the group has devised a 10 minute piece that will facilitate four approaches to this exploration.