Murmurists is the brainchild of cross-disciplinary satirist Anthony Donovan. First formed as long ago as 1992, as a then vehicle for solo works and collaborations, Murmurists is by now a large-scale live theatre project, encompassing any and all disciplines - from free jazz and noise, through film and dance, to comedy and performance art, and even stylised banqueting. To-date, Murmurists has featured as little as 9 and as many as 86 participants at any one time; all ostensibly improvising from involved graphic scores prepared by Donovan, tailored to each participant and their particular specialism. This scoring process confers a strong narrative content upon proceedings, resulting in complex, dynamic pieces, such as 'Poor vs Poor', 'I am You, Dragging Halo' and 'Beneath is Translation'. By design, Murmurists live has no central point of focus, being instead comprised of any number of creative, collaborative fiefdoms and micro-dramas, prompted by the score to self-organise non-hierarchically, along syndicalist lines. There are the corollaries of musicians, of course, who react to one another in the usual way, all on their improvising metal, with instant creations of their own making. But participants might just as well be requested to sob uncontrollably or howl like an animal, or wield a pitchfolk or treasured childhood toy, or participate en masse in spoken word passages, which Donovan terms 'ornamental heckling', taking influence as much from Laing, Pinter, Brecht and Artaud, as it might from the febrile history of avant garde music. The result is intense and immersive, and ultimately cathartic, for participant and audience member alike.
By now, hundreds of people have been involved in this ongoing series of unique Murmurists events, including members and ex-members of projects such as Henry Cow, Faust, The Three Johns, Stars of the Lid, Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere, Acid Mothers Temple, Crush!!!, The Sun City Girls, The Molecules, Cacophany Arkestra and the London and Birmingham Improvisers Orchestras, as well as collaborations with artists as great and diverse as John Zorn, Matmos, Otomo Yoshihide, James Chance, Adam Bohman, Bob Ostertag, Bryan Lewis Saunders, Chris Cutler, Bob Cobbing, Marc Ribot, Lol Coxhill, Elliott Sharp, Mick Beck, Pat Thomas, Evan Parker, Gino Robair, Sharon Gal, Damo Suzuki and Steve Beresford.
Admission is free / as part of the University of Central Lancashire's first Festival of Music and Culture
Parental Advisory: Not recommended for Minors
The following 46 strong Murmurists will perform pieces from Donovan's new major three part work, Darwin is Jam Tomorrow:
Steve Boismaison: guitar
Nick Branton: sax
Kevin Buckland: electronics
Francis Comyn: percussion
Andrew Culley: wind thing
Matt Dalby: voice / thunder drum
Annie Dee: foley / photos
Steve Dinsdale: percussion
Anthony Donovan: bass / film / vocal
Andrew Duncan: synth
Phil Evans: vocal
John Eyles: sax
Mike Fibes: electronics / guitar
Gary Fisher: electronics
Rob Gray: littlebigband
Chris Hancox: guitar
Kevin Hankey: foley
Richard Harrison: percussion
Christopher Hill: clarinet
Keith Jafrate: sax
Satya-Sara Khachik: dance
Noel Kidd: wave-drum
Jade Kosa: voice / drum
Richard Kostek: photos
Tony Love: guitar
Phil Lucking: trumpet
Jonny Martin: flugelhorn
Messer: vocal
Berry Moore: cello
Emrys Morgan: performance
John Morrow: percussion
Maya Anna Ozolina: voice
Mark Peel: drums
Kris Reeder: trombone
Sean Reynard: otamatone
Colin Robinson: sax
Gaz Seddon: guitar
Sonic Pleasure: masonry
Kerry-Anne Thomas: dance
Paul Twine: guitar
Angela Vowels: voice / electronics
Chris Warburton: sub-octave guitar
Julius Warburton: uke
Paul Wilson: laptop
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