Safehouse Brighton

Safehouse Brighton is a collective that hosts two separate nights that focus on improvised and experimental music: Safehouse, on the first Wednesday of every month, and On The Edge, (usually) on the last.

Safehouse is a regular open session, which is open to all musicians of all levels to improvise, sonically, in a conversational way. We have been using a format in which participants are picked out to be put into a small group that improvises for 10 minutes or so, while the remaining musicians act as audience, then the next group is formed and so on.

On The Edge is a regular performance night, where we bring in better-known and sometimes out-of-town musicians and groups who have an emphasis on improvisation in their work. We try to precede the headliner with an established, local musician or group. The night is opened with the Wildcard Quartet, which is made up of names that have been picked out of a hat at the preceding Safehouse open session.

Musicians that have played at On The Edge include: Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Alan Tomlinson, Hannah Marshall, John Butcher, Ken Vandermark, Maggie Nicols, Hugh Metcalfe, Alison Blunt, Trevor Watts, Pat Thomas, Tristan Honsinger, Axel Dörner, Roger Turner, John Tchicai, John Russell, Steve Beresford, Tony Bevan, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Alexander Hawkins, Paul Hession, Mick Beck, Simon Fell, Luo Chao Yun, Ken Hyder, Sibyl Madrigal, Alex Ward, Steve Noble, Colin Webster, Bela Emerson, Zaum, ARC, Konk Pack, Vitamin B12, Red Square and Shatner's Bassoon