Gigspanner Big Band
Friday Aug 25 @ 7:30 pm Town Hall, Wadebridge
Gigspanner Big Band are a unique force in British folk music.
Their high-energy, virtuosic performances appeal equally to traditionalists and to those looking for something more experimental, and those who just love to see great musicians working together. They’ve garnered praise from publications as varied as fRoots, The Telegraph and The Wire, where they were described as ‘melodically folk-rooted yet open and innovative beyond the constraints of the genre’.
The Big Band combines the Gigspanner trio of ex-Steeleye Span fiddle player Peter Knight, percussionist Sacha Trochet and guitarist Roger Flack with Hannah Martin and Philip Henry of Edgelarks plus Bellowhead co-founder and melodeon player extraordinaire, John Spiers.
We recently caught them on their Saltlines tour (working with Salt Path author Raynor Winn). With Knight’s exquisite violin, Martin’s chocolate vocals (and some pretty good fiddle work of her own), Henry’s almost sitar-like dobro solos, staggering group harmonies, and not to mention fine performances from the other three, it was a pure masterclass in making the traditional utterly contemporary.
As collaborations go, it doesn’t get much more mouth-watering than this.
“With the Gigspanner Big Band, Peter Knight has assembled a group of musicians intent on making some of the most important and exhilarating art ever to sit under the banner of folk music” Folk Radio UK
“An immaculate blend of virtuosity and understatement. Instrumental brilliance is abundant. Peter Knight is a visionary arranger and musical explorer” Mojo Magazine
“Utterly thrilling” Northern Soul
Peter Knight (violin); Roger Flack (guitar); Sacha Trochet (drums); Hannah Martin (violin, banjo, tenor guitar); Phillip Henry (dobro, harmonica); John Spiers (melodeon)
www.gigspanner.com — Gigspanner Big Band
With Geoff Lakeman and Rob Murch