Gratkowsk / Tramontana / Beresford / Afifi

Jazz North East at The Globe presents…

Frank Gratkowski / Sebi Tramontana / Steve Beresford / Faradena Afifi 

Sunday 26th January 2025
The Globe (Downstairs) 
Newcastle upon Tyne

Doors: 7.00pm (Music Starts 8.00pm)

£12 Advance and On The Door (advance booking recommended due to limited capacity)

Frank Gratkowsk / Sebi Tramontana / Steve Beresford / Faradena Afifi

German reeds player Frank Gratkowski and Italian trombonist Sebi Tramontana are amongst the many brilliantly creative musicians who are at the heart of the European free jazz scene, yet are seldom heard this side of the English Channel. So when Steve Beresford mentioned to Jazz North East that he occasionally works with them in a trio, it seemed like too tempting an opportunity to pass up, and we invited them to the Globe for what will be their one and only UK appearance.
 
And then when we heard some of Steve’s recent work with British-Afghani violinist Faradena Afifi, we couldn’t resist the temptation to add her to the bill, creating a unique international line-up. 

Frank Gratkowski is one of Europe’s most versatile reeds players, constantly striving to extend his instrumental skills, and traversing the broad spectrum of contemporary improvised music - in fact, in his own words, “making no clear distinction between composition and improvisation in my work”. This open approach has meant that his relatively few UK appearances have ranged from the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival to a guest appearance with the London Improvisers Orchestra . . . but his only previous small group session in this country was a duo with percussionist Tony Buck, so this Globe gig is a rare opportunity indeed. 

Although not as rare as it is for Sicilian-born Sebi Tramontana, whose one and only jazz gig here was fully 25 years ago as a member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. Yet for around forty years he has been a valued figure across the European scene for a fluent and witty style that embraces almost the whole history of jazz trombone from Ellingtonian master ‘Tricky’ Sam Nanton through to the radical departures of Paul Rutherford. 

Frank and Sebi have a well established duo that creates freely improvised music which has been described as having the character of “instant songs”, with each generally quite short piece having its own unique character, ranging from the very romantic to the tersely abstract, but always displaying a closely empathetic dialogue. It’s a situation that’s tailor-made for the involvement of Steve Beresford, described by John Zorn as having “crossed, straddled, championed and smashed countless genres”, and one of improvised music’s great provocateurs, capable in an instant of enhancing or diverting the direction of a performance, whether from keyboards or any of his seemingly inexhaustible array of electronic gizmos and repurposed toys. 

It’s this trio that will play the bulk of this Globe gig, but there’s an added dimension with the participation of Faradena Afifi, who will initially play a short solo feature, before at the end of the night joining the trio for what will be a world quartet premiere! Fara, a co-founder of the Noisy Women Collective, is a singer and multi-instrumentalist who has been a familiar presence in the Cambridge arts world for some years, but only emerged on the wider UK scene after jamming online with Maggie Nicols during the 2020 lockdown. This led to performances with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, and then Its London equivalent, and subsequently to work with many of the leading members of London’s improving community. For her, as for Frank and Sebi, this will be a first time in Newcastle, and it’s a pleasure to welcome them all for what is sure to be a revelatory gig. 




JAZZ NORTH EAST

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VENUE ADDRESS

The Globe, 
11 Railway Street, 
NE4 7AD 
www.theglobenewcastle.bar 


AGE RESTRICTIONS / ACCESSIBILITY / TRAVEL

Age Restrictions: All ages welcome with under 18’s accompanied by an adult. 

Accessibility: Fully accessible for wheelchair users. 

Travel: Central Station Metro is located just under half a mile from the venue (approximately 8 minutes walk) 

Buses: 12 / 12A / 22 / 22X to Scotswood Road?.

Limited street parking outside of the venue, a small fee based car park is located across the road. 


Please do contact the venue for full details regarding younger ages and for any further queries regarding accessibility and parking.?

We encourage ecologically sustainable travel wherever possible by foot, bike and public transport.