The Gigspanner Big Band
The Gigspanner Big Band
"What a fabulous team they make, together producing a startlingly new musical form with few, if any, antecedents. The flights of musical fancy are staggering in their natural invention"
Fatea Magazine
"With the Gigspanner Big Band, Peter Knight has assembled a group of musicians intent on making some of the most important and exhilarating art ever to sit under the banner of folk music" FRUK
The Gigspanner Big Band are a unique force in British folk music...
Their high-energy, virtuosic performances appeal equally to traditionalists and to those looking for something more experimental, and they have garnered praise from publications as varied as fRoots, The Telegraph and The Wire, where they were described as ‘melodically folk-rooted yet open and innovative beyond the constraints of genre’
Beginning life as a trio - with legendary Steeleye Span fiddle player Peter Knight being joined by percussionist Sacha Trochet and guitarist Roger Flack - the line-up has been expanded to form the Gigspanner Big Band, with acclaimed multi-instrumental duo Edgelarks (Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin - BBC Folk Awards 'Best Duo') and Bellowhead co-founder and melodeon player extraordinaire, John Spiers, joining the fray.
As collaborations go, it doesn't get much more mouth-watering than this.
While Peter Knight, as part of Steeleye Span’s classic 1970s line-up, helped invent a brand of folk rock that is still influential today, John Spiers, has had an equally profound impact on the landscape of traditional music over the last two decades.
Characterised by riotous inventiveness, technically gifted individual playing and subtle collaborative interaction, this coming together of several of the biggest names on the folk-roots scene, combines a deep knowledge of roots traditions with a ceaselessly boundary pushing approach.
Taking self-penned material along with music rooted in the British Isles and beyond, with the flick of a bow, a finely chosen chord or slip of a beat, they produce richly atmospheric arrangements layered within a wealth of subliminal musical influences “with notes seemingly plucked from the stars and rhythms from the equator” Spiral Earth
Unsurprisingly, the superlatives have come thick and fast...
"Natural Invention is a stunning achievement - perhaps one of the most sophisticated and enchanting folk albums ever released" From the Margins
"They don't play together often, but when they do it's spectacular” 5***** R2 Magazine
“Utterly thrilling” Northern Soul
"Totally blown away by the spellbinding Gigspanner Big Band. Lost for words..." Folking. Com
“A powerfully vibrant act with one eye on the traditional clock for source material and the other firmly focussed on the improvisational element of the music echoing Jazz, Classical and World music styles” Irish Music Magazine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFNSAmNfmeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3LTpUvnnJg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjlxfW3tvro
THEATRE ON THE STEPS - CONDITION OF TICKET SALES
- Once purchased tickets may not be exchanged nor money refunded.
- Smoking in all areas of the Theatre is strictly forbidden.
- Only food and drink purchased on the premises may be consumed in the building.
- Mobile phones and digital watch alarms must be switched off in the auditorium.
- In the interests of other patrons, babes in arms are not usually admitted. Exceptions may be made for pantomime and certain children's shows, when prior arrangements should be made with the Box Office and a ticket purchased irrespective of the age of the child.
- Due to fire regulations, all patrons, including babes in arms, must be in possession of a valid ticket before entering the auditorium.
- The management reserve the right to refuse admission of the ticket holder to the premises.
- The Management reserve the right to request the ticket holder to leave the premises and to take any appropriate measure to enforce such a request.
- Cameras and any form of audio or visual recording equipment are strictly forbidden in the auditorium.
- Latecomers will not be admitted, (prior to the show or after the interval) until a suitable break in the performance. Latecomers if admitted, may be required to occupy alternative seats.
- The Management may alter or vary the programme, artistes and timings without consultation or compensation.
- The performance may be cancelled for reasons beyond the control of the Management without notice and without the Theatre being liable to pay any person any compensation whatsoever other than a possible percentage or maximum refund to the ticket holder of the value of the ticket.
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