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.