" data-original-title="" title="">London Improvisers Orchestra. While R��sonances has happened several times at the Vortex (see YouTube below), in 2024 it relocated to the slightly larger Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club, a sensible move as the new venue was jam-packed by the time the performance began. Prior to the beginning, there was much conversation in the audience about what they were about to experience; the audience could see two large plastic sheets facing them, one on either side of the stage. Just visible through these sheets, musical instruments could be seen closer to the back of the stage, including a piano, a cello, a large wooden bass recorder, a xylosynth and a drum kit...

Once the performance began, Aur��lie Freoua was behind the left-hand sheet facing the audience, while the other artist Ley Loosh was on the right-hand side; both painted on their sheets, the results being clearly seen through the sheets by the audience. Behind them were the musicians who could be heard clearly and seen occasionally; they all improvised freely throughout, underpinning the entire evening. Also on stage were two dancers, the German-born R��sonances resident dancer Petra Haller and Japan-born Maya Takeda who found space wherever they could, sometimes in amongst the audience. Unlike performances with her jazz trio in which she tap dances, Haller improvised freely to the music throughout, sometimes with Takeda, other times alone. The two poets, Shaun Rivers and Aur��lie Freoua, were heard more than seen, using microphones to be heard but making sure they entered at appropriate moments.

While there is a long tradition of music and dance being joined together, and a later one of music and poetry combining, it is even more recently that artists have painted or drawn musicians while they are playing live, and more recently that artists have painted abstracts inspired by live music. R��sonances is one of a rare breed of concerts which combines the four elements—music, dance, poetry and painting—in a live context. Based on the prolonged applause and enthusiasm from the audience at the end, we shall be singing the praises of R��sonances for many years to come.

Personnel

Musicians: Julia Br��ssels: violin; Olly Chalk: piano; Sam Eastmond: trumpet; Teresa Hackel: recorders; Cubby Howard: cello; Noah Ojomu: drums; Paul Romane: harmonica; Gloria Yehilevsky: xylosynth, sounds.
Dancers: Petra Haller, Maya Takeda.
Poets: Shaun Rivers, Aur��lie Freoua.
Guest artist, projections: Oscar Hilton.
Visual artists and curators: Aur��lie Freoua, Ley Loosh.