Square Pusher: Tom Jenkinson Solo Bass Shows

Tom Jenkinson is set to continue his activities as a solo bass performer with a new gig scheduled for September 7th at the Jazz a la Villette festival in Paris. Jenkinson will be known to most under his nom de pluie Squarepusher, one of the acts that helped cement Warp’s fame as a leading label in the field of innovative electronic music, but he has never hidden his education as a classically trained musician. Previous Squarepusher shows have regularly seen Tom Jenkinson pick up his instrument to deliver some heavy funk grounding to his completely over-the-top broken beats assualt. But up until the Hendrix tribute concert in 2006, he has always seen this as part of the Squarepusher show, as a further element to spice up the already eclectic style mix. Things took a further turn in July with Jenkinson’s live collaboration with Evan Parker, extraordinay Saxophonist, Free Jazz icon and a purveyor of group improvisation as a superior compositional technique. Their joint gig at London’s “Queen Elizabeth Hall” was “an eye-opening performance and a great contrast to usual indie attitudes towards musicianship.” according to UK-based online magazine Drowned in Sound and made a crowd consisting of “many more dreadlocked stoner-types than you’d expect at your average South Bank free-jazz show” “go a little ape”. To put it bluntly: The show seems to have been a massive success and even though Tom Jenkinson is not simply going to repeat the concert one to one in Paris, instead opting to join forces with French composer Pierre Bastien known for his sound installations, we’d advise you to be quick to catch a glimpse of a ticket.