Saturday January 15, 2022

Ishmael ensemble hosted by gilles peterson BBC Music Introducing & BBC Radio 6 music at NYC Winter Jazzfest Supported By PRS Foundations

8PM EST BROADCAST BEGINS  

Ishmael ensemble

Personnel:

Pete Cunningham - Sax & FX

Rory O’Gorman - Drums

Jake Spurgeon - Bass & Synths

Stephen Mullins - Guitar

Alun Elliot-Williams - Vocals

Rider Shafique - Vocals

BBC Maida Vale Studios

Helmed by producer and saxophonist Pete Cunningham, Ishmael Ensemble’s richly inventive 2019 debut A State Of Flow marked them out as an explosive new force in UK jazz, imbuing lush cinematic compositions with left-field dub and electronic sensibilities redolent of Bristol’s vital musical landscape. Named The Guardian’s ‘Contemporary Album Of The Month’ and MOJO’s ‘Jazz Album of The Month’, it saw the group perform Maida Vale sessions for both Gilles Peterson and Tom Ravenscroft, as well as feature on compilations for Brownswood Recordings and Soul Jazz Records. Cunningham’s rise as an in-demand producer has led to remixes for the likes of techno royalty Carl Craig, as well as legendary jazz label Blue Note Records alongside a plethora of the UK’s finest musical talent on Blue Note Re:Imagined.

Ishmael Ensemble has since become a platform for Cunningham to subvert the conventional notions of producer/artist relationships, unsettling genre tags, and transcending the familiar landscape of UK jazz itself.