Fail Better presents: Merlin & Polina Shepherd Duo / Aptère (France) / Jed Cutler
DATE: OCT 17
TICKETS: £10 + BF
TIME: 7:30PM
AGE: 18+
There is no other way to put it: we are incredibly honoured, humbled and privileged to host the crème de la crème of national and international musicianship. Please come and share with us what promises to be an unforgettable evening.
MERLIN AND POLINA SHEPHERD
Merlin and Polina Shepherd Duo (clarinets, voice, piano) perform together in a way that is rarely encountered. They play music from several linked cultures with improvisation, freedom and spontaneity. The Duo’s playful approach to their root traditions – klezmer, Slavic, East European and southern Mediterranean – is full of knowledge and deference. It creates a unique sound that embraces the enduring spirit of folklore and takes the listener to new dimensions.
Merlin & Polina have been performing as a duo since 2004. Apart from their own concerts, they collaborate internationally with performers of various disciplines: a baroque orchestra, a punk band, contemporary dancers, DJs, and theatre productions.
APTÈRE
Aptère is a duo unifying the cellist Lina Belaïd and accordionist Antoine Girard around a common passion for live and popular music, Jazz, Balkan or Musette, among others. The sounds of bowed strings and blown reeds blend and mingle on their musical playground. Sensitive compositions, adventurous improvisations, reveal rich texture ranges, melodic lyricism, haunting rhythms, oriental ornaments and bold harmonies.
JED CUTLER
Jed is an Anglo-American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and singer from Brighton and Hove, England. All-round expertise in a variety of musical styles and techniques, including Blues, Jazz, Rock, Slide, Fingerstyle and improvised music. Over 15 years’ gigging experience working with a wide variety of musicians and bands. With humble beginnings in the deep south, of England, Jed first picked up the guitar at age 11. He grew up in a household with eccentric parents and a healthy input of a variety of music, from Bach to Mississippi John Hurt. With a deep joy of playing all kinds of music he also carries on the flame of old time blues, jazz and gospel music in his solo performances. He also has a number of other projects. These are Django Chutney, a gypsy jazz trio who play the music of Django Reinhardt. The Jones Street Collective, a quintet of outwardly looking gentlemen playing their own take on blues, jazz and gospel. And Holiday on Saturn, a Jam Band inspired space blues quartet playing a mix of original material and covers from the Allman brothers band to Sun Ra.