25 May 2025

Musical Mudlarks

The trio of Minton Bohman and Northover delve into the murky world of abstract sounds where they dig around and try to find something of worth

Kay Grant, Daniel Thompson & Ian McLachlan

Kay Grant is a vocalist and improviser now relocated from London to Bristol, once tipped by TimeOut as “one of our finest free thinking virtuosos”. Using the voice as an instrumental component permeates her performance and underscores a commitment to the joy of ensemble playing. Her free approach is informed by an open-eared and open-armed path spanning styles and genres.

Daniel Thompson was born in Norfolk, England. Largely self-taught, after moving to London in 2005 Daniel embarked upon a life changing period. He studied with the guitarist John Russell for two years, spent many evenings listening to the trio of John Edwards, Tony Marsh and Evan Parker at The Vortex in East London and absorbed the free improvisation scene in and around LONDON. collectively this confirmed his musical direction.

Ian Mclachlan plays several instruments including Trombone, Euphonium, Cornamuse, Shenai, Marimba to name a few. He has played with many improvisers over the years and also a few solo gigs.

Mike Walter & Gabriel Keen

Mike Walter has a substantial track record as an improvising musician, playing tenor and soprano saxophones and synthesizer with bands such as Grassy Noel & APE, One King Poets and countless others, especially a long-standing duo with much-missed Lol Coxhill, with whom he recorded the original MOUTH CD in 1999.

Gabriel Keen studied at Dartington College of Arts and London College of Music. He won second prize in the 5th British Contemporary Piano Competition, and has recently recorded works by contemporary composer Brian Inglis for CD release.

Paul Pignon & Blanca Regina

Paul Pignon was born and grew up in the UK. Began playing jazz at 15. Studied physics at Oxford. While there made first forays into non-idiomatic improvisation (1961). Abandoned Ph.D research at Oxford in favour of music. Moved to Yugoslavia. Cofounder of the Radio Belgrade Electronic Studio. 14 years working with the Synthi 100 there, originally custom built for the Studio. Active as composer of chamber, vocal electronic and improvised music, leading the group I nteraction. In 1986 moved to Sweden, composing and developing computer music software at E MS. Member of FST and Fylkingen (board member). Producer at Fylkingen 1988-1992. Active as composer of electronic and instrumental works, and real-time composer on single reeds, didgeridoo, recorders, WX5, voice, laptop; currently with B OP, SoundQuartet, BONON, 2+ (with Liisa Pentti), The Great Learning Orchestra, and many ad hoc ensembles in Sweden and abroad. π with Virpi Pakhinen and Amit Sen.

Blanca Regina is an interdisciplinary artist, tutor, and independent curator who works with spontaneous composition systems creating multimedia landscapes using voice, objects, electronics, and visuals. She is also looking at book arts, immersive media, and design. She has produced three albums with Beresford, mixed and mastered by Dave Hunt in London, ‘What Blue’ (2020) Duets with Steve Beresford; “Duets with Blanca Regina, Spontaneous Music” featuring duets with Leafcutter John, Jack Goldstein, John Butcher, Benedict Taylor, Matthias Kispert, Aneek Thapar, Steve Beresford, Sharon Gal, and Hyelim Kim; “Art of Improvisers” (2017) a collection album with several artists concentrating in women improvisers. With longtime collaborator and artist Leafcutter John capturing their live performances in 2017 they created “Miga” a limited edition Pendrive and digital release. Other collaborations include performances with Laetitia Sadier & Marie Merlet (ISIDORA) Matthias Kispert, DFuse, Peter Cusack, Matt Black, Wade Matthews, Terry Day, Adriana Camacho, and David Toop.