Orfeo 5

orfeo 5 use improvisation to find structure and wander out of structure into improvisation, in music that is romantic and narrative and mysterious all at once. We play long pieces which evolve over time, to create a sense of place and landscape, but may also incorporate strongly rhythmic passages. Our style takes in influences from Jon Hassell, Evan Parker and Nils Petter Molvær, among many others, and is a hybrid of jazz, improv, folk, dub, sound art & electronica. We also make site-specific performances, where field recordings and live sound from the performance location are woven into the music. Most of our work is improvised, but it could as easily be called spontaneous composition, because much of it is melodic and lyrical and evolves through many stages, so the music is often like a journey through a landscape or an unfolding story. Current members are: Keith Jafrate – poet and saxophonist, and the group’s artistic director Dianne Darby – poet Shaun Blezard – electronics Matthew Bourne – keyboards & cello Tamlin Cook – guitar Simon Prince – flutes & saxophones Membership is fluid, so our gigs feature different line-ups according to need and availability, and may include guests of all descriptions. orfeo 5 began working in 2002, with a lottery-funded national tour of a Word Hoard commission, setting poems by 5 poets. This was followed in 2003 by a commission from The Dylan Thomas Centre to set work by Dylan Thomas and W.S. Graham, which also toured with lottery support. Since then, working in galleries, museums and arts centres, the group has completed five commissions and has run a number of workshop projects focusing on text-music composition.