Speakers Corner Quartet, a pivotal group on the South London music scene, with the Guildhall Session Orchestra and special guests – names will be announced closer to the date of the show – will be performing at the Royal Festival Hall on Monday 17 June, as part of Chaka Khan’s Meltdown. “This new orchestra show is a whole new album written for the Festival Hall” says flautist/producer Biscuit.
Words such as “collaborative” and “open-minded” are completely over-used in music. But whereas any number of groups might claim to be those things, for Speakers Corner Quartet it truly is has been their way of life and of making music ever since DJ Snuff invited the very first version of the group to be the house band at his night at the Jam Bar in Brixton in 2006.
The band’s successful debut album “Further out than the Edge” brought that spirit to life in many ways. At the most obvious and maybe superficial level, the members of this band just know a lot of people and enjoy working with them. So, in keeping with the spirit of openness, the list of guests on the album has astonishing breadth: Kae Tempest, Coby Sey, Joe Armon-Jones, Léa Sen, Eska, Shabaka Hutchings…
But there is more to Speakers Corner Quartet than that. There has to be. What sets Speakers Corner Quartet apart is that they have spent most of the past two decades at the epicentre of the South London music scene, and what they bring to it is a sense of community and family to music-making. “Friendships are more powerful than the music industry,” asserts Biscuit, who, along with the other band members, had a major role in the production of “Further out than the Edge.” In the jazz world, for example, he is involved with Shabaka, Daisy George and Jas Kayser in the band Kofi Flexxx.
And the quartet of Raven Bush, Peter Bennie, Kwake Bass and Biscuit, four experienced and versatile musicians are indeed firm friends. The stylistic variety and sense of adventure and surprise on the album are spectacular. From spiritual jazz to contemporary classical, from hiphop to experimental R&B, the members of the quartet can take off in literally any direction.
The spirit of the open mic is still there, even if the guests these days are stellar. And another aspect which is ever present was well described in Pitchfork’s review of the album: “They honed their chops over innumerable improvisatory live sets, but Further Out From the Edge is the product of painstaking offstage labor.”
Speakers Corner Quartet are about to unveil a brand new concert-full or album-full of music at theit Royal Festivall Hall show as part of Chaka Khan’s Meltdown on . “This is new material which will form the basis of a new album,” says Biscuit.
Even though everyone is being very tight-lipped for the moment as to who the guests will be on 17June, tickets are selling well. Speakers Corner will be working with the Guildhall Session Orchestra, and orchestra of 35 players attached to the Electronic and Produced Music Department, (EPM) of Guildhall School,
The connection comes from the fact that Raven Bush is a professor in the EPM Department, which has committed substantial resources and manpower to this project. The department is far bigger than is generally known: this September there will be over 160 students enrolled in it. In addition to the players on stage, a number of producer/ composers have been working directly with the band – the key individuals are Liam Fuller, Jasmine Meaden, Chester Tribley and Seamus Heath and Tom Arnold – although the full team from GSMD working on the project which has been substantially larger. The school is also offering studio facilities. Mike Roberts, who heads the EPM Department is excited by the project and with working with Speakers Corner Quartet: “I was impressed that every track is so different. It is a joy to work with people who are always so collaborative and want to exchange ideas.”
Everyone I have spoken to about the project is excited by the thrill of the unknown. Speakers Corner Quartet has built a substantial fan base around London. It is about to get a lot bigger.
