Jasnoch/Whiteley/Brogan/Saw quartet put together by John Jasnoch especially for this evening’s performance to further explore the combination of improvisation and structure. Each member of the group has devised a 10 minute piece that will facilitate four approaches to this exploration.
Quartet is supporting Raymond MacDonald & Steve Malley at Bishopshouse, Sheffield on Friday 23 October in an evening showcasing free improvisation featuring guitar, oud, sax, violas and tuba….more info and tickets here
Gill Whiteley and Geoff Bright are launching a small initiative around improvised music and experimental performance (extending right through to areas such as dance, moving image, sound art, live art) called Afternoon Shift at Shirley’s. We hope this will be a bit different from anything else around and will compliment, support and extend the already established improvisation networks in Sheffield.
Our aim is to seed and grow a kind of ‘community of friends’ (players, possible players and those who just enjoy listening) around spontaneous improvisation, which will involve a series of afternoon sessions taking place at Shirley House, Psalter Lane in Sheffield on the second Monday of the month, starting on Monday 14th September at 2pm -3.30pm (subsequent sessions will aim to be 3pm-4.30pm).
Each session will include a freely improvised quartet performance followed by a veryinformal discussion around the nature of improvisation and questions arising from the specific performance. Each quartet will always include an out-of-town player and, wherever possible, a player from the wider Sheffield area, plus ourselves, Gill and Geoff (or others who may stand in).
Other players are lined up for the new year but not finalised… so more later.
We know you are probably busy with all sorts of things in the daytime – work, kids and so on – but if you are a player, a potential player or simply a listener/fan of spontaneously improvised musics and related artforms, we hope you might support this project in whatever way you can as it grows.
It might sound a bit formal but due to restrictions of our booking arrangements with Shirley House, numbers have to be limited so we have to formally invite you. It’s important to our project that no charge will be made if you want to come.
Please let us know if you are likely to come to one or any of these free and enjoyable sessions and/or if you wish to be considered as one of our local players at any time for one of the specific sessions – you would be welcome!
Monday 23 February 2026 at Notes & Sounds at University Arms, Brook Hill, Sheffield
Doors open 7pm – music starts 7.45pm prompt
Anton Hunter (guitarist from the soggy side of the Pennines who you may know from Beck Hunters, Sloth Racket and several Discus Music releases antonhunter.com) joins up with Sheffield-based artist-improviser Gill Whiteley(aka bricolagekitchen) to scrape, scratch, tinkle, bash, mangle and mix it up on keys and strings.
Also playing, John Jasnoch on various plucked string instruments and Will Goddard on tape recorders and other paraphernalia!
At Bishopshouse, Les Petroleuses will create a site-specific improvised performance to ‘speak back’ to the array of ritualistic graffiti and anti-witchcraft scratch marks. They will kindle the flames, visually, vocally and on assorted instruments including foot-pump chapel harmonium, cello, viola, flugelhorn, hurdy-gurdy, accordions, shruti box as well as scissors, paper, stone, ink, graphite, cutlery, pestel and mortar, things that jangle,assorted objects and other stuff…be warned, they aim to warm the cockles and fan the flames…so if you can’t stand the heat…
Lyn Hodnett and I will talk about our practices and do a short improvised performance incorporating video, sound and drawing at the ARTLAB at Everybody Arts ArtLab in Halifax 2pm-3.30pm Saturday 13th December
Exhibition celebrating breaks, tears, fractures and revaluing of scrap ‘broken’ materials – my handmade, printed pocket pamphlets made from salvaged stuff Ten Women Anarchists are in the zine library (and on sale) as part of the exhibition.
Yowl!! cook up sonic intensities across an accelerating space from whispered zero to full on improv disintegration. Expect a beautifully, ugly car crash of reeds, brass, voices, strings, electronics and percussion.
SEPPINGS
Peter Rophone – voice Nick Robinson – guitar John Jasnoch – bass guitar
Appropriately named after Aunt Dahlia’s butler, this reasonably well established trio will once again construct a concept album before your very eyes and ears during this 40 minute set. If audience members have any ideas about subject matter they would like to have incorporated into the concept album then please write a note and submit it to Mr Rophone on the night.
YOWL!!