UK Jazz News

Royal Academy of Music Jazz Festival 2025 (12-13 Feb)

plus interview with Lynn Cassiers

Lynn Cassiers. Photo © Laurent Orseau by permission of Lynn Cassiers

This year’s Royal Academy of Music Jazz Festival celebrates distinctive voices from across the UK jazz scene and beyond. Students are given the opportunity to collaborate between year groups, and work in newly formed ensembles. Bands will be led by ECM star and academy alumnus Rob Luft, outstanding French bassist/vocalist Sarah Murcia, and saxophone legend Will Vinson. Trinidadian steelpan virtuoso Leon Foster Thomas, award-winning saxophonist Xhosa Cole, and Belgian vocalist Lynn Cassiers will also be leading ensembles.  

FULL PROGRAMME BOTH SHOWS ARE SOLD OUT / RETURNS ONLY

WED 12 FEB, 6PM

Ensembles led by and featuring Lynn Cassiers, Will Vinson, and Sarah Murcia.

THU 13 FEB, 6PM

Ensembles led by and featuring Leon Foster Thomas, Xhosa Cole and Rob Luft.

INTERVIEW WITH LYNN CASSIERS

I spoke to Lynn Cassiers, a Brussels-based musician who will be taking an ensemble this year. Her music explores the liberating and ever evolving possibilities for the voice in contemporary improvisation, often augmented by an array of electronics.

Characterised by a love for the art of improvisation, Cassiers’ musical influences range far and wide. While sometimes underpinned by traditional jazz references, her music is often approached through the lens of free improvisation. She explained to me her concept of a ‘sound design mindset’, which allows her to weave between the musical background and foreground effortlessly. Cassiers explores this concept alongside trumpeter Hilde Marie Holsen, with their 2023 release Walking In Circles, which incorporates many layers of diverse textures in an intimate setting.

Able to assume a supporting role by modifying her voice with electronics, Cassiers accompanies this with fragile fragments of melody and spoken word. Her use of props in crafting a musical soundscape is in equal parts delightfully playful and sonically intriguing, with a live performance at Leuven Jazz 2021 using a megaphone, a plastic bag and even a modified moka coffee pot to generate sound worlds that dart between glistening resonance and jagged, slowly unfolding grooves. 

Cassiers intentionally steps out of the conventions of being the ‘frontman’ in a band, whilst also working with the inherent power of the human voice. She referred to research examining the specific area of the brain dedicated to vocal sound recognition. ‘When we hop in, it draws people’s attention, whether we want it or not. I like to play with this.’ One of the projects she is working on this year as an artist-in-residence involves researching speech patterns, and how we can use rhythmic impulses in music without the need for conventional music notation and fixed metric values. First experimenting with a trio, Cassiers has since expanded the lineup, using spoken language as a paradigm for phrasing. 

Closer to her musical roots in traditional jazz, Cassiers’ 2020 release Yun intertwines melodies from well-known standards, such as Cole Porter’s “Easy To Love”, with experimental harmony and lush soundscapes. She referred to her use of the classic American songbook melodies on this record as a ‘frame’ that she could change the context of, allowing the players on the album to flourish as individual voices. Cassiers’ arrangements are a radical take on the source material that sparked her musical journey, with fleeting glimpses of recognisable melodies appearing out of the blue, before disappearing back into improvisation. As part of the Festival, Lynn will be bringing music from this album to her ensemble, which will be explored with a new lineup of young musicians. 

Share this article:

Advertisements

Post a comment...

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Wednesday Morning Headlines

Receive our weekly email newsletter with Jazz updates from London and beyond.

Wednesday Breakfast Headlines

Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter